The 2019 Driehaus Award jury tours The Wharf in Washington, DC. Left to right: Kara Wilbur; Jury Chair, George Proakis; FBCI Executive Director, Marta Goldsmith; Michael Weich; Eric Kronberg.
The jury also considers what each crop of nominees says about the evolving practice of form-based coding—the progress made and challenges faced. Here’s what we have learned to date.
Fewer applicants, higher quality
In the early years of the program, the jury thumbed through up to 20 submissions as communities eagerly demonstrated attempts to reform their zoning. But most of the submissions seemed to fall short of the fundamental principles of form-based codes—ease of use, increased predictability, and the creation of a superior public realm. Many early submissions had some form-based elements, but largely retained too many of the features of the codes they were intended to replace: too much complexity, a burdensome administrative and review process, and an over-dependence on detailed use categories.
In more recent years, the jury has been presented with fewer submissions but the quality is significantly higher, as evidenced by close adherence to Form-Based Codes Institute Standards of Practice. These trend demonstrates that communities, and some of their coding consultants, are clearly starting to master the practice. Planning staff and municipal leaders are simplifying standards for what goes on inside buildings and instead using form—the scale and placement of buildings, streets, and blocks—and the character of the public realm, including open spaces, to fulfill community aspirations.
Coding for more diverse contexts
Modern form-based codes were first developed for greenfield sites or large-scale master planned communities. Drafting codes in these contexts was more straightforward. The code didn’t have to account for existing development or be coordinated with other public policies and objectives. These regulations faced limited political opposition because they needed to meet the expectation of a master developer and local authorities but not as many existing residents and businesses.
Today, the submissions cover a variety of contexts from industrial districts to historic downtowns to citywide codes. They are designed to spur redevelopment in old downtowns, retrofit autocentric suburbs, or help preserve the character of a rapidly growing historic district—sometimes all in one code. Coding in these contexts is much more complicated than in an undeveloped greenfield site, and it’s exciting to see communities using form-based codes to create walkable, human-scale places where underutilized or sprawling development formerly existed.