Architect Vishaan Chakrabarti announced the creation of the Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), a new professional services firm dedicated to the advancement of cities through cosmopolitan architecture and strategically innovative urban planning.
“We are at the beginning stages of a historic urban expansion,ˮ said Chakrabarti. “With a thorough understanding of the transforming 21st-century cosmopolitan landscape, the Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism will use design, architecture and urban planning to create an ecological network of empowered citizens, generous buildings, discursive public space, strong infrastructure and a thriving urban environment.”
Based in New York City, PAU will offer two main business services – architecture and strategic planning.
The latter will include tactical advice and advocacy, helping clients master plan and obtain entitlements for density and infrastructure at a macro-level. Initial clients include Sidewalk Labs, a new project with Two Trees Management, and a new cultural building in Manhattan.
Chakrabarti is an Associate Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (GSAPP). From 2012 to 2015, he was a principal at SHoP Architects where he co-led major architecture and urban design projects. He has also served as the Marc Holliday Professor and Director of the Master of Science in Real Estate Development program at Columbia’s GSAPP and, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was the Director of the Manhattan Office for the New York Department of City Planning.