Carol Berens is an architect and author in New York City. She has been writing for UrbDeZine since 2011.
 
The germ of the idea for her most recent book, Redeveloping Industrial Sites, started with a short article on the new Paris parks way back in 1998 for the now-defunct TWA Ambassador. Through visits to these parks and interviews with the architects and city planners, she saw how Paris’ industrial past was being transformed into not only into new parks, but new neighborhoods. Of course, Paris isn’t the only city that is confronted with the ruins of its earlier industry. The exploration into how other countries and cities including New York are continuing to reinvent themselves has been an interesting and fun journey.
 
She is the author of Hotel Bars and Lobbies (Mc-Graw Hill, 1996), articles on design and urban issues for various magazines as well as the Associate Editor for The Paris Times, a former English-language monthly newspaper published in Paris.
 
A former vice president at the Empire State Development Corporation, she led efforts in the land development of several upstate mixed-use communities as well as the sale and development of surplus state-owned land. Carol received M. Arch from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and worked as an architect at Marcel Breuer Architect in Paris, France, and at Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in New York City.
 
Carol can be reached at carol_berens@yahoo.com, through her website,www.carolberens.com, and via Facebook at Carol Berens NYC Real Estate.