Michael Hirsch
Part-Time Faculty
Bio:
Michael is an experienced urban planner and design architect with significant experience in the resort and tourism market. His work has included architecture and planning projects, including Red Sky Ranch Member + Guest Clubhouses (Eagle County, CO); Ritz-Carlton Residences, Vail; and a new base ski village for Breckenridge Mountain Resort, in Colorado. Serving as a preservation planning consultant to the New York City Department of City Planning, he completed work on design guidelines and signage recommendations for the Coney Island Redevelopment Master Plan, Brooklyn, NY. Prior international planning experience includes the Master Plan for the Lulu Island Resort, Abu Dhabi, U.A. E. Prior architectural experience includes the Doubletree Hotel, Tarrytown, NY (2005); and the Parker Palm Springs / Spa / Conference Center, Palm Springs, CA (2004). He is currently consulting on architecture, planning, and historic preservation projects in New York City. Michael received his B.Arch degree from Pratt Institute (1986), and a M.S. in City and Regional Planning, with a preservation planning certification, also from Pratt Institute (2006). Michael has served on the advisory board of The Doo Wop Preservation League, in Wildwood, NJ since 2003. The organization’s educational mission is to foster awareness of the popular culture and imagery of the 1950's and 1960's, and to promote the preservation of the largest collection of Doo Wop (mid-century modern) resort architecture found in the United States. In this role, he wrote the “How to Doo Wop” handbook of design guidelines for the Wildwood Hotel/Motel District. He was also involved in the research of the Chateau Bleu Motel for its nomination to the New Jersey State Register of Historic Places, now on the National Register. Mr. Hirsch is President of the board of the Society for Commercial Archeology. In this role, he develops and implements fundraising/membership strategies for an all-volunteer 400 member national organization that works to recognize, document, build awareness of, and preserve America’s unique 20th century commercial built environment.
He also led a fundraising campaign to initiate the donation of the archives to the Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, University of Texas, The University of Texas at Austin. This is a record of documents from 1977-2017. Mr. Hirsch has received A.I.A. and A.P.A. awards for his urban planning/community design work. Michael is currently working on a new course, HIST210: Route 66 and American Roadside Architecture.