Alexander Garvin

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Alexander Garvin
Born(1941-03-08)March 8, 1941
Educator, Author
WebsiteAGA Public Realm Strategists

Alexander Garvin (March 8, 1941 – December 17, 2021) was an American urban planner, educator, and author.

September 11th attacks as Vice President of Planning, Design, and Development for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
. Garvin also authored a number of books on the subject of planning including The Planning Game: Lessons from Great Cities and The American City: What Works, What Doesn't. Garvin also served in a variety of positions in New York City government including director of comprehensive planning.

Professional career

Early career and New York City government

Following his graduation from the Yale School of Architecture, Garvin began his career working as an architect at a number of firms including the firm of Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Soon after in 1970, however, he moved into public service, serving first as director of housing and community development for New York City's Department of City Planning (DCP), then as deputy commissioner of the city's Housing & Development Administration department (HDA). At DCP, he arranged financing for projects such as the West Village Houses[3] and was instrumental in the development of the neighborhood preservation program; while at HDA he was responsible for initiating the Participation Loan Program, and, most notably, for extending the J-51 Tax Exemption and Abatement Program to apply to the city's entire stock of multiple dwellings.[4] Later during the Koch administration, he served as the city's director of comprehensive planning. Garvin also spent fifteen years as a private developer of residential real estate between 1980 and 1995. In 1996, Garvin published The American City: What Works, What Doesn’t, his most significant book. Now in its third edition, The American City has become a popular textbook among students of urban planning.

NYC2012 and LMDC

After reading The American City in 1996,

Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project at the site of the proposed “Olympic Square,” the 7 Subway Extension, and parks along the East River in Brooklyn and Queens such as Brooklyn Bridge Park
.

When Doctoroff became deputy mayor for economic development during the

September 11th Attacks
. There, he served as vice-president of planning, design, and development until May 2003.

The Atlanta Beltline

Following his work at the LMDC, Garvin founded AGA Public Realm Strategists (formerly known as Alex Garvin and Associates), a strategic consulting firm “that specializes in the development of the public realm—a city’s streets and squares, sidewalks and buildings, waterfront and parks.”

In 2004, the firm was hired by the

Atlanta BeltLine, a network of green spaces and parks along a loop of rights-of-way of freight railroad corridors that encircle Atlanta. The 22-mile loop would connect the city's 46 neighborhoods and 13 new and renovated “jewels” (public parks, squares, and plazas).[7] The Beltline would begin as a public greenway and paved trail for jogging, cycling, and walking and later incorporate a light rail transit system, supported by increased tax revenue from private development spurred by the trail. In 2005, the BeltLine Partnership (later Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.) was formed to administer the project. The first portions of the BeltLine opened to the public in 2008.[8]

Other activities

As part of his private practice, Garvin created a number of master plans including those of Hinton Park, Tennessee;

Shelby Farms Park in Tennessee.[10]

Personal life

Garvin was born in New York City on March 8, 1941, to Jacques and Margarita (Volpe) Garvin. His parents were born in Russia.[11] In 1962, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from Yale College and later both a Masters in Architecture and a Masters in Urban Studies from the Yale School of Architecture in 1967.[12] Garvin was a member of the Yale Russian Chorus in its early years, contributing substantially during trips to Russia in the late 1950s because of drawing skills, and his knowledge of and enthusiasm for American abstract art. He resided in New York City on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where he lived for most of his life.[13]

Garvin died on December 17, 2021, at the age of 80.[14]

References

  1. ^ Goldberger, Paul (20 December 2021). "Alexander Garvin, Visionary City Planner, Is Dead at 80". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Alexander D. Garvin". Yale School of Architecture.
  3. ^ Vitullo-Martin, Julia (30 August 2007). "West Village Houses a Monument to a 1960s Development Battle". The Sun. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Biography". AGA Public Realm Strategists.
  5. ^ Angotti, Thomas (2008). New York for Sale: Community Planning Confronts Global Real Estate. Cambridge: The MIT Press. p. 213.
  6. ^ Swett, Richard (2005). Leadership by Design. Atlanta, Georgia: Greenway Communications. p. 292.
  7. ^ The Beltline Emerald Necklace: Atlanta's New Public Realm. New York: Alex Garvin & Associates, Inc. December 15, 2004.
  8. ^ "Project History". The Atlanta Beltline. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Parks and Public Space". AGA Public Realm Strategists.
  10. ^ "Public Realm Strategies". AGA Public Realm Strategists.
  11. ^ "JACQUES GARVIN IS DEAD FOUNDED CLARIDGE FOOD - The New York Times".
  12. ^ "Alexander D. Garvin". Yale School of Architecture.
  13. ^ Gardner, Ralph. "Trying to Love 86th Street". No. June 11, 2011. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  14. ^ Dimiceli, Vince (18 December 2021). "Exalted urban planner Alexander Garvin dies at 80". The Real Deal. Retrieved 21 December 2021.

Further reading

External links
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