Richard A. Plunz

Richard Plunz is an Emeritus Professor of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, where he served as Chair of the Division of Architecture and Director of the post-professional Urban Design Program. He was also an Earth Institute Professor and the Founding Director of the Earth Institute’s Urban Design Lab. He is recognized for his extensive urban research, development, and design projects, both nationally and internationally, with particular expertise in urban infrastructure and housing. He has received the Andrew J. Thomas Pioneer in Housing Award from the American Institute of Architects for his contributions to housing research. A revised edition of his seminal work, A History of Housing in New York City (Columbia, 1992), was published in 2016.

Plunz is the author of numerous articles, studies, and reports on urban ecology and development, including The Urban Lifeworld (with P. Madsen, Routledge, 2002); Urban Climate Change Crossroads (with M.P. Sutto, Ashgate, 2010); City Riffs: Urbanism, Ecology, Place (Lars Müller, 2017); and New York_Global: Critical Writings and Proposals 1970–2020 (Actar, 2023). His long-term study of environmental change on the Turkish Aegean coast (with S. Ozkan) was published as Turgutreis 1974 (Literatür, 2016). His 1973 study, San Leucio: Vitalità d'Una Tradizione. Traditions in Transition, has recently been republished in Italian (Frammenti, 2023).

Plunz’s major research support has included funding from the Aga Khan Trust, the Ford Foundation, the United Health Foundation, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. His National Science Foundation support has covered projects related to urban infrastructural innovation, urban coastal resilience, and social media and urban public space.

Updated August 8, 2024