LECTURE Albany's Brush with Beauty: The Brunner-Lay Plan of 1914

Our guest speaker is John Pipkin, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Geography and Planning at the University at Albany.

John Pipkin, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Geography and Planning at the University at Albany

Studies for Albany, the Plan for Albany by Arnold Brunner and Charles Downing Lay as part of the City Beautiful movement, was unveiled with much fanfare in June 1914. The attractive and occasionally perceptive document prompted wide public enthusiasm for planning in Albany. Municipal planning, which rapidly followed, repudiated many of Brunner's ideals. This talk will explore the aspirations, failings, and surviving vestiges of Brunner's work in Albany.

  • Free admission

A field trip in Albany linked to the Plan will be offered in Spring 2019, supported by Washington Park Conservancy.

IMAGE: Coat of Arms of the City of Albany, attributed to Ezra Ames (1768-1836), c. 1825, oil on canvas, permanent deposit by the City of Albany, 1971.12.50

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