Diana Balmori, founding principal of Balmori Associates, brings a breadth of experience in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, ecology, architectural history and sustainability to her New York-based landscape urban design office. Recognized internationally, Dr. Balmori has been honored by numerous institutions, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Institute of Architects. In 2006, Dr. Balmori was appointed a Senior Fellow in Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC.; Dr. Balmori serves her second term on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. A design educator as well as practitioner, Dr. Balmori, holds a joint appointment with the Yale School of Architecture and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Balmori Associates, founded by Diana Balmori in 1990, is acknowledged worldwide for its success in realizing complex urban projects that integrate innovative sustainability systems and patterns of use within an overarching sense of place.
The firm has created a number of influential master plans including their blueprint for Bilbao, Spain, which introduced green space and sustainable practices into a largely 19th Century cityscape and waterfront. This project was recently awarded the Special Award ‘Citta d’Aqua’ of the Biennale di Venezia for the Best Project.
The firm’s innovative designs reinterpret parks and public spaces as active shapers of the surrounding urban landscape. For a park competition in Shenzhen, China, the firm proposed a series of pathways as strands weaving through the city that expand and contract to create nodes of activity and cultural spaces. For New York City, Balmori Associates designed the equestrian venue in Staten Island for the proposed 2012 Olympics in collaboration with Joel Sanders Architects: Sculpted earth mounds shape the site, providing a graceful elevated pathway for spectators and a sustainable network of parks for the community both during the Olympic games and the post-games legacy.
Working at another scale, Balmori Associates has designed public plazas for the NTT Headquarters in Tokyo and a range of university courtyards including the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, the University of California at Riverside, and Vassar College. The recipient of numerous awards, from such organizations as the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects, Balmori Associates is currently installing over 45,000 square feet of green roofs in a manufacturing / residential neighborhood of Queens, NY. These pilot projects are the first stage of Balmori Associates’ “Long Island (Green) City” proposal which would create a network of green roofs spanning over 12 million square feet.
Diana Balmori
Balmori Associates, New York
(212) 431 9191
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