William Roschen, FAIA, LEED AP
Founding Principal
Roschen Van Cleve Architects
Bill Roschen’s career manifests the new paradigm of “citizen architect” as civic leader who can engage communities in the thoughtful conversations required to advance infill and redevelopment projects that make neighborhoods sustainable, affordable, livable, healthy, and beautiful. His appointment as President of the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission culminated three decades of practice. Bill opened a storefront office at the famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine in 1987 with his partner, Christi Van Cleve, and they immersed themselves in the community, serving on the boards of local arts, civic, and youth leadership organizations, while establishing a “place-based” urban architectural practice working on affordable housing, historic preservation and mixed-use transit-oriented development projects that are providing density, gravity and vitality to revivify Hollywood’s once magnetic downtown, focusing on urbanism, collectivism, and the value of the public realm.
Appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to Co-Chair the Mayor’s radically inventive Transit Corridors Cabinet charged wtih orchestrating unprecedented collaboration of multiple city departments and community stake holders around the urban integration of 113 upcoming train stations, Bill helped maximize this transformational moment in the urban form of Los Angeles. As President of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, Bill took the lead on introducing and implementing a Health Element as a component of the Los Angeles City General Plan Framework and has initiated partnerships with the County Department of Public Health. He founded the Streets for People (S4P) Program, and is building unprecedented working relationships between planning and health and other government departments. He served in 2012-13 as the inaugural Chair for a national AIA committee, the Design+Health Leadership Group, convening top medical/public health and design professionals to evolve this cutting edge field. Bill is currently a board member of the Architects Foundation in Washington DC.
Appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to Co-Chair the Mayor’s radically inventive Transit Corridors Cabinet charged wtih orchestrating unprecedented collaboration of multiple city departments and community stake holders around the urban integration of 113 upcoming train stations, Bill helped maximize this transformational moment in the urban form of Los Angeles. As President of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, Bill took the lead on introducing and implementing a Health Element as a component of the Los Angeles City General Plan Framework and has initiated partnerships with the County Department of Public Health. He founded the Streets for People (S4P) Program, and is building unprecedented working relationships between planning and health and other government departments. He served in 2012-13 as the inaugural Chair for a national AIA committee, the Design+Health Leadership Group, convening top medical/public health and design professionals to evolve this cutting edge field. Bill is currently a board member of the Architects Foundation in Washington DC.