Patrick Pinnell, AIA
Planner and Architect

Patrick Pinnell is an internationally recognized architect, planner, author and educator, and a well-known member of the New Urbanist movement that emphasizes Smart Growth developments focusing on walk-ability and creating a “sense of place.” It was Pinnell’s vision that Simsbury River Oaks be a walk-able, livable mixed-use development.

Born in Waseca, Minn., he graduated magna cum laude from Yale College with a degree in English Literature. He then successfully pursued a graduate degree in architecture from the Yale School of Architecture.

Some of his recent architectural work includes houses in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Connecticut. He has also participated in the planning of Hartford's downtown and region, including the Downtown Hartford Action Strategy, the Rentschler Field research center and the University of Connecticut football stadium.

Patrick has also been involved in numerous other projects outside of Connecticut, from the design team for the successful Save Fenway Park effort in Boston, to participation in coastal reconstruction planning following Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi.

He is an Elector of the Wadsworth Atheneum, the nation's oldest art museum, and advises it on development and planning issues. He formerly headed Yale's graduate research program in Environmental Design, and taught design studio and history of architectural theory classes in the School of Architecture for 18 years.  Prior to that he taught at, and ran the public programs of, the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York. 

He has completed buildings Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and regularly lectures at architectural schools in Europe and Japan.  He serves annually on the jury for the Ange Jacques Gabriel Prize, awarded by the Western European Architecture Foundation.

His publications include articles on the new towns of Seaside, Fla., and Kentlands, Md., and on Yale's Beinecke Rare Book Library. A book on the architecture and historic planning of the Yale University campus was published in 1999 by Princeton Architectural Press. He is a columnist for New Urban News, and writes commentary on development issues, design, and architecture for the Hartford Courant.