Urban Design Associates


Urban Design Associates is an international urban design and architecture firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

History

Urban Design Associates was founded in 1964 by David Lewis, FAIA, and Raymond Gindroz, FAIA, as one of the earliest architecture firms to concentrate on the design of neighborhoods and cities. Lewis and Gindroz pioneered methods for engaging citizens in the design of community centers, schools, and neighborhoods.
The firm is known for refining and developing public planning process and authored The Urban Design Handbook, Techniques and Working Methods, a textbook published by W. W. Norton & Company. UDA has advanced urban design as an important branch of the architecture profession and co-founder David Lewis was influential in creating the Regional Urban Design Assistance Team service of the American Institute of Architects, and organized the “Remaking Cities” conference that was held in Pittsburgh in 1988 to address post industrial cities. UDA co-founder Ray Gindroz was also a founding member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and was influential in formulating policies and standards with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Congress for the New Urbanism for the design of mixed-income neighborhoods under the federal HOPE VI program. UDA has been recognized for resurrecting the pattern book as a regulatory design tool for developers and municipalities as indicated in "The Architectural Pattern Book, A Tool for Building Great Neighborhoods”. UDA authored pattern books include Celebration, Florida, WaterColor, Florida, and Ellon, Aberdeenshire in Scotland.,

Developments

The Urban Design Associates portfolio of work includes urban design, transit, and community development projects working with local and regional governmental authorities and private developers in North America, Europe, and Eurasia. Sample projects include:
American Institute of Architects
Congress for the New Urbanism
Institute for Classical Architecture and Arts
Presidential Design Award
Urban Land Institute
American Institute of Certified Planners
City of Moscow
Toronto Architecture & Urban Design