Recipients

Actually, the title’s a bit misleading, because this post is only about the parts of Michael Barranco’s legacy which I’ve observed personally. Michael was a Renaissance man; an architect, artist, musician, and civic leader. The more than two and a half thousand people who packed the Performing Arts Center at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday for the celebration of Michael’s life attested to how much he meant to so many in his community. But Michael’s life and work also had a much broader impact, even though he never would have told you so himself.

I first met Michael in Jackson, Mississippi, at DPZ’s planning charrette for Lost Rabbit, a new town on the Ross Barnett reservoir near Madison, Mississippi. Mark Frascogna and Richard Ridgeway, the Town Founders of Lost Rabbit, had selected Michael to be the Town Architect. We had a lot to talk about from the very beginning, because I’d served as Town Architect in a number of new towns and neighborhoods for several years. I could go on for hours about the character, intensity, and basic decency of this man, but then, many others share those characteristics. Let’s look instead at the events spawned as a result of those characteristics.

Several months after the planning charrette, Michael started talking to me about an architectural charrette to develop home designs for Lost Rabbit. This is highly unusual, because most first-time Town Architects without a long-running history in the New Urbanism tend to use their position to secure as much work as possible for themselves. Michael, on the other hand, was doing the right (but highly unusual) thing of bringing in some of the best New Urbanist architects he could find. We selected Eric Moser, Julie Sanford, Lou Oliver, and Milton Grenfell from the ranks of the New Urban Guild and set the charrette for July, 2004. It would be the second official New Urban Guild charrette, after the one at Alys Beach that January.

Michael was a major part of an extraordinary decision made on the first morning of the charrette to focus on a best architecture of the region. Previously, most developments picked a random handful of historical styles for their architectural “collection.” This decision, made jointly but with Michael’s urging, transformed so many things about the way we have worked in the years since. But that was only the beginning of transformations. A much bigger one was a couple days away.

The charrette proceeded with palpable excitement over this different way of doing architecture; and the shadows of new insights hung strong in the air.  Michael and Jene hosted dinner the night before the charrette ended; it was an evening of new bonds and new ideas. The final day came and went, as did the celebratory dinner. Later, as we stood in the parlor of our B&B, the Millsaps-Buie house, came the most transformative moment of my career. We were still trying to get our minds wrapped around all the new implications of this way of working. I had been searching for years for what I now call the “Heartbeat of Living Traditions,” not sure quite what it was, but clear on the fact that it allowed ordinary people, for most of history, to build extraordinary places better than what the best planners and architects could do now. Late that evening, someone was describing an architectural element’s function as “We do this because…” And then it hit me: “We do this because…” That’s it!! That’s the Heartbeat!!! If you put ever pattern of a language of architecture into these terms, then you open up the rationale of the patterns and allow architecture to live again! It isn’t just some random collection of historical styles… it’s what we do and why we do it! Had Michael not advocated so strongly on that first morning for taking this approach, for reasons none of us understood at the moment, the Heartbeat might not have been rediscovered that last night. And so many things might have remained locked up to us, even unto this day.

Just over a year later, the Gulf Coast was irreparably and violently changed by Hurricane Katrina. I had been on the road for several days before and after the storm, and returned to Miami both physically and emotionally exhausted on September 2. My wife and business partner Wanda met me at the office door. She said “I’ve been on the phone with Michael Barranco; it’s urgent. You need to call him tonight.” I was exhausted and wanted to call him on Monday. Surely he’d be out of the office by this hour.

But Wanda persisted, and so I called. Michael was still there. He said “Steve, we’re assembling a Governor’s Commission, and we’d like to have you come and speak to them very soon about how to rebuild Mississippi according to the principles of the New Urbanism…” We talked for a good while longer about the particulars, and about the storm. Michael was still running his office by candlelight, as Jackson had taken a big hit from the storm, too, even though it is well over 100 miles inland. 

I realized immediately that the job was too big for me. The rebuilding of the entire Gulf Coast deserved the very best, and deserved more than just a speech. I called Andrés Duany and arranged to come back in the morning to discuss this new development. Andrés, revered by many as the world’s greatest rock star of planning, said “this is too big for me, too… let’s call in the entire Congress for the New Urbanism.” And so we did. And with this began a series of events that changed forever both the Gulf Coast and the New Urbanism.

Through the years that followed, Michael worked quietly at the highest levels to advance the right ideals of rebuilding. Without him, we were just a bunch of outsiders, but with him, we were far more effective. If you really pressed him, he would simply say that he was doing what any civic-minded person would do. But he’s responsible for so much more than that. The Mississippi Renewal Forum was the largest planning event in human history, with nearly 200 planners working side-by-side in one cavernous room to re-plan the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It never would have happened without Michael. The Katrina Cottages initiative sprang out of the recovery work. Katrina Cottages would likely never have existed without Michael. So many careers, including my own, have been unalterably changed by the awful necessity of trying to stand up and do something to help those devastated states recover… and that first big move in Mississippi that opened so many doors thereafter would never have been possible without Michael. Even today, the New Urbanists are the most trusted people in recoveries in other places such as Haiti… and that all began with Michael. So this one man, humbly doing what he considered to be his civic duty, has seen the influences of that duty ripple outward far beyond what he ever would have imagined, across the country and beyond the seas.

That civic duty now has ended. One week ago tonight, Michael died in a car crash in northern Mississippi returning from a meeting with clients. Michael was 48; he was married to Jene almost 24 years; they have four children.

But though his duty has ended, his legacy has only begun. We who knew him well mourn his loss deeply, but there is so much that will live on. How might we recover differently from future disasters, both at home and abroad, because of what Michael started? How might the Katrina Cottages become a part of the solution of affordable housing? And of multi-generational homesteads? And of working from home? How will architecture change, now that we understand the Heartbeat of Living Traditions? Will we again see living traditions in architecture as a result? It may take a lifetime to discover answers to these and other questions about the legacy of Michael Barranco.

~Steve Mouzon

Tom Low has profoundly shaped communities across the country through his vision for walkable, livable, and human-scaled urbanism. His approach consistently bridges architecture, planning, and civic engagement—bringing together citizens, designers, and leaders to reimagine the form and function of their neighborhoods. Through public design charrettes, educational forums, and tireless advocacy, Tom has inspired a generation of practitioners to view design not as an abstract art, but as a civic responsibility. His influence extends far beyond individual projects; he has sparked conversations and catalyzed real change in how communities think about growth, resilience, and belonging.

At the heart of Tom’s contributions lies his groundbreaking work in Light Imprint design, a framework that blends the principles of New Urbanism with sustainable, context-sensitive infrastructure. Light Imprint promotes environmentally responsible techniques—such as permeable paving, rain gardens, and green streets—that strengthen community form while restoring natural systems. Through this work, Tom has provided towns and developers with practical tools to achieve beauty, durability, and ecological stewardship simultaneously. His design philosophy does not reject modernity but refines it, balancing technological innovation with the timeless virtues of craftsmanship, proportion, and human scale.

Tom Low exemplifies the spirit of the Urban Guild’s Barranco Award through his dedication to the art of place-making and his deep moral commitment to community. His career demonstrates that meaningful urbanism begins with empathy—for people, for history, and for the land itself. By merging design excellence with civic purpose, he has not only advanced the discipline but also uplifted the lives of countless residents across America. Tom’s leadership, mentorship, and unwavering pursuit of holistic, humane design make him a model 

By: Mike Thompson, Thompson Placemaking

The 2024 recipient of the Barranco Award exemplifies innovative thinking and dedication to enhancing urban environments and designing lovable communities. Jeremy Sommer's commitment to traditional and sustainable architecture and community-oriented design has reshaped urban areas and neighborhoods, fostering spaces that strengthen relationships and connect people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Through his projects, Jeremy has championed the integration of green spaces, walkable streets and connected pathways that enhance residents' quality of life. His work cultivates a sense of belonging and community among diverse people.

Jeremy's influence extends beyond individual projects; he has become a thought leader in our field, advocating for policies and practices that support the development of vibrant urban neighborhoods. His collaborations with local governments, community organizations, and other designers and urban planners highlight his commitment to the collaborative design processes, ensuring that the voices of residents are integral to shaping their environments. 

I had the privilege of working side by side with Michael Barranco for 11 years, and I've had the privilege of befriending and working with Jeremy on several charrettes and projects. Jeremy's general spirit and humility remind me a lot of Michael.  I'm most impressed with his faithful service to, and relationship with Christ Jesus. He truly goes "beyond architecture", inspiring others to transformative change.

By: Steve Mouzon, Mouzon Design

Marieanne Khoury-Vogt has been the voice of the creation of a place many consider to be the most perfect architecture built in our time, but that pales in comparison to a greater accomplishment. Every age has its most perfect architecture, but recent decades have been devoid of the process that makes architecture great to begin with: a living tradition.

"Marieanne’s work at Alys Beach with her partner Erik Vogt has been pivotal in the recovery of the living tradition process, and Alys Beach is the best example of a living tradition we have seen in our lifetimes. A living tradition builds on what makes sense for sustainability and resilience in its location. The fact that Marieanne and Erik were producing stunning buildings without blemish and leading others to do the same, backed by a development team committed to making that happen was and is key because to anyone setting foot in Alys Beach for the first time, such rare excellence opens the mind to possibilities heretofore considered unthinkable.

The birth of a living tradition requires many hands, and Marieanne and the design team selected arguably the best talent assembled in our time for the Urban Guild charrette where the first architecture of Alys Beach was designed twenty years ago. But it didn’t end there, and Guild members have had a great impact at Alys Beach ever since under Marieanne’s guidance. Originally based on seeds from Bermuda and Antigua Guatemala, Alys Beach architecture in the years that followed has embraced architecture from sources as diverse as ancient Middle Eastern traditions and Art Deco. Under her skillful guidance and the shared wisdom of a true living tradition, the results have been seamless and stunning." 

By: Nathan Norris, CityBuilding Partnership LLC

Over the past thirty years Eric has distinguished himself as a leader in the reclamation of vernacular building traditions--- in the United States and beyond.  This focus on design that celebrates buildings that are beautiful, flexible, affordable and sustainable stems from the values he learned growing up on a farm in Indiana.

The breadth of his work is best represented by his plans that are part of his Traditional Neighborhood Homes Catalog.  It includes the full range of housing types, and it is particularly rich with elegant designs for smaller structures such as small cottages and outbuildings.  In addition, he is known for his Evolution Cottages which allow you to build a small structure that can be easily added onto over time.

Eric's built work includes both Southern Living and Coastal Living Idea Houses.  His designs are found in a wide range of Traditional Neighborhood Developments where welcoming facades and efficient design are tremendously important.

Eric is known for the ease with which he collaborates with others.  That, combined with his talent, is one of the reasons that he has been hired to generate house designs at dozens of charrettes.

Most importantly, Eric has a "gift for building enduring relationships beyond architecture, inspiring passionate coalitions for transformative change in the lives of families and communities.”  This is the basis for the Barranco Award, and Eric has demonstrated this gift by pouring his talent and love into Habersham (Beaufort, SC) since its inception— both as its most prolific designer as well as a fully engaged neighbor. The result is a neighborhood that has become better over time, and will remain cherished for generations to come.

By: Steve Mouzon, Mouzon Design

This year’s Barranco Award honoree embodies a core ethic of the New Urbanism as well as anyone I’ve ever known. That ethic is generosity, and without it, it is unlikely that this movement would even exist today.  In the beginning, León Krier gave generously of his time help shape the plan of Seaside.  And for years afterward, Robert Davis would open his books to any developer who wanted to know how it was done, an act most view as economic suicide, but Robert was cultivating colleagues, not competitor.  Meanwhile, Daryl Davis was working to help many small businesses start building their dreams; their number has grown into the hundreds.  Like the fact that most of the light reaching your eye on a starry night comes not from the thousand or so stars you can see, but from the many more unseen, most of the good Lizz Plater-Zyberk and Andrés Duany have done will never be known because most of their acts of generosity have been quiet; behind the scenes.  Wanda and I have repeatedly been beneficiaries.  This year’s winner stands with the best of them.  He sought me out two decades ago when I was completely unknown and met weekly with me, cross-examining ideas for a new book that would have been far less without him.  The Urban Guild is his brainchild; he shared the co-founding with me.  And the legendary generosity of this man who would far rather promote someone else than himself continues to this day.  I am delighted to introduce Nathan Norris as this year's winner of the Barranco Award.

By: Steve Mouzon, Mouzon Design

This year’s winner of the Barranco Award got his start in the New Urbanism the way so many of us did; in his words, “I just showed up at the planning charrette and asked ‘how can I help’ and just never left.”  And like many of us have discovered, even our heroes can usually use a little help.  The older generations of the New Urbanism doesn’t need to discover young talent; the young talent usually discovers them because the New Urbanist threshold is simple: show up with energy and good ideas and there will be a seat at the table for you. This year’s awardee and I shared this path in the beginning for each of us, and we continue to share a number of passions as well, including the quest for crafting a system that allows local builders to take better patterns of building as their own, eventually growing them into their own living tradition that will outlive us.  It is my distinct pleasure and honor to present Michael Watkins as this year’s winner of the Barranco Award. 

For decades architecture has continually outdone itself in celebrating the novel, the shocking, and the seemingly impossible, even if most of it is vaporware designed more for Photoshopped virtue signaling than true human benefits.  Against such a backdrop, it is a rare privilege to make the acquaintance of someone doing what the architectural establishment declares completely impossible today: designing and building to last for centuries, not decades.  This year’s winner, this artist of the impossible, is Clay Chapman.

Clay has done this by reviving the art of traditional structural masonry.  His artful approach combines the durability of masonry construction with the beauty that is required in order for it to loved generation after generation.  If that's not enough, he has done this with an uncommon generosity that led him to create a robust apprenticeship program that teaches others how to build this way.

When we took nominations and held the vote, it wasnʼt close. As a matter of fact, someone emailed me privately and said, “We should have made this selection years ago.”

The winner is someone who I can characterize, both her as a person and also her work, with one word: mystique. Normally, if you characterize an architectʼs work that way, it gives them license to do anything because how can you question mystique? But when theyʼre able to combine the quality of mystique with grace, curiosity, humility, and love, then you actually sometimes find, as you do in this case, a person who has become that rarest breed of architect: one whose work can not only enchant you like something wonderful and exotic you have never experienced before, but also welcome you as dear friend youʼve known since childhood. I think of her as a sort of Rosetta Stone; able to translate between architectural realms that are impossibly different, as she does work equally as elegant, from the Modernist to the traditional. These abilities are only rarely found embodied in one person.

It is my great honor to present this yearʼs Barranco Award to Julie Sanford.

~Steve Mouzon

his is a heartfelt kind of situation. For those of us who knew Michael Barranco and were there for the Katrina charrettes, this is a person who really made a mark on our lives, not just because we showed up and did work together, but because his character was such that it was like playing in a pro-am: You really upped your game when playing around Michael. Very genuine. No artifice. No phoniness. He was genuinely concerned about every person he ever met, and wanted everyone’s life to be better. He decided that architecture was his way to do that.

With his passing, there is a hole in the CNU, but the New Urban Guild offers the Barranco Award to practitioners who are that kind of stand-up guy. It’s about the character with which you comport yourself. It’s about how hungry you are to learn. It’s about how much you care about your community. It’s about how much you love and encourage your fellow-citizens. With that said, I’d like to introduce you to this year’s award-winner, Bruce Tolar, through some of his work.

The original Katrina Cottage which by itself was great, but Bruce took it out of the total chaos and mayhem and bad financial circumstances that were pretty much an everyday deal in Ocean Springs at that time, and all along the coast. And from nothing, he created the peaceful excellence of Cottage Square, where he put the pieces together into something amazing which that community cherishes. It has even become a tourist destination. Imagine that: an interim housing solution after a hurricane has become a tourist destination!

So Bruce pulled together all the Katrina Cottages that were built as prototypes for demonstration purposes and brought them to Cottage Square. And he made something out of the pieces, just as we all try to do, which is to aggregate a great place from small incremental parts. It is a modest place, with gravel sidewalks; a place where you can operate a tiny business out of those tiny buildings. And the community that has formed there has become a real anchor to Ocean Springs. From there, Bruce launched an expansion, which was an incredibly ambitious project in a place governed by FEMA… <cough> <laughs and applause> … a terrible environment to work under, but he is doing amazing, excellent work with modest little pieces.

He reached out to nonprofits in the area; he connects with so many people; he’s been in that town forever, serving on many boards; and the idea that there was something to be done after a hurricane, and fixing civilization in general, was a natural thing for Bruce. The people love this neighborhood. The nonprofits he’s been working with have been tremendously empowered by seeing one guy’s ability to put people together and make things work. Bruce is the best design caulking gun you can imagine, pulling everything together on modest means and making things happen. So with that, I’d like to present this year’s Barranco Award to Bruce Tolar.

R. John Anderson, the 2014 recipient of the New Urban Guild’s Barranco Award for Architecture, is in many ways an icon of New Urbanism. The movement began when a ragtag band of architects and other colleagues stormed the walls of a planning profession that had refused to draw plans since the Urban Renewal disasters of the 1960s. So the New Urbanists picked up their pencils and drew, even if they weren’t officially qualified to do so. John embodies that spirit as much as anyone I know. He is officially a builder, but if you travel with him, you quickly discover that he spends every available moment in the field with his sketchbook, and draws beautifully. He is the consummate generalist.

And like those first New Urbanists, John is quick to step up to the plate. I remember the Mississippi Renewal Forum after Hurricane Katrina when an email invitation intended for a local architect named John Anderson inadvertently was sent to him instead. He packed his bags and left California, headed for the devastated Gulf Coast, only to be informed by Andrés Duany upon his arrival that he hadn’t actually been invited. He responded “well, I’m here, and I’m staying. Do you want me to watch or work?” He worked, of course, including with Michael Barranco, whose memory this award honors. John designed some of the first Katrina Cottages at that charrette. Most of us got our starts in the New Urbanism this exact same way: showing up without an invitation, and getting to work.

All is not yet right with the built environment, and the New Urbanists are quick to point that out. But unlike some of our colleagues in other interest areas like environmentalism, it’s less likely to be with fuzzy moralizing and finger-wagging, and more likely with piercing insights seasoned with regular dashes of good humor. John is as good at this as anyone in the business. If you don’t know him, you should meet him, get him going, and just sit and listen for a fascinating hour or two.

The New Urbanists blend theory and practice as well as anyone. And John turns those seasoned skills of incisiveness with good humor squarely on the boots-on-the-ground issues of getting stuff built in America today. The clarity with which he explains the issues faced by present-day designers and builders is as sharp as you’ll find from any New Urbanist. Get to know John. Then join us in hoping that there will be more like him.

Thanks so much to Bruce Tolar, Mike Thompson, and the other members of the Barranco Award selection committee for their dedication to this award. I’ll speak a bit about Michael, then Andrew’s colleague Mark Moreno will have some words about Andrew and accept the award on his behalf.

Michael Barranco was a Renaissance man; an architect, artist, musician, and civic leader. But Michael’s life and work also had a much broader impact, even though he never would have told you so himself.

I first met Michael in Jackson, Mississippi, at DPZ’s planning charrette for Lost Rabbit, a new town in Mississippi. Michael, serving as Town Architect, asked me to plan a subsequent architectural charrette for Lost Rabbit. That charrette, in July 2004, would be the second ever held by the New Urban Guild, after Alys Beach that January.

Michael was the linchpin of an extraordinary decision made on the first morning of the charrette that led to the rediscovery three days later of the “heartbeat of living traditions,” which is these four words: We do this because…

Katrina came just over a year later. Michael called just after the storm and said “Steve, we’re assembling a Governor’s Commission, and we’d like for you to speak to them about rebuilding Mississippi according New Urbanist principles” I said “that’s a job far too big for me; let me talk to Andrés.” The next morning I went to DPZ and after discussing it, he said “that’s a job too big for me, too,” and so he picked up the phone and called John Norquist. And the rest we all know.

Through the years that followed, Michael worked quietly at the highest levels to advance the right ideals of rebuilding. Without him, we were just a bunch of outsiders, but with him, we were far more effective. If you really pressed him, he would simply say that he was doing what any civic-minded person would do. But he’s responsible for so much more than that.

The Katrina Cottages initiative sprang out of the recovery work. Katrina Cottages would likely never have existed without Michael. So this one man, humbly doing what he considered to be his civic duty, has seen the influences of that duty ripple outward far beyond what he ever would have imagined.

That civic duty ended on a tragic night just south of Memphis. The first tragic death ever recorded was that of Abel. Roughly 4,000 years later, it was said of him that “he, being dead, is yet speaking.” In like manner, we cannot yet fully know the legacy of Michael Barranco, as it is still growing.

This year’s recipient of the New Urban Guild’s Barranco Award for Architecture is Andrew von Maur. I don’t know if Michael and Andrew ever met, but I do know that they were men of like talents, like service, like heart, and like faith. Andrew is an enormously talented architect, planner, illustrator, and educator at Andrews University. Today, he is traveling with his students somewhere in Europe. His colleague, Mark Moreno, is here to accept the award for him.

This award that we are here tonight to present tonight to Steve Mouzon is awarded in memory of our fellow-architect Michael Barranco. This award is a celebration of Michael’s life; we all still sorely miss him. Mike Thompson, who worked with Michael, will present the award.

~Bruce Tolar

The New Urban Guild is delighted to present the 2012 Barranco Award to Steve Mouzon. Steve has shown a mastery of traditional architecture at the highest levels of quality with a commitment to strengthening the power of community by connecting people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He has an understanding of the role of place in all its dimensions including the dimensions of climate and culture, and how the individual is affected by the region, the community, the block, the building, and the detail. And he has a gift of building enduring relationships beyond architecture, inspiring passionate coalitions for transformative change in the lives of families and communities, and further, unselfishly not caring who gets the credit. I want to read something that Michael wrote about the phrase “beyond architecture” that was quite the motto in our office. It was always our goal to touch people beyond just this realm of architecture: “Though none of us are perfect, let this vision assist us individually and collectively in striving for a common goal. This is one of excellence, passion, and service that in the end allows us and our families to prosper physically, financially, and spiritually, that we all may do the will of God, which after all is our primary and greatest purpose. While this vision has been condensed, it is important to note that it reminds us that there is a great mission and duty that, if upheld, will only enhance our craft, and ultimately provide for an experience beyond architecture, and for our business relationships. Steve, it is my pleasure to present you with this certificate.

~Mike Thompson

Never before in my experience has someone who meant so much been taken so soon after I met them than Michael Barranco. Michael exemplified civic duty like few architects alive today. Michael was a wonderful example of the collegiality once held so dear by the profession of architecture until it was take away nearly a century ago by the necessity of uniqueness, and he gave me hope that we could one day be that good again. Michael was the first member of the New Urban Guild that we have ever lost, and we want to honor his legacy. The Transect Codes Council has instituted the Groves Award for planning; the Guild is now inaugurating the Barranco Award for architecture. Michael is the first recipient, posthumously. There will be one recipient hereafter, awarded each year at CNU.

~Steve Mouzon