Blueprints for renewal
Most of us have looked at an ugly building and thought: I could do better than that. Brent Ryan turned that idea into a career. Ryan, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, is a trained architect and outspoken advocate for the role of good design in city life. Indeed, his work is at the interchange of architecture and planning. Good architectural design, in Ryan’s view, is not only a matter of aesthetics but also linked to good ideas about planning. “Design is one of many forces that can contribute to improving society,” Ryan says. “As a physical piece of most people’s lives, it is very important.” Ryan’s sense that he could make contributions in this area dates back to his high school and college days in Connecticut, when he had a taste for exploring cities with a camera in hand, taking photographs of cityscapes. One day above all...