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Matthew Bernstine



Matthew Bernstine, AICP, LEEPAP, is a practicing designer and educator who is actively engaged with a wide variety of partners on civic engagements and projects for the built environment. In addition to his role as associate director of the Sam Fox School’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice, Bernstine teaches seminars and workshops on Informal Urbanism, Metropolitan Sustainability, Urban Research Methods, and Community Design. He previously served as the senior urban designer and planner within WashU’s Office of the University Architect & Real Estate.

Bernstine has established relationships with the St. Louis design community, municipal leaders and institutions, community groups, and residents through project-based work. He is actively working on projects throughout the region including: Peace Park, a civic-led collaboration to establish a neighborhood park in the College Hill neighborhood; the Delmar Collaborative, a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders dedicated to promoting a common vision along the Delmar Corridor; and the co-creation of a Pocket Park, where he worked with lecturer Alexandra Mei, residents, and local partners to develop a vacant corner lot in the West End neighborhood into a pocket park.

He works to integrate practice and academic scholarship and has done so through collaborative endeavors. He was the project manager for the Misi-Ziibi Living Delta team that was selected as a winning submission for the International Van Alen Design competition, “Changing Course; navigating the future of the Lower Mississippi River Delta.” He was a co-principal investigator for the Mobility for All by All project, a grant supported by The Divided City initiative, which is funded by the Mellon Foundation. Bernstine is also currently collaborating on a Divided City grant investigating the role of technologies in cementing socioeconomic segregation in Mexico City.

Before coming to St. Louis, Bernstine worked for over a decade in the private sector as an urban designer and planner in New York City, San Francisco, and Charlottesville. He enjoys collaborating and connecting with people and groups that push the boundaries of the built environment. In recent years, he has served on the boards of the St. Louis Metro American Planning Association and St. Louis Regional Data Alliance. He is currently a member of St. Louis City’s Community Mobility Committee. He was also previously selected as a Next City Vanguard and a New Leaders Council Fellow.


Work by Matthew Bernstine

Conceptual plan of the Mississippi delta.

Changing Course

Project manager, Misi-Ziibi Living Delta team, winning proposal for Van Alen international competition Changing Course: Navigating the Future of the Lower Mississippi RiverDelta. Image by Sam Fox School alums Junru Zheng (MLA14) & Courtney Cushard (MUD11).
Rendering of a view from space of the Mississippi delta with graphic overlays marking the river path and developed areas.

Changing Course

Project manager, Misi-Ziibi Living Delta team, winning proposal for Van Alen international competition Changing Course: Navigating the Future of the Lower Mississippi RiverDelta. Image by Sam Fox School alums Junru Zheng (MLA14) & Courtney Cushard (MUD11).
Collage showing different overlapping layers of cityscape, parks, and transportation systems.

Patchwork Tokyo

Collage depicting a speculative future for a 2050 train-station development in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Image by Matthew Bernstine.
Collage of four photos showing a group of people posing together, on-site in two areas of the community, and sitting at tables working collaboratively.

Mobility for All by All

Mobility for All by All collaborative community projects. Top-left: led by Creative Reaction Lab, Community Apprenticeship Program; top-right: Sunni Hutton, Hip-hop transit; bottom-right: Alix Gerber & Umeme Houston, Sewcial Impact Project; bottom-left: Dutchtown South and Linda C. Samuels’ studio, Culture, Traffic, Trash. Images by David Johnson.
Panoramic photo of a large group of people standing around a table holding a 3D model of a city plan.

Informal Cities Masterclass

Final review for the Informal Cities masterclass, led by Dr. Kathryn Ewing, director and urban designer of violence prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU). Image by Matthew Bernstine.
Image5 globalurbanism

Global Urbanism

District framework plan for Master of Urban Design Global Urbanism Capstone Studio, Double-Vision, taught by Jonathan Stitelman and Matthew Bernstine. Ecological Force district plan for Marshalltown, Johannesburg. Image by Ke She (MUD19).
Grid of four perspective renderings of the Lewis Center - the facade, an interior common space, and two exterior courtyards.

Lewis Collaborative

University-led, historic adaptive reuse project with multi-family apartments and co-working space for the arts and humanities, and for the St. Louis community. Image by Lawrence Group Architects.