Introduction
Cameron Barradale, an urban designer and landscape architect at SOM, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to talk about urban planning, career decisions and what makes a city special. He has worked on large urban projects in the United States, China and the Middle East, and moved to Charlotte to bring that experience to the Southeast.
The conversation looks at why designers should think beyond the site, why the spaces between buildings matter, how long-term urban projects play out, and what the cities of the future could look like.
About the Episode
Cameron answers the opening question with two words: think big. He quotes Daniel Burnham's plan for Chicago and says great cities come from people who look past their own parcel and ask what they can offer the whole city. Jack shares his view of architecture as the empty space defined by walls and ceilings, and Cameron answers that, as a landscape architect, he sees the open space between buildings as the fabric that holds a city together.
Cameron describes his path: landscape architecture at Clemson, work in Charleston and Richmond, a graduate degree in urban design at Harvard, and then SOM in Chicago. He explains how the firm's city design practice works, from helping to create and assemble a project before a client exists to the long timeline of urban design, with projects that take 20 years or more to build out. He mentions projects in China, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
They also discuss designing for how people really use places, with the example of a Picasso sculpture that children use as a slide, the pressure to treat each building as an isolated project, and the idea that good design is good business. Cameron closes with his three traits for the future city and advice for young professionals.
Key Takeaways
- Think big: connect as many pieces as possible through each design opportunity, and follow through.
- The space between matters: streets, plazas and parks hold a city together and deserve as much attention as the buildings.
- Design for change: landscape architects think about how a space will look in 20 years, and urban spaces need flexibility because people will use them in unexpected ways.
- Sell the space: a well-designed ground floor with public space and retail can help attract an anchor tenant and talent.
- Mixed-use is hyper mixed-use: lobbies, plazas and offices can blend into one connected journey through the city.
- Small decisions last: Charlotte's willow oaks on Trade and Tryon exist because someone planned for what the trees needed below the sidewalk.
- Do not take no for an answer: find the people doing the work you admire and connect with them.
Highlights from the Conversation
Think big think as big as you can never limit yourself to the site that's in front of you.
Cameron Barradale
The open space the places between are the places that hold it together and make it special.
Cameron Barradale
You can't be so rigid that it pigeonholes people into only doing one thing.
Cameron Barradale
Topics Discussed
- Thinking at the largest possible context
- Open space as the fabric of a city
- SOM and its city design practice
- Assembling teams and clients for large urban projects
- Long timelines in urban design
- Flexibility and unexpected uses of public space
- Green, technology and hyper mixed-use in future cities
- Career advice and making an impact on Charlotte and the Southeast
Why This Conversation Matters
Cameron's argument that good public space and connected ground floors add value is relevant to anyone planning a building in a growing city. It echoes how we approach architecture: a project should contribute to its neighborhood, not only to its own lot. Residential and office projects such as Metric Townhomes and the Cunningham Office Building are examples of work where context and the space around the building shape the result.
About the Guest
Cameron Barradale is a licensed landscape architect and urban designer at SOM, an international architecture and urban design firm. He studied landscape architecture at Clemson, earned an urban design degree at Harvard, and worked at SOM in Chicago before moving to Charlotte. His work includes large-scale urban projects in the United States, China and the Middle East.
