Project:
New Urbanism Forum

Date:
October 26, 2005

Location:
The Gund Hall
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Event Organizer:
Toti Paliza
Harvard REDClub
Real Estate Development Club

Poster Design:
Toti Paliza

Speaker:
Craig Robins

Profile:

CRAIG ROBINS

Craig Robins is the President of Dacra Development, a company that is an innovator in creative real estate development. Founded by Robins in 1987, Dacra was responsible for the restoration and preservation of Miami Beach Art Deco landmarks including the Marlin and the Netherlands Hotels, and for developing projects on Lincoln Road and Española Way.

Over the past seven years, Dacra has spearheaded the redevelopment of the Miami Design District, a previously neglected neighborhood of 1920s and 1930s buildings and abandoned factories. Robins worked with celebrated urban planners and architects to rehabilitate and refocus the neighborhood, spurring both urban renewal and an increased awareness of design. Since 1998, more than 50 showrooms, including Knoll, Kartell, Poliform, Holly Hunt and Luminaire Contract have opened in the neighborhood. In addition, 40 architecture and design firms, including Oppenheim Architecture and Design, Luis Pons, and Alison Spear, are now headquartered in this creative center. Dacra recently announced a $220 million expansion of the Design District, with a master plan by Duany Plater-Zyberk. New mixed-use buildings by Keenen Riley Architects, Craig Konyk, Ali Tayar, Khoury & Vogt Architects and Cure & Penabad Architects are being built. Also, Keenen Riley Architects and Proun Space Studio have designed two Mies van der Rohe-inspired courtyard houses as part of the expansion project.

Dacra’s mission to build and revitalize communities is accomplished by merging forward thinking urban design and architecture, and cutting edge public art projects. AQUA, Dacra’s just completed new urbanist-inspired residential community on Alison Island, is a new model for luxury living on Miami Beach. Envisioned as an alternative to the high-rise condominiums that crowd the city’s shoreline, AQUA consists of 151-units, both houses and mid-rise condominiums (The island has personal significance for Robins-AQUA stands on the former site of the St. Francis Hospital, where he was born.) Designed by urban planners Duany Plater-Zyberk and a group of outstanding architects including: Walter Chatham, Alex Gorlin, Alison Spear, Hariri & Hariri, Emanuela Frattini Magnuson, Brown Demandt, Suzanne Martinson, Albaisa Musumano, Allan Shulman and Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners. AQUA is the first new urbanist-inspired project to use a modern architectural vocabulary. To add to the uniqueness of this project, Robins commissioned artists Richard Tuttle and Guillermo Kuitca to do their first site-specific, public art projects at AQUA.

Additionally, Robins founded Bridge House, a small media company, in 1994. Bridge House provides graphic design, web design, and marketing services, manages the Craig Robins art collection, develops media projects and publishes children’s books and books about art. Bridge House published a companion book for a Kai Altoff exhibition that originated at The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.