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04.20.2009 Sasaki's Chase Mills Wins 'Innovation in Green Design' Award In anticipation of the organization's celebration of Earth Day on April 22, the Massachusetts Affiliate of the United States Green Building Council has presented its Innovation in Green Design Award (left) to Sasaki Associates for the renovation of the historic Chase Mills, Sasaki's offices in Watertown, MA. The riverfront assemblage of buildings dates to the 1850s and was certified LEED EB Gold in Fall 2008. Noting that Sasaki extends its sustainability principles into areas such as firm-wide recycling and subsidization of alternative transportation, the jury commented: "The Chase Mills project is especially commendable because it creates a ripple effect by influencing employee behavior which they can practice in their own homes."
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04.20.2009 Sasaki Among Three Finalists for Prestigious Burnham Memorial Sasaki Associates has been named one of three finalist firms in a major competition to design the Daniel Burnham Memorial proposed for Chicago's Grant Park. The other finalists are David Woodhouse Architects of Chicago and Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects of Chicago. All three firms now move to the next and final phase of the competition and will present their developed designs to the jury in June. When a winner is chosen in late June, all three proposals will be put on display to the public. The competition is part of the Burnham Plan Centennial Celebration honoring the legacy of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago, the first comprehensive planning document guiding the growth of an American city. |
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04.20.2009 Abu Dhabi Education Park Wins National SCUP/AIA Award Sasaki's master plan for the Abu Dhabi University Education Park (left) has won a 2009 Honor Award from SCUP/AIA for Excellence in Planning for a District. Built upon the most successful models of university research parks around the world, ADUEP will contain research and development labs, business incubators and affiliated offices along with retail services and residential units to create a 24-hour, pedestrian-friendly environment that is also an extension of the existing Abu Dhabi University campus. ADUEP is one of only 7 winners among 200 entries in the Excellence in Planning for a District category. |
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04.20.2009 Markman, Quinn Urge Class to Rethink San Francisco Civic Space Jesse Markman and Meghen Quinn of Sasaki's landscape architecture discipline in San Francisco are teaching a course this semester at the University of California Berkeley Extension titled Urban Dirt: Designing Sustainable Landscapes On Structure. As part of a collaboration between the university and the City of San Francisco, students in the class will generate ideas for re-imagining the city's Civic Center (left). Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to rezone the entire district into the Civic Center Sustainable Research District (CCSRD), and students will be challenged to look at the spaces at multiple scales and explore ways in which sustainable urban landscapes can be built directly onto structures, such as green roofs, podium deck plazas and elevated parks. Follow this link for more information on the Berkeley Extension program. |
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04.20.2009 University of Maine Master Plan Wins SCUP/AIA National Award Sasaki's master plan for the University of Maine campus at Orono (left) has won a 2009 National Merit Award for Excellence in Planning for an Established Campus from SCUP/AIA. More than 200 entries were submitted, out of which 17 awards were given -- 7 Honor Awards and 10 Merit Awards.
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04.20.2009 Pieprz Speaks at World Bank on 'Brownfield Regeneration' Sasaki President Dennis Pieprz spoke on April 2 at the World Bank in Washington, DC. His talk was titled "Sasaki Case Studies in Brownfield Regeneration." Among the case studies was Sasaki's plan for the 798 Arts District in Beijing (left), a former industrial precinct that is now a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood in the Chinese capital and home to numerous galleries, artists and other creative individuals.
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04.20.2009 Tepp, Meek and Elbaum on 'Building a Sustainable Practice' Sasaki architect Richard Tepp of the San Francisco office (left) and Elizabeth Meek and Meredith Elbaum of Watertown, Principal and Director of Sustainable Design, respectively, are authors of an article in the current issue of Contract Magazine. The article is titled "A Three-Pronged Approach: Keys to Building a Sustainable Design Practice." Follow this link to read the article (may require registration).
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04.20.2009 Janks, Parsons Quoted in Chronicle Article Sasaki's Greg Janks and Philip Parsons (left) are quoted in the current issue of Chronicle of Higher Education in an article titled "For Ever-Expanding Colleges, Space is the Final Frontier," dealing with space utilization on college campuses. Follow this link to the article (may require registration).
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04.20.2009 New Book Features Chapter by Sasaki A new book just published under the auspices of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), titled Campus Recreational Sports Facilities: Planning, Design and Construction Guidelines (cover, left) includes a chapter by David Dymecki and his colleagues in the Sasaki Sports Design Studio. The chapter explores whether, when and why institutions should consider renovating recreational facilities or building them from scratch. The book is available through the website of the publisher, Human Kinetics.
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04.20.2009 Port of San Diego Project Featured in New Book A new book just published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, America's Waterfront Revival: Port Authorities and Urban Redevelopment (cover, left) by Peter Hendee Brown features Sasaki's Port of San Diego North Embarcadero Visionary Plan. Sasaki principal Owen Lang is pictured in the book conducting one of the many community/stakeholder meetings that helped the project garner wide civic support.
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04.19.2009 Springer Has a Lot to Say About 'Zero' at the BAC Fresh from the release of the report by the Massachusetts Zero Net Energy Building Task Force (MAZNEB), Sasaki architect Marcus Springer (left) delivered a talk on April 2 at the Boston Architectural College. Springer was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick as one of the architects who helped author the report, which explores ways to make the Bay State a national leader in standards for green design, especially in government-owned and operated buildings.
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04.19.2009 Benz to Speak in Pennsylvania on 'Preparing for the Storm' Sasaki principal Steve Benz (left) is a nationwide expert on stormwater management. May 2009 marks the 120th anniversary of the great Johnstown, PA, flood, and Benz will co-direct a session at a May 9 conference titled "Preparing for the Storm II: Stormwater Solutions for Pennsylvania." Benz will share the podium with Michele Adams, an engineer with Meliora Environmental Design. The event, in State College, PA, is co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. |
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04.19.2009 Sasaki Foundation Funds BAC 'Distinguished Visiting Critic' Each spring, with the support of the Hideo Sasaki Foundation, the Boston Architectural College appoints an Hideo Sasaki Distinguished Visiting Critic to conduct an advanced studio and exhibition at the College. This year the visiting critic is Boston architect Brian Healy. There will be an exhibition of the architect's work at the BAC at 320 Newbury Street from April 18 through May 3, and a lecture on April 28 at 6 p.m. followed by a reception and gallery talk.
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04.19.2009 Stadia Features Ad, Profile of Sasaki London-based Stadia, the world's preeminent stadium magazine, features a profile on Sasaki Associates in its March 2009 issue. Sasaki Sports Studio architect Tad Shultz is quoted in the profile. The issue also includes a full-page ad (left) by Sasaki headlined "Dream: Stadium Design Without Limits."
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04.17.2009 Ward, Hedlund Speak on 'Interdisciplinary Design' at Radcliffe Sasaki landscape architects Alan Ward and Peter Hedlund (left) gave the keynote speech at the recent annual meeting of the New England Landscape Design & History Association. Held at Harvard University's Radcliffe Gymnasium Hall on April 2, the talk was titled "Interdisciplinary Design: From Boston to Beijing." |
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04.17.2009 Hellendrung, Ford to Present Cedar Rapids Plan to ASLA The theme for the annual meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects in the fall is "Beyond Sustainability: Regenerating Places and People." It's hard to imagine a more appropriate example of this than the historic flooding in Cedar Rapids in June 2008, and its aftermath. With Sasaki as lead consultant in collaboration with numerous other firms, the city has approved the epic "Framework for Reinvestment and Redevelopment," a massive investment in flood infrastructure and enlightened urbanism (left). Sasaki's Jason Hellendrung and Gina Ford have been invited by the ASLA to present the project at the annual meeting, which will be September 18 to 21 in Chicago. Hellendrung also presented Sasaki's recent work in Cedar Rapids at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center's symposium "Living With Floods: From Science to Policy," on March 12 in Iowa City. |
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04.17.2009 Southworks Lakeside Featured in Two Asian Magazines Southworks Lakeside, the award-winning new waterfront community in Chicago, is featured in the current issues of two Asian magazines: Urban Space Design, published by the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture at Peking University in Beijing, and Southeast Asia Building, published in Singapore. Southworks Lakeside received a Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design for the American Institute of Architects in January, an award Sasaki shared with SOM.
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04.17.2009 Bates Commons Wins Construction Award The Dining Commons at Bates College (left) in Lewiston, ME, designed by Sasaki Associates and built by Consigli Construction, was honored on April 15 by the Associated General Contractors of Maine as the "Building Winner" at the Build Maine Awards. The citation reads: "This project features the innovative use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software and inclusion of the student and staff in designing a central campus dining and meeting place." Sasaki architects David Martin and Grace Nugroho accepted the award on behalf of the firm.
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04.17.2009 Grove Speaks on Chinese Development Trends Sasaki landscape architect Michael Grove (left) spoke at the Global Construction Summit held in Beijing April 14 through 16, where his talk centered on sustainable development and technologies being employed in projects in China. Grove will present a paper, "Regenerative Landscapes in China," at the International Making Cities Livable Conference, May 10 to 14 in Portland, OR. In Portland, Grove will speak in detail about key Chinese projects such as Caohai North Shore in Kunming, Qinhuangdao Seacoast and 798 Arts District in Beijing.
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03.19.2009 Massey Named Principal, Brouillette Vice President William A. Massey, AIA, LEED AP (left, above) and Maura Brouillette (left, below) have been named Principal and Vice President, respectively, at Sasaki Associates. Massey was named a principal in the architecture studio in Watertown, MA. He joined Sasaki in 2007; previously, he was an architect with Cannon Design in Boston and before that with Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbot. He received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an M.Arch. from Virginia Tech. Massey is active in several Boston community organizations including Mission Hill Main Streets. Previously Sasaki's Director of Human Resources, Maura Brouillette will continue as Vice President to oversee all personnel, recruiting, employee relations, change management and employee benefits functions at Sasaki, which currently has a total of 328 employees in its Watertown and San Francisco offices. Brouillette is an adjunct professor of Speech Communication and Business Communication at both Emerson College and Suffolk University. She is a graduate of Marist College and received an MA in Organizational Management from Suffolk University. |
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03.19.2009 Waterway Square Wins Park Design Excellence Award At its annual conference in February in Austin, The Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS) awarded its Park Design Excellence Award to the Fountains at Waterway Square at the Woodlands (left), designed by Sasaki. The award recognizes "One park development project that evidences high design quality and cooperation between design and parks professionals." The Fountains at Waterway Square debuted in 2008 and feature dancing waters choreographed to music. The Fountains are owned and operated by The Woodlands Township, located outside of Houston. |
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03.19.2009 Latest Issue of GreenNEWS Available The Winter 2009 issue of Sasaki GreenNEWS is now available. See the link at the upper right of this page for a pdf of the issue. |
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03.19.2009 Another Award for Southworks Lakeside; Project in ArchitectureWeek Following its AIA Honor Award in January, Southworks Lakeside in Chicago has received a 2009 Boston Society of Architects Sustainability Award. The landmark urban waterfront project was featured in the Feb. 11 issue of ArchitectureWeek, a web magazine. Sasaki is collaborating on the project with SOM. |
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03.19.2009 Harre Union Opens at Valparaiso University The new Harre Student Union at Valparaiso University (left) in Indiana opened recently to rave reviews by students, faculty and staff. The 200,000 square-foot, $50 million building, designed by Sasaki, is located at the very center of the Northwest Indiana campus, adjacent the school's iconic 1950s-era Chapel. The new Union consolidates all major student life activities under one roof -- dining, bookstore, a ballroom and multiple meeting venues. It is designed in the modernist spirit of the campus and, according to the University, "the essence of Valparaiso's mission to build a cohesive student body as well as the larger campus community's devotion to promoting future leaders." |
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03.19.2009 Purdue Unveils West Lafayette Master Plan As Indiana's Land Grant University, Purdue University has large land holdings around its main campus in West Lafayettte, IN. The University recently unveiled a master planned aimed at preserving this "irreplaceable natural resource" while directing growth for the university over the next 20 to 30 years. In February, Sasaki's Ricardo Dumont (left) gave a presentation to Purdue's Board of Trustees that laid out a plan for a compact, pedestrian-friendly core campus supported by a surrounding preserve of reforested lands that will serve multiple educational and recreational functions for both the university and the West Lafayette region. |
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03.19.2009 Atlantans May Get 'Crown Jewel' On Famous Main Street The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on March 13 that the board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has approved a proposal by Sasaki to change the location of the city's new concert hall. While the idea must get regulatory and other approvals, it would be a dramatic change of location from a side street to a site fronting directly on Peachtree Street (left), Atlanta's famed main avenue. "Sasaki has brought a solution that we did not think existed before," said Joe Bankoff, president of the Woodruff Arts Center. "It's just a remarkable opportunity."
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03.19.2009 Pieprz Gives Speech, 'Urban Design Framework,' at New Delhi Conference Sasaki president Dennis Pieprz gave a speech in the opening session of "Instant Cities: Landscape, Infrastructure and Urban Form," the Indian Society of Landscape Architects (ISOLA) annual conference in New Delhi Feb. 20 to 21. Pieprz's speech, titled "Urban Design Framework," detailed recent urban design and planning by the firm in China, Abu Dhabi, Ho Chi Minh City and Chicago. Other major speakers at the event included Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and landscape artist Mary Miss.
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03.19.2009 Pieprz On Panel at Harvard Business School India Conference At another event related to India, Pieprz (left) was on a panel, "Real Estate and Infrastructure -- Building Foundations of Success" at the India Conference at the Harvard Business School in Boston on March 15. Joining Pieprz were panel moderator Abha Joshi-Ghani, Manager of Urban Development at the World Bank; Songsu Choi, Lead Urban Economist, South Asia, of the World Bank; and David A. Smith, founder of the Affordable Housing Institute. The event was sponsored by the Harvard Business School South Asian Business Association. |
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03.19.2009 'Zero Net Energy Building' Task Force Completes Report Sasaki architect Marcus Springer (left) and his colleagues on the the Massachusetts Zero Net Energy Building Task Force (MAZNEB) just completed their report on ways to make the Bay State a national leader in standards for green design, especially in government-owned and operated buildings. The group's ambitious vision is described in the report as follows: "Imagine a future where buildings and homes produce as much energy as they consume, use minimal if any fossill fuel, and contribute, on balance, no additional carbon to our environment." Stating that in Massachusetts, "Buildings consume 54 percent of the energy in the Commonwealth," the report spells out specific energy-saving standards to be developed over the next decades for buildings in both the public and private sectors. Springer wrote an article on the group's progress for the February issue of "Chapter Letter," the Boston Society of Architects' newsletter. Follow this link to the article. For a pdf of the entire report, see link below. Download PDF (5,925K) |
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03.18.2009 Sasaki Hosts Japanese Group Touring U.S. Campuses Sasaki Associates recently hosted a group from International Christian University of Tokyo and Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei who were touring American campuses to gain insights into master planning and institutional growth issues. At Sasaki in Watertown, landscape architects Joe Hibbard and Takako Oji and planners Philip Perlin and Linda Eastley shared experiences on numerous American campuses. Oji (at far left of image) then accompanied the group on tours of two institutions for which Sasaki did master plans -- Boston College and St. George's School in Newport, RI. ICU is a private liberal arts institution founded in 1949 and located near Tokyo. It is among Japan's most highly rated academic institutions. |
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03.18.2009 UCSB Rec Center in Current Issue of Recreation Management The recreation center at the University of California Santa Barbara (left), designed by Sasaki, is in the current issue of Recreation Management magazine in an article titled "The Perfect Fit." See this link. |
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03.18.2009 Sasaki Graphic Design Work to be Featured in Print Magazine A client invitation (left) by Sasaki's Graphic Design studio was chosen out of hundreds of submissions to be featured in the prestigious Creativity + Commerce issue of Print Magazine in October 2009. The invitation and save-the-date card were fashioned from recycled corrugated cardboard. Because it was for an interior design event, the cardboard had lettering precisely lasered onto the surface, exposing the board's corrugated core and giving the piece a distinct architectural feel. |
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03.18.2009 Benz in LEED® Role at USGBC; Also To Peer Review NYC Guidelines In addition to advising multiple clients as head of Sasaki Sustainable Solutions, firm principal Steve Benz (left) is heavily involved with the USGBC as the organization forges the next generation of LEED categories. In early March, Benz attended a two-day LEED Technical Development Summit. Benz and his fellow members of the USGBC Sustainable Sites Technical Advisory Group are authoring Version 2011 of LEED. On March 23, Benz will participate in a New York City workshop to conduct a peer review of the upcoming Park Design of the 21st Century: High Performance Landscape Guidelines, to be published in June by the Design Trust for Public Spaces and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. According to the Design Trust, the guidelines "will revolutionize how New York City's green spaces are conceived and constructed." |
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03.18.2009 Sasaki is 'Firm in Residence' at Roger Williams for Spring Semester Sasaki Associates architects Pablo Savid and Jim Moses will be leading a studio at the Rhode Island-based Roger Williams University School of Architecture during the Spring Semester. Moses (standing in blue shirt) is seen here with a group of RW graduate students exploring alternatives for the University of Balamand in Tripoli, Lebanon, for which Sasaki is providing interdisciplinary urban design, architecture and landscape architecture services.
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03.17.2009 Exhibit Will Feature International Photographer Gurewitz "Images of Our World," the work of international documentary and fine art photographer Don Gurewitz will be on display at Sasaki in Watertown from March 25 to June 6. There will be an opening reception on March 26 from 5 to 7 p.m. Gurewitz specializes in capturing images from Africa, Asia and South America. His website is www.dongurewitzphotography.com |
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01.26.2009 Morgan Library Wins National McGraw-Hill 'Best of the Best' The new Soper Library at Morgan State University (left), already winner of three local and regional AIA awards, was just named Best Higher Education Project in McGraw-Hill Construction's first-annual "Best of the Best Awards." The national competition recognizes design and construction excellence based on regional winners from McGraw-Hill Construction's 11 nationwide publications. Mid-Atlantic Construction had already named the library as Institutional Project of the Year 2008. Sasaki was design architect in collaboration with Design Collective of Baltimore and Hess Construction + Engineering Services. |
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01.26.2009 New UMass Boston Center: An Engine for Innovation Sasaki is designing the interiors (left) and environmental graphics for a collaborative and interdisciplinary research and development center on the campus of the
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01.26.2009 Pieprz Joins Distinguished Global Architects in Mexico Forum Sasaki president Dennis Pieprz (left) was invited to speak along with several prominent global architects at the 17th International Symposium of Architecture at the University of Nuevo Leon in Monterey, Mexico, in late October. Included on the distinguished list were Chicago architect Mark Sexton of Krueck and Sexton, New York-based architect Carlos Zapata, Mexican architects Agustin Hernandez and Sebastian Mariscal, Chilean architect Santiago Raby and Australian architect Clinton Murray. The theme of the conference was "Generating Ideas, Transforming Spaces." |
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01.21.2009 Sasaki Wins AIA Honor Award For Southworks Lakeside In Chicago Sasaki has won a 2009 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design for the vast Southworks Lakeside development (left) on Chicago's Southside. Sasaki shares the award with SOM. Southworks Lakeside is the redevelopment of the former Southworks steel mill into a 600-acre new mixed-use community with distinct neighborhoods and more than 130 acres of parks and public spaces. "The site offers a milestone opportunity to create an innovative and sustainable new community that will be compact, pedestrian-oriented, and closely tied to transit, and that will connect people in the neighborhood to the lakefront for the first time in over a century," the AIA stated in announcing the award. |
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01.21.2009 For 2009, Sasaki Continues Prominent Role on USGBC Council Sasaki principal Steve Benz (left, upper) was re-elected on Jan. 15 as Chairman of the Leadership Council of the USGBC Massachusetts Membership Forum, following his tenure as Chairman during the group's inaugural year. Sasaki's Meredith Elbaum (left, middle) was elected Secretary of the Forum. The firm's Marcus Springer (left, lower) continues as Chairman of the Advocacy Committee, working at both the state and Federal levels advocating green design. The USGBC Massachusetts Membership Forum's 2009 Evening with Members is scheduled for Feb. 26 in downtown Boston and will feature Winston Vaughan from Environment Massachusetts, a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization providing in-depth research and practical ideas for real results for the Commonwealth's environment. Vaughan will speak on recent environmental successes in the Commonwealth. For more information on on similar events, click this link for updates on green news, USGBC updates, affiliate activities and local green building related events. |
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01.21.2009 Lacker Reappointed to Harleston Parker Jury Sasaki architect Stephen Lacker (left) has been reappointed by the Boston Society of Architects to the jury deciding the annual Harleston Parker Medal, considered one of the most prestigious architecture awards in New England. The North American headquarters of Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge, MA was recently given the Parker Medal for 2009.
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