The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) offers a variety of presentations that engage people and communities in conversation about transformative urban development and innovative approaches to critical issues facing American cities. These include in-person and virtual events, presentations, and webinars produced by the RBA, often in collaboration with other local and national partners in cities across the country. The presentations delve into the extraordinary process of placemaking, sharing the stories of award-winning urban development, personal experience and insight from people engaged in urban design and development in cities across America, and observations and lessons learned gleaned from the RBA’s more than three decades of exploring urban excellence.

2022

Building Inclusive Places: Engaging and Empowering People and Communities with Design
SCOUT Interventions: Amplify!
Northeastern University

Changing the Narrative: Engaging and Empowering the Next Generation
Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community
American Institute of Architects

Female Disruptors
Women In Design
CBT Architects

Leading Change with Cross Sector Partnerships
Massachusetts Arts Funders Meeting
Philanthropy Massachusetts

2021

Inspiring Design: Creating Beautiful, Just, and Resilient Places in America (14- session series)
Spring 2021 Myra Kraft Open Classroom
Northeastern University

Leading with Vision: The Method Not the Magic
Enterprise Community Partners

Design for Advocacy: Fostering Conversation about Boston’s Future
Intersections: Equity, Environment + the City
Boston Society for Architecture, BosNOMA, Women in Design

2020

Sustaining Vibrant Urban Places in a Time of Social Distancing
Association of Architecture Organizations, Chicago Architecture Center

Five Projects that Change the Narrative of Urban Development
Architecture Boston Expo (ABX)
Boston Society for Architecture

Navigating Change
2020 Design Matters Conference: Radical Transformation
Association of Architecture Organizations

Pandemic Design: Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Resilient Places
Fall 2020 Myra Kraft Open Classroom
Northeastern University

Learning from Practice: The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
MA Arts Funders Network Meeting
Philanthropy Massachusetts

2019

ACSA Pittsburgh 4th Annual Housing & Community Development Workshop
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture/American Institute of Architects

Better Together: Creating an Inclusive Vertical Urban Village
Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community Webinar
American Institute of Architects

Community Design: Expanding the Definition of Practice
Designing for a Commons Transition Symposium
Carnegie Mellon University

Avenues of Exchange: Professionals, Researchers, and Communities Building the Equitable City Pre-conference Workshop
107th ACSA Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture/American Institute of Architects

2018

Investing in Urban Infrastructure
Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community Webinar
American Institute of Architects

Learning from the Long View: The Changing Roles of Landscape Architecture in the 21st Century
Architecture Boston Expo (ABX)
Boston Society for Architecture/Boston Society of Landscape Architects

Urban Equity: Restoring and Renewing Communities
National Planning Conference in New Orleans
American Planning Association

Show Me the Green: Parks as the Basis for Equitable Urban Redevelopment
EDRA48 Conference in Oklahoma City
Environmental Design Research Association

Transformative Urban Places: Learning from the Long View
CityLab Intensive Program
Boston Architectural College

Avenues of Exchange: Ecology and Equity Pre-conference Workshop
106th ACSA Annual Meeting in Denver
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture/American Institute of Architects

Learning from Practice: The Rudy Bruner Award
Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning

2017

Boston’s Southwest Corridor: Parks, Development, and Transit Empower Three Urban Neighborhoods
Local Sustainable Economies: Building Entrepreneurship & Community Resilience
Sustainable Business Council/Northeastern University

Creating Excellent Urban Places: Learning from the Rudy Bruner Award
54th Annual Conference on Public Places for Community, Democratic Dialogue, Health & Equity
International Making Cities Livable

Positioning LA as a Sustainable Urban Center: La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park
Responsible Property Investment Council Meeting
Urban Land Institute

Evaluating Urban Excellence
ABX2017/GREENBUILD International Conference and Expo
US Green Building Council/Boston Society for Architecture

Avenues of Exchange: Professionals, Educators, and Communities Building Equitable, Healthy, and Resilient Cities Pre-conference Workshop
105th ACSA Annual Meeting
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture/American Institute of Architects

2016

Awarding Excellence in Housing Design
105th ACSA Annual Meeting
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture/American Institute of Architects

Designing for Equity
Reshaping Rochester Lecture Series
Rochester Regional Community Design Center

It’s Never Just About Housing
National Planning Conference
American Planning Association

More Then Housing: Increasing Equity in Design
Louisiana Housing and Homeless Coalition
Louisiana Housing Corporation

Creating More Than Housing
Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community
American Institute of Architects

Placemaking
Johnstown’s Vision 2025: Riverwall Revitalization Charrette
Harvard Loeb Fellowship

Stories from the Field Sharing Ideas and Expertise from the Rudy Bruner Award
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

Infrastructure and the City
ABX2016
Boston Society for Architecture

2015

Inspiring Excellence in Housing Design
Excellence in Multifamily Housing Design
Connecticut Housing Coalition

Designing for Equity
Design, Development & Democracy Forum

Advancing Conversation about Making Cities Better: Expanding the Bruner Loeb Forum Partnership
Loeb 45
Harvard Loeb Fellowship

Boston Creates: Developing a Cultural Plan for the City
ABX2015
Boston Society for Architecture

2014

Designing for Equity
ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX)
Boston Society for Architecture

Igniting Change: A Riverfront and a Steel Yard
Greater and Greener Boston
Trustees Collaborative for Parks and Greenspace

Reshaping the Public Realm of American Cities with 21st Century Park
National Planning Conference
American Planning Association

So You Want to Change the World?
ABX2014
Boston Society for Architecture

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
Boston Planning and Development Agency
City of Boston and Barr Foundation

Advancing Conversation about Placemaking and Practice
Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community
American Institute of Architects

Engaging Your Community in Design
Novem Mason Symposium on Community-Engaged Design
University of North Carolina – Greensboro

2013

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence: Judging the Quality of Urban Design
Introduction to Urban Design and Development
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community
American Institute of Architects

Creating Great Urban Places: Learning from the Award Winning Projects
Architecture Boston Expo (ABX)
Boston Society for Architecture

Healing Places and People: The Providence River Relocation Project
EDRA44
Environmental Design Research Association

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
Dallas Center for Architecture

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence: Expanding the Definition of Good Design
Urban Design Committee
Boston Society for Architecture

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
AIA Chicago

2012

Bridging Change with Design: The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
Design Matters Annual Conference
Association of Architecture Organizations

Stories from the Field: Sharing Ideas and Expertise from the Rudy Bruner Award
Association for Community Design

Placemaking, Grantmaking, Knowledge Building: The Rudy Bruner Award as an Innovative Research Model and Instrument for Urban Excellence
National Convention and Design Exposition
American Institute of Architects

2011

Changing the Framework: The Rudy Bruner Award
Urban Design Seminar: New Century Cities
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2010

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
National Endowment for the Arts

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
Massachusetts Institute of Technology