The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bruner Foundation, the RBA was created to increase understanding of the role of architecture in the urban environment and promote discussion of what constitutes urban excellence. The award seeks to identify and honor places, rather than people, that address economic and social concerns along with urban design.
Description
According to the Bruner Foundation, the award is intended to be a platform for the discussion of issues related to urban architecture, planning and revitalization. It has been recognized by the United States Conference of Mayors, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Design Research Association. The biennial award recognizes one Gold Medal and four silver medal winners each cycle. Each medalist is documented with a detailed case study published online and in a book by the Bruner Foundation. The gold medal winner receives $50,000 and the four silver medalists each receive $10,000 which must be used to benefit the project. These winners are chosen by a diverse committee of professionals involved in design and development. These committee members include architects, landscape architects, planners, developers, community organizers, financiers, and the mayor of a major metropolitan area.
Criteria and selection process
The selection process involves a study of a project's effect on its urban environment including a detailed application, discussion by selection committee members, and site visits to finalist projects. A selection committee is organized anew for each award cycle. In order to be eligible for consideration, projects must be:
an actual place, not just a plan or a program;
completed and in operation for sufficient amount of time to demonstrate success
located in the continental US
There are no distinct categories. Projects may include any type that makes a positive contribution to the urban environment. Urban environment is broadly defined to include cities, towns, neighborhoods, counties and/or regions. Previous applicants and honorable mention winners may apply up to three times. Previous winners are not eligible.
Resources
In 1998 the University of Buffalo collaborated with the Bruner Foundation and the Urban Design Project of the School of Architecture and Planning to create a , making data gathered in reference to past winners of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence accessible to the public. The goal of this archive is to allow public "access to award winning and fully documented urban design case studies as a resource for architecture students and practitioners as they study precedents in urban design." The Digital Archive is managed by the UB Institutional Repository. The Bruner Foundation has published fifteen books containing detailed case studies of award-winning projects.
, Richard Wener, PhD; Jay Farbstein, FAIA, PhD; Anne-Marie Lubenau, AIA; and Robert Shibley, FAIA, FAICP; Edited by Elizabeth Chesla, MA , Richard Wener, PhD; Jay Farbstein, FAIA, PhD; Anne-Marie Lubenau, AIA; and Robert Shibley, FAIA, AICP , Robert Shibley, AIA, AICP, with Brandy Brooks, Director, Rudy Bruner Award, Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, and Richard Wener, PhD, Bruner Foundation, 2011. , Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, with Emily Axelrod, MCP, Robert Shibley, AIA, AICP, and Richard Wener, PhD, Bruner Foundation, 2009. , Richard Wener, PhD, with Emily Axelrod, MCP, Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, and Robert Shibley, AIA, AICP, Bruner Foundation, 2007. , Robert Shibley with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein, FAIA, and Richard Wener, PhD, Bruner Foundation, 2005. , Jay Farbstein with Emily Axelrod, Robert Shibley and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 2003. , Richard Wener with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein and Polly Welch, Bruner Foundation, 2002. , Robert G. Shibley with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein, and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1999. , Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1998. , Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1996. , Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1993. , Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1992. , Neal R. Peirce and Robert Guskind, Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, 1993. , Philip Langdon with Robert Shibley and Polly Welch, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990.
