Three Rival Models of Stadium Design: Suburban, Downtown, and Neighborhood with Philip Bess

Decisions about new stadium construction today are based on many competing interests. To what degree are they conceived with respect to their potential role as civic buildings, or with respect to their social, aesthetic and environmental impact? Stadiums once were understood as civic buildings, and as part of a coherent public urban realm that accommodated a variety of commercial, civic and residential uses. Come hear University of Notre Dame architecture professor Philip Bess speak about the past and possible future of the traditional urban neighbourhood stadium and its possible relevance to Ottawa.
Philip Bess is a Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. He teaches graduate urban design and theory, and engages in professional work as a design consultant for municipalities, architects and community development corporations working through the office of Thursday Associates. He is the former director and principal designer of the Urban Baseball Park Design Project of the Society for American Baseball Research; directed and coordinated the August 2000 “Save Fenway Park!” design charrette; and is the author of City Baseball Magic: Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense About Cities and Baseball Parks and, most recently, Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Sacred.

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