Architect Michael Barranco dies in crash

Barranco, town architect of Lost Rabbit near Jackson, Mississippi, and New Urban Guild member, was killed in an automobile crash.

Barranco, principal of Barranco Architecture & Interior Design, played a key role in the Mississippi Renewal Charrette in October, 2005, in Biloxi. The Biloxi event may have been the largest charrette ever, with about 200 working participants creating plans for 11 towns devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

According to the Clarion-Ledger:

"A Jackson architect known not only for his professional talent, but for his musical gifts and his selflessness lost his life in a wreck in Tunica County Tuesday night.

"Tunica County Coroner Glen Grant said Michael A. Barranco, 48, was pronounced on the scene of a one-vehicle accident on Ole Commerce Road Tuesday between 10 and 11:30 p.m. as he made his way home from a business meeting."

The newspaper reports that he is survived by his wife, Jene, their three children, and a foster child.

New urbanists from across the country expressed shock and sadness Wednesday. John Norquist noted: "Mike was one of the stars of the CNU Mississippi Coast Charrette and a believer in Mississippi's urban potential."