Baltimore, MD (January 16, 2019) –AIA Baltimore presents Blueprint for Better Communities – McKeldin Plaza. The short film depicts an urban design research and community engagement project for downtown Baltimore’s McKeldin Plaza led by the AIA Baltimore Urban Design Committee and the Neighborhood Design Center, with funding from AIA National.

The Inner Harbor is Baltimore’s living room. It’s where we as a city gather for events, and where we welcome visitors from outside our metropolis. Located at the corner of the harbor, McKeldin Plaza is an ideal gathering place. The former Brutalist fountain anchoring this space has been removed, and temporary landscaping awaits the plaza’s revitalization as a civic space. Architects from AIA Baltimore’s Urban Design Committee (UDC) and the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC), and students from the Morgan State University School of Architecture + Planning used methodology developed by the Gehl Institute to study how the plaza is functioning as public space, and how it might be modified to be a more welcoming and inclusive place. The team also collaborated with students from the University of Maryland Landscape Architecture program who developed design concepts for this public space. These design concepts, along with the site analysis were presented at a D Center Conversation on December 5 2018, at a public forum for discussing design in Baltimore.
There is still a lot of work to be done. The Urban Design Committee will be sharing the video and meeting with stakeholders to discuss the future of the site.