PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When architect Friedrich St. Florian looks to the former Route 195 land, he sees more than the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to create new knowledge economy-based jobs that so many Rhode Islanders see.
"It should also be a contribution, really, to the 21st-century urban design," says the Providence-based architect who designed the World War II Memorial in Washington and was project architect of the Providence Place mall. "What are the expectations of urban development in our new century?"
With his historic knowledge of architecture's importance, St. Florian worried two years ago after Governor Chafee appointed commissioners to the Route 195 Redevelopment District Commission and spoke out against the lack of an architect on the powerful land panel. In response, St. Florian collaborated with two other professors to hold a joint urban design studio for advanced students at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design.