Sara Bronin

The Paul S. Byard Memorial Lecture delivered by Sara Bronin, Professor at Cornell’s College of Architecture Art & Planning and Associate Member of the Cornell Law Faculty.

Sara Bronin is joined in conversation by Erica Avrami, James Marston Fitch Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation, and Jorge Otero-Pailos, Professor and Director of the MS. and Ph.D in Historic Preservation programs at Columbia GSAPP.

This lecture is held in person and is open to Columbia University affiliates with a Green Pass, and will be live-streamed for the general public on the GSAPP YouTube Channel.

Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American architect and attorney whose interdisciplinary research focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places. As a leading voice on historic preservation law and related land use practices, Bronin was recently nominated by the Biden administration to chair the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). The council advises the president and congress on decisions and policies that promote the preservation and enhancement of national historic resources.

In addition to her books and treatises on land use and historic preservation law, Bronin has written over two dozen articles on renewable energy, climate change, housing, urban planning, transportation, real estate development, and federalism. Her forthcoming book, Key to the City (W.W. Norton Press), will explore how zoning rules rule our lives. She advises the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Sustainable Development Code, serves on the board of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, and leads Desegregate Connecticut. Previously, she led the award-winning, unanimously-adopted overhaul of the zoning code and city plan of Hartford, Connecticut, and spearheaded the city’s first climate action plan. Bronin holds a juris doctor from Yale Law School, a master of science from the University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar), as well as a B.Arch. and B.A. from the University of Texas–Austin.

The Paul S. Byard Memorial Lecture celebrates the legacy of Paul S. Byard, Director of Historic Preservation at Columbia GSAPP from 2000-2008. The lecture has previously been given by Annabelle Selldorf, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, Cruz y Ortiz, Francine Houben, and Nieto Sobejano among others.

Organized by Columbia GSAPP. Free and open to the public. GSAPP is committed to providing universal access to all of our virtual events. Please contact events@arch.columbia.edu to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

This event content is equivalent to 1 AIA/CES total learning credit, 1 total credit earned. AIA. Please contact events@arch.columbia.edu for more information.