David C. Hamme, third-generation architect, pioneering urban planner, and adjunct professor, has died at 91

David C. Hamme, 91, of Philadelphia, third-generation architect, prolific and pioneering strategic and physical planner of urban designs, adjunct professor at Drexel University and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, veteran, and mentor, died Sunday, Nov. 6, of sepsis and cardiac arrest at Lankenau Medical Center.

An innovative project director, senior associate, and then managing partner of Philadelphia-based Wallace McHarg Roberts & Todd, now Wallace Roberts & Todd, for four decades, Mr. Hamme developed and implemented new planning models and techniques and oversaw numerous large-scale urban design projects in the United States and abroad.

From 1966 to 2006, his work included development projects for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, and comprehensive strategic plans for the state of New Jersey and the cities of Orlando, Fla.; Annapolis, Md.; and Abuja, Nigeria. He was especially adept, his family said in a tribute, at helping older cities “reinvent their downtowns as vital and relevant centers of urban life.”

Earlier, he worked for a year at his family business, J. Alfred Hamme & Associates, in York, Pa., and then was a senior designer for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission from 1962 to 1966. A mentor to many wherever he was, a former colleague at Wallace Roberts & Todd said in a tribute: “You inspired me and all those around you.”

Locally, Mr. Hamme worked with officials and the public on development issues regarding college campuses, highways, housing, and other topics. In 1984, he addressed Chester County planners at a symposium by saying, “If you want to influence what Chester County is going to be like in the next 15 years, the time is running out. … Your 21st century is already determined if you don’t move.”

He also served on boards and consulted with neighborhood associations to revitalize Philadelphia’s historic Germantown neighborhood and preserve the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion and the nearby RittenhouseTown buildings. He was fond of ornamental and theatrical styles of architecture and received design and development awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and Penn’s Weitzman School of Design.

His love of engaging with others also drew Mr. Hamme to the classroom, and he was a longtime adjunct professor and lecturer in the graduate programs of urban planning and design at Drexel and Penn. In 2012, he won Drexel’s Stanley Gwiazda Award for teaching excellence.

“He was particularly interested in the civic values that drove design and management decisions,” said his wife, Hanne.

Born Oct. 8, 1931, in York, David Codrington Hamme earned a bachelor’s degree in math from Gettysburg College in 1952 and afterward served in the Army infantry and armored cavalry, rising to the rank of captain. He received a master’s degree in architecture at Penn in 1962 and followed his architect grandfather and father into the family business.

He met Hannelore Brey in Philadelphia, and they married, had son Peter and daughter Christina, and lived in Germantown and later near the Art Museum. He took his family to historic sites in Europe and elsewhere, and used those visits to educate his children about the world and its inhabitants.

His wife’s family came to the United States from northern Germany when she was young, so the couple returned to that region often to reconnect with her roots and “to look again and see anew,” she said. He enjoyed opera and classical music, and became such an enthusiastic wine connoisseur that he shared his knowledge of the grape freely, including during his college classes.

He reveled in Philadelphia’s culture, bragged to his associates in San Francisco about the local restaurant scene, and, while sitting one time with his daughter on his balcony overlooking the Art Museum, said: “I love to sit here and watch the pulse of the city.”

An avid sailor, Mr. Hamme captained his boat Fireworks during many races in the Chesapeake Bay, and he inspired his family and crew during stormy seas and other hair-raising adventures with his measured and effective responses. In a tribute, his son said those competitions were “about being together, overcoming fear and adversity with trust and collaboration, lessons that I have lived by ever since.”

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Hamme is survived by six grandsons and other relatives. A sister died earlier.

A celebration of his life is to be at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 28, in the social room of the Philadelphian, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130. The family will receive guests at 1 p.m.

Donations in his name may be made to Drexel University’s Department of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism, P.O. Box 8215, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101; and the John Alfred Hamme Scholarship at Gettysburg College, 300 North Washington St., Gettysburg, Pa. 17325.