To bring a modern-day perspective to 19th century modes of residential planning, architecture school graduates Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk '72 and her husband Andres Duany '71 took to the drawing board.
Their critique of traditional suburban development took shape as New Urbanism, a movement whose influence is felt in urban planning offices across the nation.
"[New Urbanism] is based on a pragmatic consideration of what works best in the long-run in terms of the human habitat," Duany said.
The movement seeks to promote urban environmental responsibility, social integration and economic stability, Plater-Zyberk said. To that end, the architects draw inspiration from older designs of close-knit, resident-centered communities, and emphasize the use of trains and light rail in place of highways and roads.
"We are suggesting that perhaps we could be less dependent on vehicular mobility than we are now," Plater-Zyberk said.
New Urbanism, Duany explained, "has a higher ecological footprint" than suburban sprawl techniques, as a result of its decreased use of land, energy and pavement.
The movement, however, is driven not by the environment, but by the needs of the average worker.
"There's nothing less glamorous than dealing with the American middle class. But there's nothing more important," he said, adding that the middle class suffers from "a problem of very large numbers."
Like any movement, New Urbanism is not without its critics — among them Alex Marshall, author of "How Cities Work: Suburbs, Sprawl and the Road Not Taken."
"The problem is that, while these developments mimic the old 19th century streetcar neighborhoods, they keep the same transportation system that produces conventional suburbs," Marshall wrote in a Washington Post article.
"The Achilles' heel of New Urbanist developments has been their inability to change the way people shop, and the way retailers locate their stores," he wrote.
Duany refuted Marshall's criticism, asserting that Marshall "cannot stand the fact that we're working with the middle class. He wants us to spend all our time with the poor."
Despite its critics, Dean of Princeton's School of Architecture Stanley Allen GS '88 said New Urbanism is now an important part of the standard architecture curriculum.
"The real strength of what they've done is to create an alternative to traditional suburban development," he said. "Every student who's studying architecture today needs to know about New Urbanism."
Duany said his own experience at the School of Architecture was shaped largely by the presence of former dean Robert Geddes and Professor Emeritus Michael Graves. Since that period, he said, the School of Architecture has seen a drift from commitment to social responsibility to an overzealous concern with aesthetics. But, he said, "Princeton may be coming back."
The School of Architecture is perceived as having a "highly intellectual, cultural-studies approach to architecture," said Yale University's Alan Plattus GS '79, professor of architecture and urbanism, who studied architecture and served on the faculty here for seven years.
"For as long as anyone can remember, [the School] has had incredible strength in the history and theory of architecture," he said.
Anthony Burke, assistant professor of architecture at University of California, Berkeley's College of Environmental Design, said Princeton's School of Architecture's had a "particular emphasis on theory."
"It seems to produce a highly intellectual kind of architect," he said, contrasting Princeton's methods with the "more formally oriented school" of Columbia University.
Despite the perceived lack of practical application in the teachings of Princeton's School of Architecture, Duany and Plater-Zyberk's education here propelled them to graduate school at the Yale School of Architecture.
In 1980, they founded the architecture firm Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company, which employs New Urbanism in designing cities around the country.
Plater-Zyberk also serves as Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Miami, where Duany teaches seminars. Previously, Plater-Zyberk spent 14 years on Princeton's Board of Trustees as the head of the Grounds and Buildings Committee, but relinquished that position in 2002.
The pair faces numerous challenges as they try to implement New Urbanism throughout the United States.
"It's very hard to access economic protocol and how decisions are made," Duany said. "The biggest problem is when things are depersonalized."
But through the gradual move toward flexibility in zoning codes, road building engineering standards, and financial structure — partially as a result of New Urbanism itself — the movement is beginning to infiltrate urban planning methods, according to Plater-Zyberk.
"Don't trust me — just go visit a place. It's so tangible, what we do," Duany said. "It's real."
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