20 years, 20 champions. Each instrumental in Design Trust's lasting impact on NYC's public realm. Each another journey.

Hear each champion's story, one every day here on our blog, culminating with a grand celebration on October 14, at Christie's. While enjoying a festive evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction of art and design, you'll also meet the 20/20 Public Space Champions in person.

Join us to celebrate our champions, who have tirelessly been working to improve the daily lives of New Yorkers for two decades. Jumpstart the next 20 years of urban innovation by buying a ticket to the gala today.

Robert W. Balder, director of Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning in NYC, was pivotal in jumpstarting two of our projects; Under the Elevated: Reclaiming Public Space Below Transit Infrastructure in 2013, and Future Culture: Connecting Staten Island's Waterfront in 2014. His graduate studio at Cornell that combines rigorous research with real world applications, offers unparalleled experience to students of urban planning and landscape architecture. 

Robert and his stellar group of students unleashed the incredible potential beneath NYC's 700 miles elevated bridges, highways, subway tracks and rail lines. Their city-wide analysis of the elevated transportation network showed that it only makes sense to put millions of square feet of neglected space in efficient and enjoyable use for all New Yorkers. Learn more about Under the Elevated.

When it came to informing Staten Island's booming development when we started off the Future Culture project, it was Robert's studio once again that set an insightful foundation. His team examined the spatial, social and economic factors surrounding Staten Island's North Shore. Considering both current and future development, the team recommended different ways the North Shore’s existing cultural assets could contribute to greater connectivity among its neighborhoods, residents and visitors. Learn more about Future Culture.

Let's start with a fill-in-the-blank question. Public space is vital because…?

Robert: Public space is vital to understanding ourselves and our communities; they are the places where we encounter each other and participate in the communal life of the city.

Could you elaborate on this statement? What inspires your dedication to improve the daily lives of city dwellers? 

Having grown-up in and around New York City in the late 1960s and 70s, I was overwhelmed and disturbed by the decay and abandonment in many neighborhoods. I can vividly remember being in Yankee Stadium and seeing entire apartment buildings consumed in a cancer-like decay as fires moved through sections of the South Bronx. I wondered why and how was this possible in the nation’s most vital city. 

More importantly, I would contemplate on the question of “what could I do to contribute to its renewal.” It was that vision of a greater and more livable New York that inspired me to focus my professional and academic efforts on a broad range of initiatives in all five boroughs. 

Currently, as the director of Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning in NYC, I share that inspiration with our students as they engage in a variety of planning and urban design assignments. They share that same desire to make the city more sustainable and equitable. 

However, there are times when the students are overwhelmed by the challenges ahead, especially in an era of climate change. That’s when I tell them of the improvements that have been made in recent decades and remind them “it always seems impossible until it’s done” (Nelson Mandela).