Principal
Michael A. Stern, ASLA,
LEED AP
Michael has been involved in aspects of urbanism, city-building, and public landscapes throughout his professional career. The focus of his work has always been the search for successful ways to improve the quality of urban environments through the practical application of sound design principles rooted in enduring values of urbanism. He has worked on a broad range and scale of urban projects from urban garden design to planning new edge cities.
His professional experience in the New York firms of Cooper, Robertson & Partners and Quennell Rothchild Associates gave him broad training in the multiple aspects of planning, design, and construction of private and public urban precincts and landscapes. His subsequent teaching and research while a full-time faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Architecture focused on understanding the changing nature of urban form and organization in the face of new technologies and economies.
Through his private practice, prior to becoming a founding principal of Strada, Michael was involved in many of the city's major urban design and planning efforts. He led the Pittsburgh Downtown Plan, the first comprehensive master plan for the greater Downtown area in 35 years and the Pittsburgh Regional Parks Master Plan; documents that are still touchstones a decade after their completion. Recent Strada projects he has led include the Rivers Casino, Dick's Sporting Goods Corporate Headquarters, Hermitage Town Center Plan and the Larimer Neighborhood Vision Plan. Michael has lectured widely and published and edited numerous articles and journals on planning urban design and landscape design theory.