Scott Merrill Wins the 2012 Seaside Prize
Seaside, Florida | November 8, 2011
The ceremony will take place as part of the Seaside Prize weekend events, which is being held on Friday, January 27th and Saturday, January 28th in
Architect and lead designer for Merrill Pastor and Colgan Architects, Merrill is a graduate from the
During that period, Merrill designed the first row of rental cottages along the coast. Those cottages became known as the Honeymoon Cottages. He went on to design the Motor Court, the Seaside Chapel, several individual homes in Seaside, the Rosemary Beach Town Hall, and, as of yet, un-built mixed-use buildings in Alys Beach.
In 1990, Merrill started his own practice in
Merrill's first project as a sole practitioner received a national AIA Design Award in 1990. In 2000, the firm's first group of buildings received a national AIA Urban Design Award. Their first public building received a national AIA Design Award in 2004 followed by the Arthur Ross Award from the
Recent work includes projects in
Much of this work has been in master plans by
________________________________________________________
Successful Seaside Prize Ceremony Held
Seaside, Florida | Feb. 1, 2011
[photos of the event can be found in the three embedded links below]
A record number of people traveled to
In addition to the Prize ceremony, which was held in the newly-. almost-completed amphitheater located in the heart of
In addition to the Prize ceremony, which was attended by more than 200 people, the Institute sold tickets to a Leaders Wine and Dine luncheon, which was held at the former
There were a few surprises at the Prize ceremony the greatest being that the weather was beautiful (a sunny 70 degrees by mid-day) and that it was held on the amphitheater stage – an iffy proposition up until the last minute as workers scrabbled to finish on time.
To celebrate its near completion, a ribbon-cutting took place at the start of the Prize ceremony. Though Leon Krier, the lead designer of the project, was not in attendance, many others who contributed to its reality were on-hand: Tom Stein, Dan Parolek, Ty Nunn, Pam Avery, Leo Casas, Mick Dunn and Robert Davis.
At the conclusion of the ribbon-cutting, Stein, who supervised the amphitheater construction and is a long-time friend of the
After Prize recipient, Dhiru Thadani, was introduced by his friend and well-known new urban leader, Andres Duany, Thadani gave an interesting presentation that included some images form his home town in India, work he has done in the past, and some recently drawn images he created during his January sojourn as an “escapee” with the Escape to Create program in Seaside.
To conclude the evening, local resident Jillian Tucker presented an 11-minute sneak preview of a documentary about
Following the program, the, now, slightly chilly crowd sauntered across the street to Bud and Alley’s where a dinner was held.
_________________________________________________________
2011 Seaside Prize Held on January 28 and 29
Seaside, Florida — The Seaside Institute will award this year's Seaside Prize to renowned architect and urbanist, Dhiru Thadani. The Seaside Prize is awarded annually to individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to the quality and character of our communities. The ceremony will take place as part of the Seaside Prize weekend events, which is being held on Friday, January 28th and Saturday, January 29th.
Since 1980 Thadani has practiced architecture and urbanism in Asia, Europe and North and Central America. He was born in Bombay, India, and moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the Catholic University of America from 1972-1978 where he received his undergraduate and graduate education in architecture. During his 33 years in Washington, D.C. Thadani has taught, practiced and worked to place architecture and urbanism in the public eye. Since its formation in 1993, he has been a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and was appointed to the board in 2005.
From 2000 to 2005, he served as chair of the CNU's Design Task Force and has undertaken and completed many initiatives. Thadani has been involved in new developments, urban retrofits, neighborhood revitalization and infill densification. For the past 20 years, he has been the lead designer for several real estate developments in first and third world countries. The developments range in scale from government-sponsored autonomous new towns for 500,000 inhabitants to smaller resort communities for 900 residents, as well as small-scale residential infill interventions in revitalizing neighborhoods. He is the author of "The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary," to be published by Rizzoli in fall 2010 and co-editor of "Léon Krier: The Architecture of Community," published in 2009 by Island Press.
Previous recipients of the Seaside Prize include the six founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, architects Peter Calthorpe, Elizabeth Moule, Stephanos Polyzoides, Daniel Solomon, Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk; historian and scholar Vincent Scully; architects Christopher Alexander, Leon Krier, Robert A.M. Stern, Alex Cooper, Jaquelin Robertson, Donlyn Lyndon, Aldo Rossi, Giancarlo DeCarlo; writer and civic activist Jane Jacobs; Mayor of Charleston Joseph P. Riley, Jr.; Seaside town founders Daryl and Robert Davis; authors Witold Rybczynski and James Howard Kunstler; urban designer Allan B. Jacobs; and Hank Dittmar, urban designer and chief executive of The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. The recipients of the Prize have had a major influence on how our towns and cities can best be built and rebuilt to reflect and promote diversity, walkability, beauty, and sustainability. Seaside Prize recipients are considered the leaders of contemporary urban development and education.
The Seaside Institute is a non-profit organization, which promotes the building of sustainable communities in cities and towns through design and education. The Institute, through its members and programs, contributes significantly to the dissemination of the new urban/smart growth ideals and information. Located in the town of Seaside, Fla., the Institute helps people find solutions to improve their own communities. It sponsors a wide variety of programs to train and educate specialists and decision-makers, as well as the broader public, regarding the built environment.
For more information about The Seaside Institute, you may call 850.231.2421.
�