Renata von Tscharner
Charles River Conservancy
One Education Street, Cambridge, MA 02141
617-619-2851
E-mail: rvt@thecharles.org

Summary

Renata von Tscharner is trained as an architect and city planner. She worked in Paris, London, and as Assistant City Planner in Bern, Switzerland, before moving to Cambridge where in 1979 she co-founded the Townscape Institute and in 2000 started the Charles River Conservancy. As Principal of The Townscape Institute, she directed projects and publications in urban design, public art, environmental education and advocacy as they pertained to increasing the livability of neighborhoods, towns, and cities. For the past 25 years, she has consulted and lectured both in the United States and in Europe.

In 1997 she returned to the faculty of the Radcliffe Seminars teaching courses about the Charles River, and in 2000 she started the Charles River Conservancy (CRC). This advocacy group brings together organizations and individuals working to provide stewardship and renewal of the Charles River parklands, the 500 acres of state-owned riverfront from the Boston Harbor to the Watertown Dam. As president, she oversees all aspects of this organization which has a staff of 6 and over 8000 supporters and volunteers. For more information about the Conservancy, explore this website.

Professional Experience

2000		Charles River Conservancy - Cambridge, MA; Founder, President
1997-1999		Radcliffe Seminars, Landscape program - Cambridge, MA; Faculty
1980-1997		The Townscape Institute - Cambridge, MA; Co-Founder and Principal
1978-1979		City Planning Office - Bern, Switzerland; Assistant City Planner
1975-1978		Greater London Council-Covent Garden Task Force - London, England; Planning Officer
1968-1974		As student, part-time and summer jobs: designer and site supervisor in Bern, Paris, Bastia, and Geneva

Selected Conservancy Projects

Inventing the Charles River
Book published in collaboration with MIT Press (first edition December 2002). Forward written by Renata von Tscharner

Conservancy Volunteer Program
Started in fall of 2002. Three years later, over 7000 people of all ages had worked on the parklands under the supervision of the Charles River Conservancy's volunteer coordinator with support from the Department of Conservation and Recreation. To accommodate students from grade 2 on, the CRC added a service learning program.

World-class Skatepark
Advocacy, design and implementation of extreme sports park under ramps leading to Zakim Bridge in East Cambridge in collaboration with the Mass Turnpike Authority and the DCR. As of July 2007, the CRC has raised $1.29m towards the $2.3m project.

Bridge Lighting
On the Autumnal Equinox 2004, the Conservancy permanently illuminated the Weeks Bridge and collaborated with the Revels to celebrate this event with RiverSing bringing over 2000 people to the river banks. Since then the Anderson and the Western Avenue Bridges have also been permanently illuminated and in 2007 RiverSing will take place for the 4th time.

Pathway Improvements
Survey and restoration planning of the 17 mile long bicycle and jogging path.

Advocacy for swimming and for parkways
Part of the ongoing efforts to make the parklands more attractive and active.

See also full list of projects.

Selected Townscape Projects — Directed by Renata von Tscharner

South Street Seaport, New York, NY
Advised the Rouse Company on how to increase the "sense of place."

City Identity System, Cincinnati, Ohio, Bicentennial Celebration in 1988
Developed City Identity Software and database, a touch-screen information system applying the methodology for claiming a "sense of place" into a city guide.

Neighborhood Public Art Competitions, Boston, MA
Directed seven public art competitions with editorials appearing in local phone books; the following years the phone books depicted the winning entries and the completed projects.

Lecturing / Consulting / Media
(full list available upon request)

• Lectured and consulted in some 50 cities in the US, Canada, and Europe.
• Radio and TV programs on urban issues in English, German and French, host of bi-monthly CCTV Be Live program since 2005.

Teaching / Interpretation

• Ms. von Tscharner has developed courses and taught the Boston Architectural Center, the Continuing Education Department at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, the Radcliffe Seminars Landscape Program, and at the Rhode Island School of Design.
• Historical Re-Enactments of dinners with Benjamin Franklin and Isabella S. Gardner (with Cambridge Historical Society); encounter with Charles Eliot.
• Writing and performing of play about Julia Ward Howe (Founder of Mother's Day).

Selected Publications

• "Keeping Parkland Promises" op-ed, The Boston Globe, Feb. 10, 2003.
• Foreword for Inventing the Charles River, MIT Press, Dec. 2002.
• "Saving Parkways and a Legacy" co-author of op-ed, The Boston Globe, April 30, 2001.
• "Making Cities Memorable" World Monitor Magazine, Feb 1989.
• New Providence: A Changing Cityscape - executive producer of book and poster series with seven tableaux illustrating the evolution of American city from 1875 to 1987 plus curriculum guide (San Diego, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1987).
• Place Makers: Public Art That Tells You Where You Are, co-author (First edition, New York: Hasting House, Oct. 1981. 128 Pages, 150 Photographs) (Second expanded and completely revised edition, Boston: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1987).

(See also full list of publications about the Charles River Conservancy.)

Memberships and Affiliations

• The Charles River Conservancy, founding president
• The Townscape Institute, co-founder, Board of Directors from 1979-1997
• WAND (Women's Action for a New Direction), co-founder and past president
• The Boston Club, member
• NEWIRE (New England Women in Real Estate), founding member
• Cambridge Historical Society, former vice president
• Longy School of Music, Visiting Committee
• Young Audiences, Associates Council

Education

1972		Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland - Degree in architecture and city planning. (dipl. Arch ETH ) Registered member of Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects since 1974 (SIA)
1968		Degree in classics, philosophy and art; Kantonsschule Aarau, Switzerland (Matura Type A)