Awards

2009 APA California North Section Neighborhood Planning Award for the Downtown Benicia Mixed Use Master Plan and Form-Based Code May 2009
Award given to a neighborhood plan, program, design, or related effort that demonstrates innovative planning principles and measures that create sustainable neighborhoods that have lasting value. Opticos received this award in conjunction with City of Benicia, Crawford Multari & Clark Associates, Strategic Economics, Prentice & Prentice, Inc., and Nelson Nygaard.

Overall Winner of GreenWORKS Design Competition January 2009
The objective for the competition was to challenge designers to incorporate sustainable design and affordably-priced housing into a site plan for a multi-unit, residential housing compound in downtown Santa Fe. (See competition web site)

2008 Driehaus Form-Based Code Award for the Downtown Benicia Mixed Use Master Plan and Form-Based Code April 2008
Award given for achievement in the writing and implementation of Form-Based Codes. Opticos received this award in conjunction with City of Benicia, Crawford Multari & Clark Associates, Strategic Economics, Prentice & Prentice, Inc., and Nelson Nygaard. (See competition web site)

Winner of the 2007 International Making Cities Livable Mixed-Use Design Award for Livermore Village  June 2007
Award given in recognition of significant contribution to reviving the principles of true urbanism in the Livermore Village Development. Opticos received this award in conjunction with Anderson Pacific, LLC, Thomas Dolan Architecture, and Kimley-Horn and Associates. (See competition web site)

Octavia Boulevard Housing Competition  June 2005
Opticos receives award for Meritorious Community Idea for the concept of communal indoor - outdoor living in international design competition. (See competition web site)

Daniel Parolek Named a Knight Fellow  October 18, 2004
Thirteen distinguished mid-career professionals from a variety of disciplines have been awarded fellowships for 2004-05 from the Knight Program in Community Building, based at the University of Miami School of Architecture...

Finalist in the Seaside 20th Anniversary Competition  April 2001
Landmark to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the town that re-introduced traditional town planning

Winner of the [Re]Vision Isla Vista Competition  December 2000
Revitalization strategy to enhance this transit-oriented community in Santa Barbara County, California

Winner of the Millennium Gate Competition  May 2000
Monument and urban design strategy to create a new entrance to the nation’s capital that will also serve as a catalyst for reinvestment in the adjacent neighborhood (See competition web site)

Winner of the Housing the Next 10 Million Competition  June 1999
Concepts and tools to assist Central Valley communities in addressing the continuing issues surrounding growth and revitalization

Press & Publications

Location, Location, Location  May 2009
Cati O-Keefe, Green Builder Magazine

I-880 cities working to develop a sense of 'place'  April 2009
Albert Pacciorini, San Francisco Business Times

A New Vision for Taft  February 2009
Doug Keeler, Taft Midway Driller

Planning charrettes yield results  May 2008
Josh Petray, Paso Robles Press

'B Corporation' plan helps philanthropic firms  May 2008
Ilana DeBare, San Francisco Chronicle

Form-Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers, Municipalities, and Developers  March 2008 
Daniel G. Parolek, AIA, Karen Parolek, Paul Crawford, FAICP

The Evolution of Form-Based Codes  Sept./Oct. 2007
Daniel Parolek, Northern News

Downtowns and Form-Based Codes: The Other Side of the Story  May/June 2007
Daniel Parolek, Karen Parolek, Paul Crawford, and Stefanos Polyzoides, Cal Planner

BUSINESS PARK 2.0 - Can sprawling office campuses become commute- cutting communities?  May 27, 2006
Charles Smith, San Francisco Chronicle

Everything old is new again - The burbs take on town airs in Hercules' New Urban experiment -- so far, everyone's loving it  March 19, 2005
Charles Smith, San Francisco Chronicle

Form First  November 2004
Peter Katz, Planning Magazine

Architect lauds Loma Rica plan  December 20, 2003
Jamie Bate, The Union

ACIA People: Karen Parolek  April 2001
Lou Rosenfeld of the Argus Center for Information Architecture interviews Karen Parolek regarding the overlap between the fields of Architecture and Information Architecture.

[Re]Vision Isla Vista  Summer 2001
Competitions. Images and description of Envision Design’s winning scheme for Isla Vista’s revitalization strategy are presented and discussed.

Architects and Information Architects  Oct./Nov. 2000
ASIS&T Bulletin: Opinion. Karen Parolek discusses the similarities and differences between these two professions.

The Other Modern  March 2000
A & C International. Urban Village proposal for Modesto, California is presented as part of an exhibit in Bologna, Italy on contemporary traditional and classical architecture and urban design.

Competitions  1998-1999
The Classicist, No. 5. Daniel Parolek’s Oklahoma City Memorial Competition entry is discussed in the context of other classical competition entries.
 

Form-Based Code Book