The designer responsible for overseeing Central Barangaroo’s master planning process, American Philip Enquist, will deliver a public address on designing sustainable cities this week.

In collaboration with the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, UNSW’s Faculty of Built Environment will host the award-winning urban designer for a one-off event.

In his lecture, Globalism: The New Common Ground, Mr Enquist will present on how his practice saw the opportunity for Sydney.

Mr Enquist is the partner for Urban Design and Planning with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Chicago, which was last year selected to complete the master planning process for the Central Barangaroo precinct, which is a 5.2 hectare, mixed-purpose zone between Headland Park and Barangaroo South. SOM is one of the largest architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world.

Mr Enquist is renowned for his multi-award-winning “100-year Vision” for the regeneration of North America’s Great Lakes and St Lawrence River basin, the largest fresh water basin on Earth. The area is also home to more than 50 million people and crosses an international border (United States and Canada).

The Vision was this month awarded the top design prize from the American Institute of Architects, Illinois. “The jury was in awe of the 100-year plan’s comprehensiveness and scale, and the way it redefines the urban perspective to a larger ecosystem and human habitat, while proposing bold strategies for environmental restoration and economic renewal,” a spokeswoman for the AIAI said.

What:   Globalism: Our New Common Ground -- A free public lecture on planning sustainable cities by Philip Enquist

When:  6pm, Thursday 1 May, 2014

Where: Rex Vowels Lecture Theatre, Electrical Engineering Building, UNSW

Reservations are essential.

Media contact: Susi Hamilton, UNSW Media, 0422 934 024