Richard Plunz is professor of architecture and the director of the Earth Institute's Urban Design Lab at Columbia University; where he has also chaired the Division of Architecture and directed the Urban Design Program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. His many books include The Urban Lifeworld: Formation, Perception, Representation (2001), After Shopping (2003), Eco-Gowanus: Urban Remediation by Design (2007), and Urban Climate Change Crossroads (2010).