Poor Richard, An Almanac for Architects and Planners collects together commentary, proverbs, and witticisms that originally appeared via The Outlaw Urbanist. Drawing inspiration from American Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, as well as many others, author Mark David Major crafts anew a series of astute observations, common sense proverbs, and general rules of thumb for anyone interested in the architecture, urban design and planning of our cities. Often eloquent, occasionally biting, and always insightful, these witticisms offer a valuable resource for the entire year, daily reminders for everyone involved in the building of our cities of their better angels and warning them against the worse demons of human nature. The unmistakeable message of Poor Richard, An Almanac for Architects and Planners, with foreword by Julia Starr Sanford, is we can do better for our cities, we must do better for our cities, and, before the 20th century, we did do better for our cities.
About the Author: Mark David Major, AICP is an urban planner with 20 years of experience. He is a certified planner of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 2003, member of the American Planning Association (APA), and former Chair of the First Coast APA and member of the Executive Committee for APA Florida. He previously worked for U.S. national homebuilder Pulte Homes/Del Webb and Nassau County, Florida as a Senior Planner. He is a former Director of Space Syntax Limited, an urban design and planning consulting firm in London, England, where he was a design consultant to Foster & Partners, Richard Rogers Partnership, Zaha M. Hadid Architects, the British Government, and London Metropolitan Police among others. Mark lived in London for 8 years where he was a Lecturer and Course Director in the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning at University College London. He founded the International Space Syntax Symposia and co-edited the First International Space Syntax Symposium Proceedings. He has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Florida, Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, University of Texas, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Chicago, the Architectural Association in London, University of São Paulo in Brazil, Politecnico di Milano in Italy, and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. He was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He has a Masters of Science in Architecture from University College London, and Bachelors of Arts in Design (Architecture) and History from Clemson University in South Carolina. Poor Richard, AN Almanac for Architects and Planners is his eight book. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida.