F. Philip Barash works to shape more vibrant and just places.
Through journalistic and narrative writing, I expose stories about the changing American landscape. By facilitating urban planning projects, I contribute to shared places and social infrastructures of communities. And in my public curatorial and teaching practice, I engage contemporary issues that affect the built and natural environments.
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Common themes across my work include architecture and landscape, placemaking and public art, community engagement and civic projects, and equity and spatial justice.
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Obama Presidential Center: guiding principles for a future landmark
Before a center dedicated to the legacy of the first African-American President could become a reality, it required multiple stakeholders to share a unified vision. A Request for Proposals signaled clear intentions and an ambitious vision.
Place Leadership Network: philanthropic and policy investment in equitable public realm
An equitable placemaking initiative to invest philanthropic and policy resources into community groups that champion the public interest in the design, activation, and stewardship of the public realm.
Avenue of the Arts: asset-based plan for reimagining a cultural corridor
Boston’s cultural district was struggling with its identity. A visually striking asset map helped to illuminate boundaries, stakeholders, and aspirations, ahead of a comprehensive cultural planning effort.
Charlestown Navy Yard: visitor-centered vision for transforming an iconic site
An iconic national park, Charlestown Navy Yard is a rich site of intersecting histories of independence, power, race, and labor. Today, it is reinvigorating its storytelling and visitor engagement approach.
Designing for the urban sublime: the uncanny as a programmatic motivation in new city parks
The spaces that are most meaningful, the spaces that draw us back time after time, are precisely those that exercise upon us an effect that is irreducible either to the trade jargon of design or to bland entertainment programming.
Placemaking in the Loop: art, poetry, and wellness in Chicago’s central business district
Chicago’s downtown organization made its mission to program and activate public spaces. Through art, dance, retail, music, poetry, and innovative partnerships, the Loop transformed into a vibrant and inclusive destination.
Reston Town Center: updating a legacy commercial district
Reston Town Center is among the most vibrant commercial and entertainment districts in the Washington, D.C., area. But its public and commercial core had started to feel dated.
Echoes of the city: the making of Janet Echelman’s aerial sculpture
When the center dedicated to the legacy of the first African-American President was first conceived, the effort required multiple stakeholders to share a unified vision. A Request for Proposals signaled clear intentions and an ambitious vision.