Can an urban planner be a creative director?
FUNCTION + FORM + STORYTELLING = EXPERIENCE
I’m multidisciplinary.
While I am technically trained in urban planning and civil engineering, what I ultimately long to do, to create, goes beyond the binaries of a technical degree with its rigid outcomes and “standard” deliverables, and does not necessarily follow the form of a traditional career path.
I once sat in the school’s career development office and said something like, “I want to be an urban planner who is not really an urban planner.” And they looked at me, speechless. But they still believed in me, and could see what I meant…I think.
In a lot of ways, I think the traditional role of an urban planner is outdated. As I learned when I was studying for the AICP exam this week, the planning profession still struggles to agree on its own identity. No wonder I ended up being a planner!
This entire past year, since I finished grad school, has been spent exploring my career options. Applying for jobs in this market hasn’t been easy. I’ve learned to get scrappy out of necessity. I’m currently working 3 part-time jobs that I’m loving. I’ve relied upon my brain, my guts, my intuition to think both creatively and pragmatically, and the mentorship and guidance of so many supportive people in my network. And I’ve made the most of it!
In a lot of ways, this past year has forced me to:
Think deeply about what my core skills and niche talents are
Push my imagination to dream boldly towards what it is that I really want to do
…oh, and kinda most importantly…
to believe in myself and my potential.
And here’s where I’ve arrived as of late.
I really see myself using my technical design fluencies—in engineering, urban planning, architecture—in tandem with my conceptual clarity and ability to curate. It sounds cheesy, and maybe it is, to say that I want to be a creative director / urban placemaker. But that’s the best way I can put it into words. Being a creative director in the world of real estate is not unlike being a creative director for a music artist or fashion house. The same principles can and do apply. It’s about world-building.
If anything, my world exists where these creative industries intersect. I LOVE BEING IN THE GRAY AREAS.
I want to be the bridge.
Music <> Fashion <> Art <> Architecture <> Real Estate <> Editorial <> Culture
and so on…
Why?
Because I’m interested in creating places / experiences / things that have deeper emotional connections, that evoke a real sense of identity and belonging in people.
So yeah, here I am questioning it: can an urban planner be a creative director?
My delusion and ambition tells me: yes, I can.
I can, and do, layer my engineering and planning background with cultural, spatial, demographic intelligence to bring placemaking depth!
I’m not a marketer or interior designer who comes in after the fact. Though I have learned a great deal about both of those important elements.
I’m not just an engineer who grades the site after it’s use has been prescribed by the architect and developer. Though I have, and still can, grade and drain a site in CAD.
I’m a cultural translator who, from the very beginning, shapes the identity, emotion, desirability, and spatial design of a place and maintains it throughout its entire project lifecycle. I’m a creative director and urban placemaker. I’m a spatial designer.
Okay—that’s enough of my journaling.
Can you tell it’s one of those rainy, moody nights in New York?
Enjoy the long weekend and go watch Overcompensating asap.