Prof. Joan Busquets wins design competition; lectures on urban design
Joan Busquets, Martin Bucksbaum Professor in Practice of Urban Planning and Design, and his team at BAU have been selected to design the Urban Project for the Dunkirk City Center in France. Dunkirk is an historic harbor city, which has been fortified over the centuries. Heavily destroyed during World War II, reconstruction was never completed. Like many other European cities, economic development took place on the outskirts, while the downtown center suffered from neglect.
The proposal to reconstruct and revitalize the city center includes a cultural district next to the university, a system of public spaces networking through the center, and a major residential and retail area next to the Old Harbor.
The proposal combines an appreciation of Dunkirk’s urban history and redefines a sort of palimpsest that allows one to rediscover elements of the past in the urban composition with an eye toward its future.
Prof. Busquets also presented “Designing Cities in the Post-industrial Context” at the University of Texas School of Architecture on February 25, 2008.