Principal
Michael A. Stern, ASLA
Michael Stern has been involved in aspects of urbanism, city-building, and public landscapes throughout his professional career. The focus of his work has always been to improve the quality of urban places through the practical application of sound design principles rooted in humanist values of urbanism. He has worked on a broad range of urban projects from urban plazas, to downtown plans, to planning new edge cities.
Michael's recent projects at Strada include the Majestic Star Casino, the Fifth and Forbes Plan to revitalize the retail core of Downtown Pittsburgh, the Del Monte Center on Pittsburgh's North Shore, "The Crossroads" revitalization plan in Washington, PA and a town center plan for Hermitage, PA. As the leader of Strada's urban design and landscape architectural efforts he is often also involved in the early stages of architectural projects.
Before forming Strada, Michael's practice in Pittsburgh involved him in many of the city's major urban design and planning efforts. He served as the Project Director and Urban Designer for the Pittsburgh Downtown Plan, the first comprehensive master plan for the greater Downtown area in 35 years. He also completed the Pittsburgh Regional Parks Master Plan, a restoration plan for the city's four major parks in collaboration with LaQuatra Bonci Associates. Prior to locating in Pittsburgh, he practiced in the New York firms of Cooper, Robertson & Partners and Quennell Rothchild Associates, and then taught for five years as a faculty member of the Department of Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, University of Virginia.
Michael has lectured widely, and has published and edited numerous articles and journals on urban design and landscape design theory. His work on the Downtown Plan, the Regional Parks Master Plan and the Downtown Bedford Plan has won several awards. Michael is active in the Urban Land Institute, both locally and nationally, and he is the current chair of the Pittsburgh District Council. He received a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Design School in 1984 and a BA in Anthropology from Grinnell College in 1975.