The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce named Pratt’s redesigned Engineering Quadrangle the winner of the 2015 Building Brooklyn Award for the Landscape and Open Space category. Held annually, the awards event recognizes recently completed construction and renovation projects that improve the borough’s diverse neighborhoods and economy. Thirteen projects in various categories were selected to receive awards at this year’s ceremony, which was held on July 21 in the newly restored Kings Theatre on Flatbush Avenue. Pratt Institute President Thomas F. Schutte and Executive Director of Planning, Design, Construction, and Facilities Management Glenn Gordon were present to accept the award.
The redesign of the Engineering Quadrangle was a collaborative effort by Pratt alumnus and Trustee Emeritus Bruce M. Newman (B.F.A. Interior Design ’53), recent architectural graduates from Pratt and CUNY, and the Office of Facilities Management. The Quadrangle, bounded by the Chemistry, Machinery, and Engineering Buildings, was reconstructed to allow for better circulation and enhanced aesthetics, and to reinforce the design cohesiveness of the campus.
The Building Brooklyn Awards judging committee—comprised of architects, planners, government officials, economic development experts and business leaders —convened last spring to select the winning projects.
“The borough of Brooklyn is truly an innovation hub, where builders and designers can put their craft to use and enhance the city that surrounds them, said Chamber President & CEO Carlo A. Scissura. “These projects represent the creative influence and inventive culture that inhabit our borough. I would like to congratulate all the winners for their state-of-the-art projects that make this urban setting a place the world needs to see.”
More information on the Building Brooklyn Awards can be found here.
Image: L-R: Pratt Institute Executive Director of Planning, Design, Construction, and Facilities Management Glenn Gordon, Pratt Institute Director of Planning and Design Kimberlae Saul, President Institute President Thomas F. Schutte, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Denise Arbesu, and New York State Assembly Members Roxanne Persaud and Jo Anne Simon (photo by Georgine Benvenuto)