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 contents
raimund KoCh

19 2010 governor general’s 13 news

The partnership of Provencher Roy &
awards Associés architectes and Rem Koolhaas-
this year’s winning projeCts exhibit a nuanCed sensitivity to site, landCape and led OMA wins international competition
the publiC realm. for the expansion of the Musée national
des beaux-arts du Québec; Saucier +
Perrotte and Hughes Condon Marler
54 2010 raic gold Medal Architects design new UBC Faculty of
highly influential arChiteCt, urban designer and eduCator george baird is Pharmaceutical Science.
seleCted as the reCipient of the 2010 raiC gold medal.
65 calendar
Other Space Odysseys: Greg Lynn, Michael
Canadian arChiteCt

Maltzan, Alessandro Poli at the Canadian

Centre for Architecture; Architecture en vers
at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal.

66 Backpage
Rufina Wu and Stefan Canham introduce
Hong Kong’s hidden rooftop communities.

stefan Canham

may 2010, v.55 n.05

coversCandinave les bains vieux-
montréal by sauCier + perrotte arChi-
teCtes in montreal. photograph by
The NaTioNal Review of DesigN aND PRacTice/
marC Cramer.
The JouRNal of RecoRD of The Raic

05/10 canadian architect 9

 viewpoint
Ian ChodIkoff
above sInCe Its beGInnInGs In the 1950s, the InforMaL settLeMent of neza has Matured
Into an effICIent and eMPathIC CoMMunIty.
In April, I attended the 3rd International Holcim
Forum for Sustainable Construction, a three-day
conference held at the Universidad Iberoameri-
cana in Mexico City. Comprised of academics and
professionals from the fields of architecture, engi-
neering, urban planning, business and politics,
over 270 participants from 39 countries gathered
to discuss new approaches to building sustainable
communities. The Holcim Foundation for Sus-
tainable Construction—a Swiss-based organization
seeking to raise awareness of the roles that archi-
tecture, engineering and construction can play in
contributing to a healthier planet—sponsored the
conference. The Foundation is supported by
Holcim Ltd., one of the world’s largest suppliers of
cement, aggregates and ready-mixed concrete.
A highlight of the forum was a series of work-
shops examining the relationships of architec-
ture, infrastructure, social networks and stake-
holders in the city. For the workshop that focused
on stakeholders—those citizens who play an im-
portant everyday role in the city but who are often
excluded from important decision-making pro-
cesses—arrangements were made to visit the
informal city of Nezahualcóyotl or “Neza,” and a
cultural centre in Iztapalapa, one of the poorest
neighbourhoods in Mexico City. The richness of
social capital, community participation and self-
governance in these two areas was extraordinary.
These case studies can teach us how we can learn
to work together to resolve some of the ongoing
challenges facing the sustainability of our cities.
Founded in the 1950s without any city services
and expanded through illegal land sales, Neza is
the largest unplanned community in Mexico.
Today, it has a population of nearly 1.5 million in-
habitants. This fully matured city contains a level
of social interaction and complexity that tradi-
tionally planned communities can only dream of
achieving. With a wide variety of businesses and
services—including at least one branch of the
Bank of Nova Scotia—one quickly appreciates
Neza as a well-maintained and socially inclusive
environment where the idea of community is both
preserved and nurtured.
10 canadian architect 05/10
In Fábrica de Artes y Oficios de Oriente
(FARO), a cultural centre in Iztapalapa where
more than 80 percent of its nearly 2 million in-
habitants live in extreme poverty, a strong pres-
ence of mutual respect and community identity is
felt everywhere. FARO contains a vocational
school, library, theatre, exhibition space and
cafeteria within a long graffiti-covered ship-like
structure. Meeting the needs of many Mexicans
marginalized from society, the centre strikes close
to the heart, reminding us of the importance of
engendering not only a sense of place but em-
pathy towards others living in impoverished
conditions. This is what Jeremy Rifkin might
consider to be a good example of an “empathic
civilization.”
In his keynote address at the conference, Rif-
kin, author of The Empathic Civilization: The Race to
Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, spoke of
his belief that the only way the human race can
survive in a sustainable and globalized economy is
if we develop more empathy toward others. His
“empathic civilization” can be seen as the oppo-
site of a Utopia, a place where there is neither fear
nor desire. In an empathic world, we are able to
feel and understand the vulnerabilities of those
around us, working co-operatively to achieve
greater balance among humans.
Through greed and the desire for progress, it is
quite possible that we’ve moved away from the
empathic understanding of each other’s needs,
resulting in our inability to collectively make pos-
itive decisions affecting the future health of our
planet. But there is hope. Humanity is still rooted
in social environments where we continue to
learn from and identify with each other. Over the
course of our 175,000-year existence, we have de-
veloped constructs such as religious affiliations
and national identities to help us build empathic
civilizations. If there is one thing that we can dis-
cover from places like Neza or Iztapalapa, it is
this: nurturing empathy and directing it toward
our neighbours will increase the likelihood of
humanity’s survival.
Ian ChodIkoff ichodikoff@canadianarchitect.coM
editor
Ian ChodIkoff, OAA, FRAIC
associate editor
LesLIe Jen, MRAIC
editorial advisors
John MCMInn, AADIpl.
MarCo PoLo, OAA, MRAIC
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herbert enns, MAA, MRAIC
douGLas MaCLeod, nCARb
regional correspondents
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cOmpetitiOns
rem Koolhaas’s Oma and provencher roy
& associés win international competition
for musée national des beaux-arts du
Québec expansion.
The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
has announced that the winner of the inter-
national architecture competition for its new
pavilion is OMA (Office for Metropolitain Archi-
tecture), based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in
partnership with the Quebec team Provencher
Roy & Associés architectes. The jury’s unani-
mous selection of OMA’s design brought to a
close a hotly contested international competition
that drew interest from more than 100 firms
from around the world. The designers had met
the requirements related to nature, art and the
city, skillfully taking into account the natural
setting of the park, the building’s opening onto
its environment and the urban character of
Grande Allée. The proposed pavilion demon-
strates concern for sustainable development and
clear respect for the adjacent buildings while
making a strong statement in terms of its typolo-
gy. In December 2007, the governments of Can-
ada and Quebec announced a joint contribution
of $67.4 million for this project. The federal
contribution, capped at 50% of admissible costs
to a maximum of $33.7 million, is provided
through the Building Canada Fund, Major Pro-
jects Component. This funding is conditional
upon the signing of a contribution agreement
with the Government of Quebec, which will pro-
vide $33.7 million from the Québec Infra-
structures Plan through the Ministère de la
Culture, des Communications et de la Condition
féminine. Financing for the project is to be
completed by a $90-million private fundraising
campaign conducted by the Fondation du Musée.
www.mnba.qc.ca
prOjects
saucier + perrotte and hughes condon
marler architects design new UBc Faculty
of pharmaceutical science.
Saucier + Perrotte and Hughes Condon Marler
Architects have begun designing the new build-
ing for the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science/
CDRD for the University of British Columbia.
The project site is located at the intersection
of Westbrook Mall and Agronomy Road, a
20,240-square-metre parcel of land that is lo-
cated at an important entry point to the campus.
Resource Planning Group Inc. was earlier in-
volved with the development of the project’s
functional program, which enabled the architec-
tural team to arrive at a design that would reflect
aBOVethe winning competition entry for the expansion of the musée national des
beaux-arts du Québec is a lively and dramatic addition to Quebec city’s grande allée.
the Pharmaceutical Science Department’s
world-class researchers, faculty, and the Uni-
versity’s status as an internationally recognized
institution in scientific endeavours. With this in
mind, the building is designed to act as a gateway
to the southeast edge of the campus, engaging
the community with a ground floor that will be
open, transparent and inviting—one that will
showcase the public functions of the Faculty.
The $90-million project will also house the Uni-
versity’s Centre for Drug Research and Develop-
ment in a state-of-the-art facility.
Kuwabara payne mcKenna Blumberg
architects unveil design for minnesota’s
Orchestra hall.
Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects
unveiled schematic designs for the renovation
and expansion of Orchestra Hall, home of the
Minnesota Orchestra in downtown Minneapolis.
The $40-million project to revitalize Orchestra
Hall focuses on a reinvention of its public lobby
spaces and creates a dramatic exterior that better
connects the Hall to the city outside. “In renovat-
ing Orchestra Hall, we made it a priority to pre-
serve the iconic elements of the original 1974
design, while also re-envisioning aspects of the
building to better fit the current city and con-
text,” says architect Bruce Kuwabara, who serves
as design partner on the project. The renovation
doubles Orchestra Hall’s available lobby space,
simplifies lobby circulation, adds two exterior
terraces and creates a new multi-purpose “City
Room” on the lobby’s west side that can flexibly
news
luxigon
accommodate a range of catered receptions, din-
ners and performances—and opens directly to a
generous open-air terrace in warm months.
“The expanded lobby will be one broad, inter-
connected space, and it will feel more inclusive,”
says architect Marianne McKenna, who serves as
partner in charge. London-based Sound Space
Design will oversee acoustics during the renova-
tion, making appropriate onstage adjustments
and ensuring that the auditorium’s current excel-
lent acoustics are maintained through the reno-
vation. The new Orchestra Hall is expected to
open in 2013.
awards
sanaa named the 2010 pritzker
architecture prize Laureates.
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners in
the architectural firm SANAA, have been chosen
as the 2010 Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture
Prize. In announcing the jury’s choice, Thomas J.
Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation,
elaborated, “Japanese architects have been
chosen three times in the 30-year history of the
Pritzker Architecture Prize—the first was the late
Kenzo Tange in 1987, then in 1993, Fumihiko
Maki was selected, and in 1995, Tadao Ando was
the honouree.” The purpose of the Pritzker
Architecture Prize is to honour annually a living
architect whose built work demonstrates a com-
bination of those qualities of talent, vision and
commitment, which has produced consistent and
significant contributions to humanity and the
05/10 canadian architect 13
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built environment through the art of architec-
ture. While most of their work is in Japan, Sejima
and Nishizawa have designed projects in Ger-
many, England, Spain, France, the Netherlands,
and the United States.
www.pritzkerprize.com
raymond moriyama announced as
recipient of the 2010 sakura award.
Raymond Moriyama, who cofounded the firm
Moriyama Teshima Architects in 1958, is a hero
to many Canadians. His stories of being interned
during the Second World War because of his Jap-
anese heritage and his rise to become one of
Canada’s most respected architects continue to
inspire. Moriyama has applied his extraordinary
vision and understanding to numerous projects
including the original Japanese Canadian Cultur-
al Centre, Ontario Science Centre, Science North,
Scarborough Civic Centre, Toronto Reference Li-
brary, Bata Shoe Museum, National Museum of
Saudi Arabia, Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, and
the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa that
recently received the Governor General’s Medal
for Architecture. Such landmark projects consis-
tently earn praise for their intimate relationship
to land, nature, and community. Moriyama has
received honourary degrees from 10 universities,
along with the Order of Canada and the Order of
the Rising Sun (Japan), and was recently pro-
moted to a Companion of the Order of Canada in
recognition of “...inspiring a new generation of
young architects through a significant body of
work deemed to be a major contribution to Cana-
dian architecture, and having lasting influence
on the theory and/or the practice of architec-
ture.” Born in Vancouver and educated in Van-
couver, Tokyo, Slocan Valley (Bayfarm) in BC,
Ryerson Senior Public School, and Westdale
Collegiate in Hamilton, he received his Bachelor
of Architecture from the University of Toronto in
1954 and Master of Architecture degree in Civic
and Town Planning from McGill University in
1957. In the spring of 2001, he was elected unan-
imously the Chancellor of Brock University,
the first architect in Canada to receive such an
honour.
www.jccclegacycampaign.ishare.ca/sakura/
honouree.htm
2010 heritage toronto awards call for
nominations.
Heritage Toronto invites the public to nominate
significant 2009 projects they think should be
celebrated. This year, nominations will be ac-
cepted in the following categories: William Greer
Architectural Conservation and Craftsmanship—
for excellence in the restoration or adaptive reuse
of a building 40 years old or older. Projects of all
sizes will be considered, from façade restoration
to a commercial building; Book—for a non-
fiction book about Toronto’s archaeological,
built, cultural and/or natural heritage and his-
tory, published in 2009; Media—for a production
about Toronto’s archaeological, built, cultural or DESIGN
FINAL TRIM = 2.5 in X 10.25 in
natural heritage and history; and Community
TECHNOLOGY
Heritage Award—a cash prize awarded to one
volunteer-based organization in each of the four ECOLOGY
Community Council areas for a significant activi-
ty that promotes or protects heritage. The dead-
line for nominations is June 1, 2010.
www.heritagetoronto.org
GOOd desiGn awards.
The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architec- Designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA
ture and Design and Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd.
present the Museum’s annual GOOD DESIGN
Awards Program for the most innovative and
cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic de-
signs produced around the world. In the Product
Design category, anything produced and/or
hi-glo ™
designed from January 2008 to the present is
eligible. All submitted products must have been lo-glo ™
produced by a manufacturer or scheduled for
production. In the graphic design category, any
graphic produced and/or designed from January
2008 to the present is eligible. All submitted
graphics must have been produced by a client or
scheduled for production. In this year’s edition,
selected products and graphics for GOOD DE-
SIGN are announced to the international press in
December 2010. The fee is $300 US per entry. All
entries must be postmarked no later than 5:00pm
CST on July 1, 2010.
www.chi-athenaeum.org/gdesign/sub00.htm
KmBr honoured with third Bc wood
design award.
Crawford Bay Elementary Secondary School, de-
signed by KMBR Architects Planners Inc., was
106563o GLO AD GROUND OALA SPRING.indd
recognized with a WoodWORKS! BC Wood De-
sign Award. It is the third such award in four
years for KMBR. The school won in the category
of Institutional Wood Design with a value of less
than $10 million. The awards are given out annu-
ally by the Canadian Wood Council, whose Wood-
WORKS! initiative promotes the use of wood in
DT LFI GloAd_Sky4 12 16_01.tif
non-residential construction. KMBR’s latest
award-winning project saw the replacement of a
200-student elementary/secondary school, origi-
nally built in the late 1940s, in the small rural
town on the east shore of Kootenay Lake in
southeastern British Columbia. The design of the
new school relies heavily on the use of locally
produced wood products, resulting in several in-
valuable outcomes, such as the shipping of mate-
rials from afar, thereby reducing the new school’s
environmental footprint. The use of wood was 800.837.3275 • landscapeforms.com
also an intentional, socially responsible move in
that it created local employment for both the
lumber industry and local carpenters, thus great-
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05/10 canadian architect 15
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solid Performance
the winners of this year’s governor general’s medals
showcase their exPertise in the creation of highly
evocative architecture.
As with previous winners of Governor General’s
Medals in Architecture, the 2010 award recipi-
ents are being recognized and celebrated by their
peers for design excellence. This awards program
continues a tradition that was initiated by the
Massey Medals in 1950 and remains an impor-
tant barometer of change identifying the evolu-
tion of Canadian architecture with respect to
regional, cultural and material characteristics
expressed in contemporary buildings. The jury
for this year’s Governor General’s Medals in
Architecture comprises a group of internationally
renowned professionals and esteemed Canadian
architects from the Prairies, Ontario, and Que-
bec, including Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta, Nader
Tehrani, Georges Adamczyk, Jane Pendergast and
Betsy Williamson.
2010 governor general’s medal winners
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
(RAIC), together with the RAIC College of Fel-
lows, is responsible for the organization and
administration of the competition, while the
Canada Council for the Arts is responsible for se-
lecting and administering the peer assessment
jury. Awarded every two years, up to 12 winners
can be selected for each Governor General’s
Medals in Architecture awards cycle. Readers will
note that many of the award-winning projects
have long ago been published in Canadian
Architect magazine. This is because the eligibility
requirements for submission allow such a gener-
ous period of time for project completion—from
January 1, 2001 to November 1, 2007.
Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta is currently the
Dean of the School of Architecture at the Univer-
sidad Anáhuac in Mexico City. In 2008, he was
honoured as Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la
Legion d’Honneur by the French Republic and
recognized as an Honorary Fellow by the Ameri-
can Institute of Architects and the Royal Archi-
tectural Institute of Canada. More than 80 prizes
recognize the work of Gómez-Pimienta, who is
known for a contemporary architectural vocabu-
lary that references traditional Mexican culture.
Nader Tehrani is a Principal of the Boston-
based architecture firm of Office dA. He is also a
Professor of Architecture at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. His area of research is
focused on innovations in building systems, ma-
terial applications, and digital fabrication. Office
dA has received numerous awards and the work
of the firm has been exhibited widely at such
venues as New York’s Museum of Modern Art,
the Venice Biennale, and the Institute of Con-
temporary Art in Boston.
Georges Adamczyk is a Full Professor at the
School of Architecture at the Université de Mon-
tréal, where he served as its director from 1999
to 2007. He is a consultant for public interest
projects and is the author of a number of articles,
papers, publications and exhibitions about archi-
tecture and design in Canada. Adamczyk is cur-
rently collaborating on the first major disciplin-
ary study of architectural competitions in Canada
since 1940 at the Laboratoire d’étude de l’archi-
tecture potentielle (LEAP), a research organiza-
tion that is centred at the Université de Montréal.
Jane Pendergast has devoted her career to vari-
ous forms of practice including a stint as Univer-
sity Architect at the University of Calgary. Her
real passion lies in working on cultural, not-for-
profit, higher education and community projects,
and she has recently opened the firm Pendergast
Nyhoff Collaborative Architecture Inc. (PNCA) in
downtown Calgary with architect Kevin Nyhoff.
Betsy Williamson is a Principal of WILLIAM-
SONWILLIAMSON INC., a Toronto-based archi-
tecture firm. She serves on the Waterfront To-
ronto Design Review Panel and the Art Advisory
Board of the Toronto Sculpture Garden. In addi-
tion to her creative practice, Betsy maintains an
active teaching career at the University of Toron-
to. In 2008, WILLIAMSONWILLIAMSON INC.,
was the recipient of the Ronald J. Thom Award
for Early Design Achievement from the Canada
Council for the Arts. In 2006, the studio was
honoured with the Young Architects Award from
the Architectural League of New York.
05/10­­canadian architect ­19
 governor general’s medal winner
telUs centre for Performance
and learning
Tom ArbAn
architectKuwAbArA PAyne mcKennA
blumberg ArchiTecTs
location ToronTo, onTArio
The new TELUS Centre for Performance and
Learning is the final phase in the master plan to
build a new home for Canada’s premier music
and arts educator, the Royal Conservatory of
Music (RCM). KPMB, under the direction of
Marianne McKenna, has been working with the
RCM to realize the vision set forth in the 1991
award-winning master plan.
The overall project involved the progressive
20 canadian architect 05/10
aBoveThe undulATing ribbon-liKe ceiling
of Koerner hAll enhAnces The AcousTics.
restoration of McMaster Hall and the construc-
tion of a new TELUS Centre for Performance and
Learning to create a unique hybrid of a teaching
and rehearsal facility and destination concert
venue with three major performance venues.
The space between the historic and new buildings
is enclosed to create a skylit pedestrian court
linking the Bloor Street entrance to the Concert
Hall and Lobby. The glass-and-steel structure of
the new addition provides a dynamic counter-
point to the polychromatic façades of the heritage
buildings.
Urbanistically, the project occupies an impor-
tant site in midtown Toronto at the threshold of
the University of Toronto’s downtown campus,
and integrates Philosopher’s Walk, a landscape
pedestrian route that runs north and south link-
ing Bloor Street to Hoskin Avenue. The design
was strategically conceived to define a new cul-
tural precinct for the city in concert with the
transformation of the adjacent ROM and the ex-
pansion of the Gardiner Museum around the cor-
ner on Queen’s Park.
Although the new additions are substantive in
scale and size, the siting, massing and articula-
tion is deferential to the 19th-century heritage
buildings on Bloor Street which have housed the
RCM since 1962. The emphasis on transparency
and contemporary building systems create a dy-
namic counterpoint to the polychromatic mason-
ry walls when encountered from Philosopher’s
Walk. KPMB was also involved in the restoration
of the exterior heritage fabric and the 240-seat
Ettore Mazzoleni Hall.
A key mandate was to maximize the capacity
and flexibility for integrating new technology and
adapting to changes and growth in programs. The
new additions include 43 new teaching and prac-
tice studios, the renovation of Ihnatowycz Hall
(1898) and a new 150-seat Conservatory Hall, a
rehearsal space designed to accommodate a range
of functions. In scale and proportion it replicates
the acoustic quality and stage size of the main
Koerner Concert Hall to prepare students for live
performance.
In addition to Mazzoleni Hall and Conservatory
Hall, the project incorporates the 1,135-seat
Michael and Sonja Koerner Concert Hall—the
performance heart of the project that provides a
premiere acoustical environment. Its undulating
wood “veil” integrated with the canopy above the
stage define an iconic image for the RCM.
Overall, the TELUS Centre emphasizes the pri-
macy of acoustics to directly support the RCM’s
educational mission to nurture a creative society.
georges adamczyk: Les liens entre le bâti-
ment historique et le nouvel édifice sont très
bien composés. La restauration de l’ancien édi-
fice d’allure victorienne est en fait très bien mise
en valeur par le choix d’une construction rigou-
reuse et transparente pour la nouvelle adition. La
présence du conservatoire sur le campus de
 l’université est très inspirante et la façon dont il
accompagne le “chemin des philosophes,” est re-
marquable.

Jane Pendergast: When you consider all the

architectural, landscape and urban forces at work
on this site it is remarkable how deftly the archi-
tects have managed the forms, the places within,
the experience of moving through this assembly
of buildings, the dialogue between old and new
materials, and the presentation of the project on
so many fronts.

The mulTi-leVel lobby

clocKwise from toP right

sPAce is formAl yeT inTimATe; The AudiTor-

ium of Koerner hAll; new AddiTions mAKe
for A hArmonious conTrAsT To The
originAl 1881 romAnesque building;

eduArd hueber
The Telus cenTre AnimATes ToronTo’s
busy bloor sTreeT wiTh iTs dignified Pres-
ence.
Tom ArbAn

eduArd hueber

eduArd hueber
1 Koerner hAll
2 librAry
3 lobby
9 4 ViP room
5 sTudio
6 PhilosoPher’s wAlK
5 7 bAcK of house
8 clAssroom
client royAl conserVATory of music 9 mechAnicAl
architect team mAriAnne mcKennA (PArTner), roberT sims 5
(AssociATe in chArge), dAVe smyThe (ProJecT ArchiTecT), meiKA
mccunn (ProJecT ArchiTecT), cArolyn lee, frAnces lAgo, John
mesTiTo, gAry yen, dAn benson, KrisTA clArK, bill colAco, 5 1 4
george friedmAn, eriK Jensen, dAVid Jesson, robin rAmchArAn,
riTA KiriAKis, leXi KolT-wAgner, scoTT Pomeroy, mArK simPson, deb-
5
orAh wAng, chris wegner, norm li, clAre rAdford, nicK lim
acoUstician sound sPAce design wiTh AercousTics engineer-
ing lTd
theatre consUltant Anne minors PerformAnce consulTAnTs 8 3
strUctUral hAlcrow yolles
mechanical merber corPorATion consulTing engineers
electrical crossey engineering 2 5
landscaPe JAneT rosenberg & AssociATes 7
interiors KPmb ArchiTecTs 6
contractor Pcl consTrucTors cAnAdA
costing currAn mccAbe rAVindrAn ross 5
5
aUdiovisUal engineering hArmonics
architectUral lighting mArTin conboy lighTing design
heritage goldsmiTh borgAl & comPAny limiTed ArchiTecTs
9
area 190,000 fT2
BUdget $110 m
comPletion sePTember 2009
east-west section

05/10 canadian architect 21

governor general’s medal winner

corkin
gallery
architect shim-sutcliffe architects
location toronto, ontario

The Corkin Gallery provides a public venue for

the display of one of the best collections of fine
art photography in Canada. It is located in what
was originally a spirit storage room in the Good­
erham and Worts Distillery, now in downtown
Toronto’s Distillery District. The project cele­
brates the scale of the building’s vast industrial
space while creating a series of modern gallery
rooms in this new cultural district in the city. The
legibility of the existing spaces—the walls, ceil­
ings and architectural elements—and their rela­
tionship to the new insertions was fundamental
to the design proposition.
Early excavations below the existing floor level
revealed parallel rows of evenly spaced six­foot­
high brick walls that divided the space into nar­
row three­foot­wide corridors. Formerly, large
storage tanks sat on these turn­of­the­century
masonry walls and the spaces between were used
to run connecting service pipes. The project ex­
poses this pattern of low walls, using them as a
datum within and above into which new spaces
are inserted. A new central gallery space was
created, bracketed by the rhythm of the historic
brick tank walls, and existing heavy timber col­
umns were preserved, with new cruciform steel
bases replacing the existing rubble stone foun­
dations. This created stable connection points
to the new concrete floor slab, and created a

James Dow
dialogue between new and existing structural
elements.
Set five steps below the gallery entrance hall
and street level, a vast 24­foot­high space is original timber columns rest on new cruciform bases, replacing olD rubble
aBove

stone founDations in this high-ceilingeD space.

created. The exhibit surfaces are held away from
massive masonry walls and the wood­framed
ceiling plane. The main gallery’s hanging walls
extend up 18 feet towards the existing ceiling,
floating below the gently sloping ceiling to allow
the original size and form of the existing space to
still be read.
Beyond the main gallery, a steel bridge con­
nects two mezzanine galleries and appears to
float several inches above the historic masonry
walls. Further enhancing this ethereal quality of
the space, sliding translucent glass planes hang
from the ceiling, both concealing and revealing
the gallery’s library and study space from the
public.
Below this upper level space, a smaller gallery
is defined by brick walls on three sides to display
smaller, more intimately scaled photographs.
Two flights of wood stairs aligned with archways
in the brick support walls lead to the upper gal­
leries. By moving through and up either flight of
inserted stairs, the visitor can experience the
upper galleries and overlook the main gallery
below.
Along with its spatial complexity, the material
richness of the gallery sets it apart from the
stereotypical pristine white­walled gallery. The
original 2½”­thick planks of Douglas fir and
cedar flooring were retained and recycled
throughout the space, sanded and large holes
filled with a clear resin in order to maintain the
quality and texture of the distillery floor. Hand­
rails made of glass and stainless steel connect
sensitively to their century­old substrates, and
provide a layer of human­scaled elements in a
dramatically volumetric space.
Bernardo gómez-Pimienta: The contemporary
insertion is careful and clever, creating a spatial
complexity that the original building lacked—
while maintaining all the old structural elements.
The dialogue between old and new is respectful
and makes a better building than the simple sum
of the elements used.
nader tehrani: An intelligent adaptation of the
distillery infrastructure, repurposing the build­
ing to effective ends. The project shows that it is
not enough to preserve the “history” of the build­
ing with a passive voice, but instead requires a
strategic intervention, drawing out its latent
qualities and giving it renewed meaning.

22 canadian architect 05/10

James Dow

leFtsliDing glass panels separate the

office anD library from the stair leaDing
Down to the lower level. Bottom, leFt to
right original masonry supports were

once requireD for heavy machinery, as

illustrateD in the historic photograph;
original brick archways once sup-
porteD vats of spirits above.

client Jane corkin

architect team brigitte shim anD howarD sutcliffe (principals),
Denise haraDem (proJect architect)
structural blackwell bowick partnership ltD.
mechanical toews engineering inc.
electrical Dynamic Designs anD engineering inc.
heritage era architects inc.
architectural lighting suzanne powaDiuk Design inc.
Building code leber rubes inc.
metal FaBricators tremonte manufacturing inc.
Builders eisner murray (vic furgiuele)
area 6,000 ft2
Budget withhelD
comPletion november 2004

11 17 16 11

17 13

11 16 14

15
12

New INterIor walls

exIstINg brIck support walls

uPPer level
11 office 15 storage racks for art
12 mechanical lift for artwork 16 upper galleries
13 library 17 stair up through historic
14 private viewing gallery archeD passage
James Dow

James Dow

7
5 6 8 9

1 3 4

9 6 11

12 10
James Dow

New INterIor walls

exIstINg brIck support walls

lower level 0 20’

1 entry gallery 5 bathroom 10 emergency egress

2 original scale set 6 mechanical room 11 office
into floor 7 hanDicap access 12 mechanical lift for
3 main gallery 8 kitchen artwork
4 small work gallery 9 storage

05/10 canadian architect 23

 governor general’s medal winner
ravine guest house
architect shim-sutcliffe Architects
location toronto, ontArio
This guesthouse is located on the wooded
grounds of a private residence abutting a Toronto
ravine. The wood-and-glass pavilion sits within a
three-acre property, surrounded by a lush land-
scape of mature red pines and black locust trees.
It is conceived of as a glowing lantern in the for-
est, typologically related to greenhouses and tra-
ditional garden outbuildings.
Intended as a quiet retreat, the program for the
rAimund koch
aBove A view of the rAvine house, the surrounding deck, And reflecting pool.
24 canadian architect 05/10
project has both indoor and outdoor elements.
The indoor program includes a bedroom, a sit-
ting room, a bathroom, and a kitchen which can
also be used for catering large events. The out-
door program includes a large wooden deck, re-
flecting pool, covered dining area, and a long
concrete countertop for the storage of firewood
and garden equipment.
A deliberate ambiguity is created between in-
terior and exterior, as elements are interwoven to
create a series of interlocking spaces. A large
central indoor-outdoor fireplace reinforces this
ambiguity; it has a sliding fireglass window be-
tween the two fireboxes permitting a separation
between inside and out, while affording views
through one to the other.
Facing west, large wood-and-glass doors un-
fold, allowing the building’s main living and
sleeping space to open fully to the outdoors. A
view toward the reflecting pool and terraces is
framed by the remaining south wall and fire-
place. The ipé wood flooring used for the interior
extends seamlessly beyond the doors to form the
terrace, further extending the modest interior
into the landscape, and again blurring the dis-
tinction between inside and out.
The structural steel and Douglas fir roof fram-
ing is fully exposed and expressed. A hanging
structural frame enables the Profilit cast-glass
clerestory to be completely continuous overhead.
The openness of the pavilion’s walls, the mini-
malism of the structure’s framing, and the glow-
ing quality of the milky glass above allow the ceil-
ing plane to appear to float. To create shade and
shelter for the outdoor dining area, the simple
rectangular prism of roof and glass hovers above
the hearth and the terrace.
The journey to the Ravine Guesthouse is by
foot down a winding gravel path. A slatted wood-
en bridge forms the threshold to the pavilion,
leading across the L-shaped reflecting pool to the
generous wood terrace. The pool is planted with
water lilies and bullrushes, creating a rich water
landscape surrounded by the verdant and dis-
tinctive Toronto ravine landscape.
georges adamczyk: Ce lieux de retraite, à
quelques minutes du centre ville, dans un ravin
de Toronto, havre naturel précieusement con-
servé, est une construction très sophistiquée qui
se joue hardiment des lois de la pesanteur et tend
à effacer la limite entre l’intérieur et l’extérieur,
là oú les beaux arbres et la réflexion d’un bassin
d’eau renforce l’engagement contemplatif de ce
projet. Les matériaux s’ajustent à un récit archi-
tectonique tendu et précis, d’une grande clarté,
démontrant que la simplicité est le fruit d’une
recherche patiente et sensible de la vérité des
choses. C’est en quelque sorte l’exemple parfait
d’un manifeste pour la beauté architecturale.
Bernardo gómez-Pimienta: The Ravine Guest
House is an extremely sophisticated volume
blending interior and exterior space. The use of a
reduced material palette is enhanced by the clari-
ty of the structural solution making the clerestory
appear to float above the seemingly continuous
space.
JAmes dow

JAmes dow
rAimund koch

4
1

9
structurAl glAss chAnnels
toP, leFt to right
form the upper clerestory of the guest 8
house; A view of the indoor/outdoor
fireplAce with lArge douglAs fir doors
opening to the heAvily wooded sur- ground Floor 0 10’

roundings. aBove custom-designed 1 reflecting pool 6 BAthroom

2 terrAce 7 kitchen
chAirs And lAmps By the Architects 3 covered outdoor AreA 8 roof gArden
Adorn the interior of this guest house. 4
5
indoor/outdoor fireplAce
living/sleeping
9 concrete counter

client dr. murrAy frum And nAncy lockhArt

architect team Brigitte shim And howArd sutcliffe (principAls),
min wAng, mArk grAhAm
structural BlAckwell Bowick pArtnership ltd.
Builder tony Azevedo
area 500 ft2
Budget withheld
comPletion 2004

05/10 canadian architect 25

We are inspired by the dynamic power of the world around
us. We design architectural and engineering solutions from
which a bold and beautiful future emerges – one in harmony
with the needs of people, land, and environment.

CirCle reply Card 24

Yellowknife 867.920.2882 | Edmonton 780.439.0090 | Iqaluit 867.979.0555 | Whitehorse 867.633.2400

 G

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 governor general’s medal winner
BoB Gundu

craven road studio

Shim-Sutcliffe ArchitectS
BoB Gundu

architect

location toronto, ontArio

The client required a detached, freestanding stu-

dio which could serve a variety of uses including
exhibition and display, research and study space,
archival storage, and library shelving. Located on
a tightly defined urban lot, it sits immediately
adjacent to an earlier award-winning house
constructed 10 years ago for the same client and
serves as an adjunct space to the principal
residence.
An urban court with a grove of river birches
was created between the existing principal build-
ing and the new studio. A new single-car garage
and three-foot-wide walkway created for the ad-
jacent neighbour forms the south side of the
courtyard. The result is an urban ensemble of
buildings flanking an outdoor open space that all
buildings benefit from. One enters the site
through this urban court and from there, enters
either the principal residence or the studio
building.

28 canadian architect 05/10

 1

2 3
4

site Plan 0 40’

1 crAven roAd houSe (1993)
2 urBAn courtyArd
3 crAven roAd Studio
4 neiGhBour’S SinGle-cAr GArAGe

The client stipulated that the space be lit with

diffuse, indirect natural light in order to provide
adequate daylighting, yet avoid potential UV
damage to books and collections of archival ma-
terial. The clear-span space is entirely column-
free, and supports a sustainable green roof which

BoB Gundu
is planted with native grasses. The uninterrupted
plane of the ceiling floats nearly 12 feet above the
floor, and slopes upward at the edge on all four
fin o’hArA

sides to meet the junction of the perimeter sky-

light. An innovative system of narrow light cof-
fers surrounds the entire perimeter of the studio,
varying in both rhythm and depth depending on
their orientation. The incoming light washes
across the face of the wood fins, providing a
warmth and glow in the internal space.
The project’s external façade responds explic-
itly to the principal residence. An exterior clad-
ding of stained marine plywood was installed
with the grain running horizontally, relating it to
the wood panel walls of the existing house. The
upper walls are faced with untreated cedar slats,
which will allow them to weather naturally, echo-
ing the same motif used in the adjacent garage
and the new cedar fence surrounding the proper-
ty. Together, they create a layered ensemble of
buildings that use exterior wood in different

ways.
Finally, on a macro level, the project responds
to the often limiting lot conditions of the city of
Toronto, which is generally divided into long and
narrow Victorian lots. The project’s ability to re-
imagine and recontextualize the allocation of
property within the city is subtly transgressive: it
offers the possibility of a new urban typology.
The project participates in the densification of
the urban core while at the same time creating a
tranquil and contemplative private space.
Jane Pendergast: This project captured our at-
tention at both the detail level and at the urban
scale. The inside perimeter walls are washed with
light thanks to a brilliant sectional detail which
also sets off the floating ceiling and disguises the
fact that the walls are often housing deep storage
BoB Gundu
oPPosite toPview of the Studio interior lookinG weSt throuGh A Grove of river Birch
treeS. oPPosite Bottom the principAl houSe, new Studio, And neiGhBourinG GArAGe define
An urBAn court on thiS compAct Site. toP north wAll of the Studio with itS Book diS-
plAy, Bulletin BoArd And wooden liGht cofferS. aBove two viewS of the Studio—At
niGht And then durinG the dAy.
cabinets. The studio site completely rethinks the juncture of wall and roof creates coffers that sculpt
realm of the tight inner city block off the lane— the changing conditions of light to create a sub-
creating a sanctuary of inside and outside spaces. lime daylighting condition, and tests a proposition
that could be applicable to larger-scale work.
Betsy williamson: In a modest project like the
Craven Road Studio, it can be too easy to give away client roBert hill
architect team BriGitte Shim And howArd Sutcliffe (principAlS),
tectonic rigour to the banalities of typical con- michAel Goorevich
structural BlAckwell Bowick pArtnerShip ltd.
struction. Here, however, the architects have Builder derek nicholSon inc.
area 500 ft2
ensured that every surface and detail becomes a Budget withheld
comPletion 2006
conceptual proposition. The particularly inventive

05/10 canadian architect 29

 governor general’s medal winner
Prefab cottage for two families
Tom ArbAn
architect Kohn Shnier ArchiTecTS
location muSKoKA, onTArio
The project brief was for a year-round cottage to be shared by two related
families. The site is a wooded lakefront property with a pronounced ridge
running roughly parallel to the shoreline, separating the approach to the
site from views of the water. In order to reduce site impact and increase ef-
ficiency of construction time and materials, a prefab structure was pro-
posed.
Seven separate units were built at an indoor facility operated by Royal
Homes, some 325 kilometres from the site. The design of the cottage ac-
cepts and exploits some of the inherent limitations of this process to re-
spond to the site and program. The cottage is built to the 4.875-metre width
limit allowed on local highways, resulting in a long, thin form. Program de-
mands were met and the heavily treed site vastly preserved by stacking the
units on top of one another. This narrow cross-section creates an intimate
scale, an unavoidable immediacy to the outdoors, and an opportunity for
natural cross ventilation on hot summer days. The length, some 38.4 me-
tres, generates considerable distance within the house, offering remoteness
and privacy when desired. This makes the cottage both small and big at the
same time.
The cottage is embedded into the lake side of the ridge obliquely, such
that there is a point on each of the three floor levels with access to grade.
Shared facilities are at the highest level, affording the best views. This level
Kohn Shnier ArchiTecTS
30 canadian architect 05/10
Tom ArbAn
The compleTed prefAbricATed reTreAT in A heAvily
above, left to right
wooded SiTe; The elongATed covered wAlKwAy/TerrAce pro-
videS Ample ShelTer from The elemenTS while providing The
illuSion of greATer widTh. bottom The Sequencing of conSTruc-
Tion—from wArehouSe To Shipping And inSTAllATion.
is entered from the top of the ridge. Sleeping areas are in the middle level,
and workshop, play and utility uses are in the lowest level. Facing the lake,
the east elevation of the cottage consists entirely of sliding glass doors and
provides every room with views of the water and access to the forest or bal-
conies.
Materials were selected to be long-lasting and maintenance-free. They
fall into two categories: reflective surfaces—glazing and mirror; and those
with a muted colouration—unfinished cedar, zinc cladding, and galvanized
steel. The objective is to visually push the structure into the background.
Construction of the units, totalling about 375 square metres in area, took
25 days in the builder’s facility. Transit and placement of the units was ac-
complished in about 48 hours. The use of factory construction allowed for
minimal disruption on the site (and to neighbours) during peak seasons as
the units arrived at the site in early fall. A summer of sawing and hammer-
ing was replaced by the concentrated and exciting event of delivery and
placement. Site work—the foundations, lower level, cladding, balconies and
the construction of one bay containing a two-storey-high glazed section—
required normal construction durations.
Tom ArbAn
Tom ArbAn

Tom ArbAn
clocKwise from toP left floor-To-ceiling glASS wAllS permiT un- 1
obSTrucTed viewS To nATure; pre-formed Aluminum pAnelS Are A
coST-effecTive And low-mAinTenAnce exTerior clAdding Solu- 2

Tion; The long inTerior SpAce provideS A greAT opporTuniTy for

enTerTAining gueSTS. 3 4 5 6

Jane Pendergast: This project addressed the challenge of a remote site by

using transportable prefabricated units—an exercise that has been studied uPPer level
by many architects over the last few years. In many ways, the Prefab Cottage
characterizes our time as the pressures of time, labour costs, and issues of
controlling our ecological footprint come into play. I like the linear assem-
bly and simple stacking of the units that has brought about an elegantly
simple set of hillside living spaces and quiet views through the trees.
7

betsy williamson: It takes a careful and methodical approach to building

middle/bedroom level
to take the raw material of the prefab house and elevate it to the level of re- 1
2
enTry porch
veSTibule
finement we see in this project. While the module doesn’t dissolve into the 3 hAll
4 KiTchen
overall composition, we see it accommodate a range of spatial possibilities 5 dining
6 living
and site conditions, becoming much more than the sum of its parts. 7 mid-level enTry/SiTTing
room
8 mechAnicAl/STorAge
9 Shower/SAunA
10 recreATion roomS/ 8 10
client wiThheld on-site contractor JudgeS conTrAcTing 9
lower level enTry
architect team mArTin Kohn, brigiTTe luzAr, area 450 m2
John Shnier, bArborA voKAc, liSA wAddell budget wiThheld
structural Kieffer engineering comPletion Summer 2007
Prefab contractor royAl homeS lower level
0 20’

05/10 canadian architect 31

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 governor general’s medal winner

PhotograPher’s studio
over a Boat house
Larry WiLLiams

architect gh3
location stoney Lake, ontario aBovean immacuLateLy designed steeL-and-gLass voLume stoicaLLy
asserts itseLf Within its rocky Landscape.
This project is a reimagination of the archetypal glass house in a landscape.
As a continuation of this architectural ambition, the central conceit of the
glass house is reconceived through a contemporary lens of sustainability,
program, site and amenity. The compelling qualities of simple open spaces,
interior and exterior unity, and material clarity are transformed to enhance
the environmental and programmatic performance of the building, creating
an architecture of both iconic resonance and innovative context-driven 7
design. 1

4 5
The program envisions the building as north-facing window: a photogra- 6 8
2
pher’s live/work studio that is continuously bathed in diffuse and undimin-
3
ished natural light. The transparent façade—a continuous curtain wall glazed
in Cradle to Cradle-certified Starphire glass—becomes the essential ele-
ment in a photographic apparatus to produce images unobtainable in a con-
ventional studio. The availability and fidelity of north-facing light in the
double-height space provides the photographer with unparalleled natural
illumination, while the clarity of the glazing transforms the site and sur- 1 Birch stand
2 granite forecourt
rounding vistas into a sublime, everchanging backdrop. 3 entry
4 service
The compact glass form sits at the water’s edge on a granite plinth whose 5 kitchen 2
6 studio
matte black façade dematerializes to suspend the building, lantern-like, on 7 firepLace
8 sLiding doors
the site. The granite’s thermal mass exploits the abundant solar input,
eliminating the need for active systems on winter days, while the lakefront ground Floor 0 5m

34 canadian architect 05/10

site allows the use of a deep-water exchange to heat and cool the building
year-round through radiant slabs and recessed perimeter louvres at the
floor and ceiling. Sliding panes in the glass skin—three metres wide at the
ground floor, and 1.5 metres wide on the mezzanine floor—allow the façade
to become completely porous for natural ventilation, while an individually
automated blind system, white roof, and deciduous hedgerow guard against
excessive solar gain. The continuous blind system additionally serves as a
second aesthetic skin, transforming the interior into an enclosed intimate
space, and the exterior into a gently reflective mirror of the surroundings.
Entry into the site is facilitated through a minimalist landscape that de-
ploys endogenous materials while leaving the greatest portion of the site in
its evocative, glacier-scoured state. A simple granite plinth serves as a
threshold for the south-facing entrance, where solid program functions and

Larry WiLLiams
vertical circulation are arranged in a narrow, efficient volume. From the
outset, the goal was to accommodate the clients’ program within a small
footprint; consequently, domestic functions are integrated into a furniture-
like mezzanine assembly suspended above the main space, where bedroom,
bathroom and closet are coextensive, and sliding fritted glass allows the
whole to be concealed from the rest of the space. Throughout the upper and
lower levels, interior partitions are clad with seamless white lacquered pan-
els whose reflective qualities diffuse light into every part of the interior and
create complex layered views through the space.

Bernardo gómez-Pimienta: The conceptual clarity of the reinterpretation

of the glass house in an open landscape is pushed to the limits of construction
technique. Slab and trusses dissolve to become invisible and hidden behind
the mullions. The landscape becomes the background for this exercise in
contained energy.

nader tehrani: Taking on the classical Canadian weekend boathouse, this

project refuses the stone and wood that 99% of its neighbours thrive on.
Transforming the modern glass house, the project instead takes the ephem-

Larry WiLLiams
eral qualities of mist, snow and water, and uses a palette of white to under-
line qualities of the surrounding landscape.

client Larry WiLLiams and sharie kennedy

architect team pat hanson, diana gerrard, raymond choW, simon routh, gretar gudmundsson,
pauL cohoon, Liza stiff, vivian chin, WaLter Bettio, deni papetti
structural BLackWeLL BoWick partnership Limited
mechanical Lam and associates Limited
lighting and it aLain couture
landscaPe gh3
construction manager scott simpson
area 170 m2
Budget $2.2 m
comPletion 2008

7 1 Birch stand
2 granite forecourt
Larry WiLLiams

1
3 entry
3 4 service
2 4 5 6 5 kitchen
6 studio
7 Bedroom suite
8 Boat storage
9 8 9 mechanicaL room
10 geothermaL Loop
toPBy day, this transparent voLume seemingLy disappears into its
suBLime Lakefront environment. middle the minimaLLy appointed
10
interior is further enhanced By a dark poLished fLoor. aBove the
seamLess transition BetWeen the surface of the fLoor and the
Lake is enhanced By the home’s fLoor-to-ceiLing gLass WaLLs.
section a 0 5m

05/10 canadian architect 35

 governor general’s medal winner

French river visitor centre

architect bAird sAmpson neuert Architects
location AlbAn, ontArio
The French River marks the transition to the Ca-
nadian Shield, a landscape of granite scraped
bare by the passage of glaciers. In its descent
from its headwaters, the River transforms from a
fractured granite gorge into a vast delta of sculpt-
ed granite islands and outcrops. Designated as
Canada’s first Heritage Waterway, the River
served as a trade route between First Peoples,
and for Europeans, was the primary route for in-
land exploration of the continent and as the
Voyageurs’ Highway. It has been a primary source
of uniquely Canadian mythology, inspiring native
pictographs and European depictions of heroic
river journeys, and contemporary work from the
Group of Seven.
The project establishes an architecture of the
tom ArbAn
River, defining and invoking its physical qualities
and cultural legacy through an integrated ap-
proach to architecture, landscape and exhibit en-
vironments. Flowing across an archetypal land-
scape of rock and water, the visitor experience is
organized along a continuously inclined topogra-
phy of found and constructed elements that es-
tablish an interpretive and spatial armature for
the project, which interprets the River’s descent
from its headwaters at Lake Nippissing to its
delta at Georgian Bay.
Sited upon an outcrop of exposed granite, the
building has been organized into a series of ter-
races that respond to its sloped topography, pro-
viding a barrier-free path that connects the ele-
vated parking area with an existing lower-level
picnic zone. The terraces provide connections
between interior and exterior program areas, and
are sized and configured to accommodate multi-
tasking of the facility for wide-ranging user
groups, and to promote extended seasonal use.
The entry terrace has been located southward to
maximize solar aspect, and its flanking walls pro-
vide shelter from westerly winds. The events ter-
race is located on the sheltered easterly side of
the building and is provided with a deep over-
hang for inclement weather. The teaching terrace
serves as an outdoor amphitheatre for school
group presentations. The vast soffit of the exhibi-
tion hall provides an outdoor sheltered space for
hikers using the adjoining trail system.
georges adamczyk: Les trois terrasses: en-
trée, éducation et événement, articulent l’inser-
tion très franche du projet dans le profil rocheux
qui surplombe le paysage, mémoire des décou-
vreurs et inspiration des artistes du groupe des
sept. Ce projet est vigoureux. Il refuse le pitto-
resque et noue ensemble la nature, l’esprit sau-

vage du lieu et les éléments d’une construction

surprenante et très inspirante, laquelle finit par
se confondre avec le paysage d’origine.

nader tehrani: The language and spatial distri-

bution of this project is anything but neutral. The
project finds a material palette that engages the
Canadian mythology with respect to its land—the
topography, the forest, and the vernacular craft
associated with its built history, but transforms
that narrative with a difficult negotiation between
abstraction and figuration. At the end, the project
situates itself into nature with deliberate self-
consciousness, but sidesteps the clichés and
landmines that await that yearning.

aBove An expressively detAiled concrete column supports the exhibition wing thAt pro-
jects out into the forest. right the exposed timber structure of the visitor centre is com-
plemented by nAturAl stone found on the rocky site, enhAncing the displAy of ArtifActs
tom ArbAn

And interpretive elements. oPPosite A view of the building’s eAst elevAtion illustrAtes the
trAnspArency of the mAin exhibit hAll, with the teAching terrAce in the foreground.

36 canadian architect 05/10

tom ArbAn

15

4 7
1 2
3 5 8
6

9
10

14

13
11

12

site Plan
0 50m
1 lAndscAped islAnd/”duff” stockpile 9 teAching terrAce
2 ArrivAl court/pArking 10 lower terrAce
3 lAndscAped islAnd/eco flow biofilter 11 existing pArk trAil circuit
4 lAndscAped islAnd/sewAge settling tAnks 12 existing picnic AreA
5 lAndscAped islAnd/fire wAter holding tAnk 13 culturAl pine bArrens
6 lAndscAped islAnd/existing rock outcrop 14 stone outcrop/outlook
7 hiking terrAce 15 existing trAil to recollet fAlls
8 entrAnce terrAce axonometric

client government of ontArio, ministry of nAturAl resources electrical mulvey And bAnAni internAtionAl interPretive Planning Apropos plAnning
architect team jon neuert, bArry sAmpson, geoffrey thÜn, landscaPe hArrington And hoyle ltd. area 7,850 ft2
gregory reuter, mAuro cArreÑo, jennifer Anderson, seth Atkins, interiors bAird sAmpson neuert Architects Budget $3.5 m building And sitework; $1 m exhibits
jose uribe, nene stout, mArk mArtin, dieter jAnssen contractor konA builders limited comPletion june 2006
structural blAckwell bowick pArtnership exhiBit design bAird sAmpson neuert Architects with philip beesley
mechanical the mitchell pArtnership Architect

05/10 canadian architect 37

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 governor general’s medal winner

scandinave les Bains vieux-montréal

saucier + perrotte architectes
marc cramer

architect

location montreal, Quebec

Located in the heart of historic Old Montreal and

facing the vibrant piers of the Old Port, Scandi-
nave Les Bains Vieux-Montréal is an urban spa
whose purpose is to provide a thermal therapy
experience that engages each of the body’s
senses. The building, rebuilt half a century ago
after extensive fire damage, has housed ware-
house functions until recently when it was ac-
quired by the new owners.
The formal parti of the project is derived from
the contact between hot and cold—and more spe-
cifically, the naturally occurring phenomena as-
sociated with these conditions. The design dis-
tills the idea of cool glacial forms and the warmth
of volcanic rocks. White angular masses of glacial
topography coupled with volcanic geology be-
speak the duality that is central to the thermal
therapeutic experience proposed by the spa. This
duality is articulated through the form of the
spaces and the selection of materials.
Upon exiting the dressing room, the visitor is
immersed in a unique environment where walls,
floors and ceiling are slightly angled according to
a notion of interior topography through which
visitors may wander. These angles, though subtle,
give bathers a perceptual difference from their
everyday environs; the awareness of the corpor-
eal relationship with their surroundings is
heightened, thus grounding each visitor for that
moment in time. Just as in a natural landscape,
slight undulations in the ground plane create
gentle slopes; depressions in the floor level gen-
erate basins of water for bathing. At particular
moments, volumes emerge from the ground to
sculpt interior zones for the sauna and steam
bath. Uniting the main space is a wood ceiling
marc cramer

that echoes the movements of the floor: walls of

white marble mosaic appear to melt at the point
of contact with the warm-toned wood on the ceil-
ing, resulting in accentuated architectural re-
veals. Heated cantilevered benches made of black
slate offer visitors a warm place to pause in be-
tween hot and cold bathing cycles. Rounding out
the holistic journey is a relaxation room where
bathers can relax in rocking chairs or beanbag
lounge chairs.

toP clients who enter the hydrojet bath

experience the dissolution of the floor
plane, and the gently sloping wood
ceiling above enhances the sensation.
leFt the drum-shaped steam bath is

sheathed in tiny textured mosaic tiles.

40 canadian architect 05/10

 Opalescent glass has been added to admit nat-
ural light through the building’s existing open-
ings while providing a sense of privacy for the
visitors. The light that permeates the bath area
glows, adding to the purity of the space and the
feeling of tranquility for bathers, all while keep-
ing contact with city life. Along rue de la Com-
mune, a thin cascading layer of water flows on
glass surfaces, filtering views so that from the ex-
terior, passersby can see only shadowed silhou-
ettes of the figures within the hot bath.

georges adamczyk: La présence luminescente

et mystérieuse de ce programme inséré dans les
murs d’un édifice du Vieux Montréal, le long de
la rue de la Commune, face au port et aux brumes
du grand large auxquelles où on rève imman-
quablement, tient ses promesses lorsque l’on
pénètre dans ce lieu dédié aux soins du corps.
L’architecture intérieure et la subtilité des rap-
ports visuels et tactiles proposent aux usagers
une expérience sensorielle rare et précieuse,
hors du temps.

marc cramer
nader tehrani: Of the submitted projects, this
one displays an incredible restraint accompanied
by a meticulous technical control, such that any
evidence of detailing is silenced. Within a banal
context, right next to the sidewalk, the project
“transports” and distances its audience to an-
other place.

6 7
5

3
11 11

11
8 11
11
8 11
11
2 11
11 11
marc cramer

10 11
10
1 10 12
10
9

client gestion rivière du diable toP the cold shower area on the way
architect team gilles saucier, andré perrotte, jean-philippe
beauchamp, anna bendix, trevor davies, yves de fontenay to the hydrojet bath. aBove artificial and
recePtion Plan 0 20’ structural stavibel natural daylight illuminate water drop-
1 hydrojet bath 7 relaxation area mechanical/electrical leroux, beaudoin, hurens & associés
2 cold basin 8 dressing room contractor société desjardins-larouche lets in suspension to heighten the sen-
area 1,000 m2
3 cold shower 9 reception
Budget withheld
sorial experience for those luxuriating
4 steam bath 10 office space
5 sauna 11 massage room comPletion 2009 in the circular steam bath.
6 juice bar 12 employees’ room

05/10 canadian architect 41

 governor general’s medal winner
Marc craMer
Private residence and
guest house
architect Saucier + Perrotte architecteS
location Mont-treMblant, Quebec
This single-family residence and guesthouse is located near the ski hills of
Mont-Tremblant in the Laurentian Mountain range about an hour’s drive
north of Montreal. Overlooking a verdant mountain landscape and located
on the edge of a traditional log house development, the house is uncompro-
mising in its contemporary architectural expression, both reflecting mod-
ernity and local building traditions. The house’s three main volumes,
dedicated to the three activities of its occupants—eating, sleeping and
living—slide on one another along an east-west axis. Pierced obliquely by
an interior stair, the superimposed volumes are aligned with the entrance-
level pool. A translucent screened outdoor living room, typical of the re-
gion, projects into the woods at the point where the main volumes overlap,
and emphasizes the sliding geometry of the project.
The residence is placed within a fold in the landscape, creating an inti-
mate exterior space framed by the north façade of the house and a three-
metre-high rock outcrop. Inserting the building into the forest resists the
temptation to vie for a more conventional open setting and allows for sever-
al practical advantages in terms of exposure to the public realm, the sun and
the wind.
Situated along the same horizontal plane as the entrance volume of the
main house, the guesthouse is envisaged as a prism—formally analogous to
the building blocks of the house—having slid westward, detaching from the
main mass. Erosion, a process that naturally occurs in mountainous re-
gions, seems to have caused the volumes to glide laterally, each out of
sync with the other, yet altogether forming a practical and harmonious
composition.
A deceptively simple manipulation of building blocks, the residence
seeks out the infinite information from elements belonging to the site: its
topography, rock formations, trees, and ground cover. The building sur-
42 canadian architect 05/10
faces respond to the specificity of the wooded site, where the verticality of
the trees and tones of grey, brown, and green predominate. The north
façade reflects this dense context through irregularly spaced, rough-cut
wood strips. While providing a unique façade pattern, the positioning of
these strips permits several partially hidden slit window openings. The
south façade, which screens the sun to varying degrees, is completely open
to forest panorama. The lateral wood slats on this face of the building form a
continuous band of wall, soffit and roof deck. Roughness and a preference
for the natural, in both the interior and exterior finishes, acknowledge the
craft of local building trades and create an unexpected element of nature
within an overall precise geometric form.
Openness is essential to appreciate the vastness of the surroundings.
Luminous interior sub-volumes, translucent or opaque white, maintain the
volumetric clarity of the project, even as they at times show traces of under-
lying wood grain. “Rooms” find themselves somewhere between flowing
and compartmentalized, offering the occupants multipurpose or interpre-
tive spaces. The formal movement of building elements is activated by the
literal movement of people in space: whether approaching by car, descend-
ing the oblique stair, swinging the large sliding doors, or swimming lengths
across the pool.
Bernardo gómez-Pimienta: The architectural clarity of the plan and
sections are enriched by the views of the landscape. It looks deceptively
simple but has a complexity that starts with a deep understanding of
construction.
Betsy williamson: Here, the architects take the rustic vernacular to a level
of abstraction that goes beyond composition and reimagines the possibility
of a contemporary house in the landscape. The perversity of the screened-
in porch as prop for the shifting volume above brings lightness and com-
plexity to this dynamic and beautifully detailed project.
 Marc craMer
Marc craMer

the Screened-in Porch ProjectS out froM the draMatic South façade. aBove
oPPosite toP

the Screened Porch cantileverS over the Site, caPturinG draMatic viewS. leFt view of the
Main reSidence froM the Pool decK. Bottom leFt the north façade of the Main reSidence.

3 3
1
2

level 2

11 10 5 9
Marc craMer

7 8

6
level 1

client withheld 12
architect team GilleS Saucier (lead deSiGn architect), andré
Perrotte, anna bendix, GuillauMe SaSSeville, éric Majer, laurence
lebeux, trevor davieS, vedanta balbahadur
level 0
structural Saïa deSlaurierS Kadanoff et aSSociéS
landscaPe Saucier + Perrotte architecteS 1 MaSter bedrooM 7 Kitchen
interiors Saucier + Perrotte architecteS 2 MaSter enSuite 8 dininG area 0 5m
area 350 M2 (Main houSe); 125 M2 (GueSt houSe) 3 bedrooM 9 livinG area
Budget withheld 4 Main entry 10 GueSt area
comPletion 2008 5 Pool 11 GueSt bedrooM
6 Screened-in Porch 12 recreation area

05/10 canadian architect 43

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CirCle reply Card 30

BAS10-6132_WE_Non-Resid_ad_1p_Cnd_Archi.indd 1 2/16/10 9:45:31 AM

Docket #: BAS10-6132 Magazine: Canadian Architect Colours: cmyk
CirCle reply Card 31
 governor general’s medal winner

la grande BiBliothèque du quéBec

James Dow

James Dow
architects Patkau/Croft-Pelletier/menkès

shooner Dagenais assoCiateD arChiteCts

location montreal, QuebeC

The Grande Bibliothèque consolidates a number

of collections in Quebec, creating a resource li­
brary for the province as well as a central public
library for the city of Montreal. The library is lo­
cated in the city’s Quartier Latin, between Boule­
vard de Maisonneuve and rue Ontario, diagonally
opposite the green space of Place Dupuis. Below
grade, the site connects to a major intersection in
the Montreal metro system. The building is
400,000 square feet in size, and contains four
major programmatic components: a general li­
brary, a children’s library, the collection Québé­
coise (a historic archive collection), and an as­
sortment of spaces outside of the library control
zone including an exhibition space, an audito­
rium, a conference centre and meeting rooms,
catering facilities, bookstores, a public lobby,
and café.
The street and subterranean metro system are
8 8 8 separate but equally important public spaces. The
project presented an opportunity to knit these
spaces together. However, security issues associ­
4
9
3
5 ated with libraries tend to dictate a single point
9 9
a
2
a of access, which would have a deadening effect on
1 6 7 the surrounding public spaces. To avoid this, city
and metro pedestrian routes are connected at the
street and metro levels, and the building has
multiple public entrances to intersect with the
capillaries of the city. Library spaces that do not
street level Floor Plan require library control are located directly along
0 40’
1 main entry 4 general library 7 meeting room pedestrian routes to connect the spaces of the li­
2 bookstore 5 auDitorium 8 bouQuiniste
3 24/7 library 6 Café 9 oPen to below brary with the city. As part of a larger strategy of

46 canadian architect 05/10

0 40 ft
James Dow

client bibliothèQue et arChives nationales Du QuébeC

architect team Patkau arChiteCts—laura arPiainen, greg
boothroyD, stePhan Chevalier, miChael Cunningham, miChael
elkan, samantha hayes, John Patkau, PatriCia Patkau, Peter suter,
Craig simms, niCk sully. Croft Pelletier arChiteCtes—marie-
Chantal Croft, eriC Pelletier, Jean Chretien, benoit ruellanD,
miChel thomPson, olivier grenier, CeDeanne simarD, remi hov-
ington Jr. menkès shooner Dagenais arChiteCtes—yves Dagen-
ais, gaetan roy, stePhan Chevalier, yvon laChanCe, luC DouCet,
DominiQue Dumais, Catherine belanger, guillaume Delorimier, luC
montPetit, mana hemami, anDrea maCelwee, alex Parmentier,
Christine giguere, alain bouDrias, harvens Piou.
consulting architect gilles guité arChiteCte
architectural suPPort JoDoin lamarre Pratte et assoCiés
arChiteCtes
structural regrouPement niColet ChartranD knoll limitée/les
Consultants géniPlus inC.
mechanical/electrical regrouPement bouthillette Parizeau &
assoCiés inC./grouPe hba exPerts-Conseils inC.
lighting consultant nbbJ
acoustic consultant legault DaviDson
theatre consultant sCenoPlus
elevator consultant kJa inC.
Building enveloPe consultant PatenauDe Consultants inC.
code consultant teChnorm inC.
landscaPe sCheme Consultants
Builder hervé Pomerleau inC.
area 33,000 m2
Budget $100 m inCluDing furniture anD eQuiPment
comPletion aPril 2005

anous and veil­like, this envelope enticingly re­

veals the library to the city.

Bernardo gómez-Pimienta: A very simple

ComPriseD of fritteD glass louvres in front of the Curtain wall anD
oPPosite, leFt to right
structural grid gets transformed using two meth­
slatteD maPle sCreens behinD, the entranCe elevation sPeaks to the arChiteCts’ unCom-
ods: elimination of structural elements and sec­
Promising ConCern for user Comfort anD a strong CiviC PresenCe; the main en-
tranCe to the library at street level overlooks an oPen-air sunken CourtyarD. aBove the tions of slabs, creating rich carved spaces, like
Central stair helPs orient visitors while aCCentuating the Central atrium’s vertiCality. the vertical circulation, the reading rooms, and
the insertion of programmatic pieces creating a
urban revitalization, avenue Savoie, a narrow lane spaces at the perimeter, with access to view and tension between open and closed spaces. A
on the west side of the building, is lined with daylight. In the collection Québécoise, the read­ promenade architecturally takes visitors through
bouquinistes and display vitrines. A sunken court ing spaces are centrally located, in a top­lit grand wood­clad collections, unveiling city views and
provides daylight to below­grade spaces, and in­ room, with the collections at the perimeter. making the library an architectural icon in the
terconnects the street and metro levels at a sig­ Connecting the wood­clad collections to the city.
nificant scale. The public space of the city and the expanded ground below is a promenade that rises
public space of the library are collapsed together from the primary library control point to the en­ Betsy williamson: The architects have deftly
to activate and support each other, to energize trance of the collection Québécoise, then turns to controlled a complex and dense program to cre­
and enrich the idea of a new cultural space in circumnavigate the general library upward ate a civic landmark as well as a unique pedestri­
Montreal. through a series of reading rooms. Diverse views an urbanity that has been teased out through the
The two major library collections are located of the city unfold as the promenade ascends. manipulation of the ground plane. Nearly as im­
above the expanded ground of the street and Complementing the promenade is a central sys­ portant as the collections themselves, these paths
metro levels. These collections are each housed tem of elevators and stairs that provides simple that permeate the project from the subway and
within large­scale wooden containers, and are and efficient access to the general library. surrounding neighbourhood grow to encompass
characterized by their relationship to the associ­ Enclosing the collections, the promenade, and café and reading rooms that bring urban life up
ated reading spaces. In the general library, the the lower levels is a glass and copper envelope through the building behind the veil of the wood
collections are centrally located, with the reading that represents the whole library. At times diaph­ screens and slatted façade.

section a 0 10m

05/10 canadian architect 47

 governor general’s medal winner

saint-germain sewers and aqueducts

Acdf* Architecture (AllAire
mArc crAmer

architect

courchesne dupuis frAppier_Architecture_

urbAnisme_intérieur)
location sAint-hubert, quebec

The client—St-Germain Égouts et Aqueducs—is

an expert in the manufacture of sanitary pipes
and guttering since 1953. As a family business
passed down through generations, the company
intends to grow, requiring increased productivity
and quality of service, and the construction of a
new head office in St-Hubert.
For this business deeply rooted in the Saint-
Hubert region, siting was obvious: the new head-
quarters is located in an industrial quadrant
between Highway 116 to the north and the railway
to the south, next to fallow farmland and adjacent
to a residential zone. The proximity to the high-
way facilitates the handling of products and in-
creases visibility to the public at large.
The plan enables the company to manage four
key areas: administration, internal warehousing,
external storage and manufacturing. Visually, the
building appears to flow through the canal, a pre-
cious wooden box floating in a water basin. The
wood volume illustrates a dual intention: firstly,
the path of the product through the sequence of
production, from factory to administration, then
passing through the warehouse zones; and sec-
ondly, it is the reflection of the people who work
there. The roasted-wood cladding represents the
warm, close-knit nature of the family business in
contrast to the austere rigidity of its concrete
product.
Visibility is one of the fundamental issues of
the project; one of the primary objectives was
that the building should showcase the expertise
of the company. Thus, a showroom, adjacent to
the reception area, houses a permanent installa-
tion detailing the company’s history and its range
mArc crAmer

of products. To demystify the process of produc-

tion, there are windows offering glimpses of the
different phases of production, made possible by
the slips and openings within the “canal.”
A canopied recess in the façade demarcates
entry into the building, located at the far end of a
concrete footbridge “floating” above the basin.

client st-germAin égouts et Aqueducs

toP A studied contrAst between wood And steel. aBove the screened-in courtyArd pro-
vides A bit of peAce And quiet from the surrounding industriAl lAndscApe.
architect team mAxime-Alexis frAppier, benoît dupuis, sylvAin
AllAire, guy courchesne, JoAn renAud, gAbriel villeneuve, robert
dequoy, mAthieu st-hilAire, denis dupuis, luis mAriA AriAs duque,
mArc-olivier dion, denis lAvigne, sophie leborgne
structural métAux-spec inc.
mechanical l&p lAvAllée inc./Aéro-mécAnique turcotte inc./
gicleurs Acme inc.
electrical groupe sermAx inc./dimension plus
landscaPe Acdf* Architecture + entreprise michAudville inc.
interiors Acdf* Architecture
contractor construction tigre inc.
area 50,000 ft2 totAl (10,000 ft2 AdministrAtion)
Budget $5.5 m
comPletion June 2008

48 canadian architect 05/10

From this bridge, one is able to appreciate the
glistening, rippling water in the basin via the lus-
trous reflective metal panels and the glass wall of
the warehouse.
In the reception area, visitors can enjoy the ex-
hibition space displaying the company’s top
products. From here, views to the interior court-
yard and surrounding landscape are provided as
is access to offices and conference rooms.
The challenge of the warehouse space was its
transparency and openness relative to the main
entrance. The window permits visibility of the
production line and the finished product prior to
entry into the administration area, enabling nat-
ural light to flow through the building as well as
offering views of the landscape.

georges adamczyk: Ce projet casse la “boîte,”

cette figure trop connue du gros entrepôt à la
périphérie des villes. Les architectes ont su ren-
dre lisible les activités de l’usine et de l’entrepôt.
Le carré de bois flottant de la partie administra-
tive transforme radicalement la présence de ce
type d’industrie, en lui conférant une présence
inattendue par un ajustement rigoureux des vol-
umes et le choix judicieux des matériaux.

Jane Pendergast: This project gives me hope

on two fronts. Its straightforward contemporary
architecture draws attention to traditionally un-
der-celebrated infrastructure elements, and the
project creates an elegant suburban campus of
what might otherwise be a banal roadside setting.

right the utilitAriAn Aspects of wAre-

mArc crAmer
housing sewer pipes Are elevAted to A
new level, thAnks to the wAter reten-
tion bAsin in the foreground.

4
8
9 8 7 1 2• 8
3 4

5 7
6 6
9 5
6

1 2 3 4

boisé anthropique
bois graminés

site Plan 0 200’

1 wArehouse 6 pArking AreA
01 200’
0 5 10 20 35 50’

2 offices 7 storAge AreA ground floor 0 50’

3 reflecting pool 8 fActory (phAse 2) 1 wArehouse 5 courtyArd
4 courtyArd 9 eArth berm 2 entrAnce 6 conference room
5 high grAss 3 exposition hAll 7 executive offices
4 reflecting pool–cAtch bAsin 8 dining room

05/10 canadian architect 49

governor general’s medal winner

Promenade samuel-de-chamPlain
Daoust Lestage Inc., WILLIaMs
urBan designers

asseLIn ackaouI anD optIon aMénageMent,

In consortIuM
location Quebec cIty, Quebec

Honouring Quebec City’s 400th anniversary and

drawing on the unique history and genius loci of
the site, the Promenade Samuel-de-Champlain
unites two icons of Quebec City’s identity—the
river and the cliff—creating a coherent, active
landscape façade for this capital city.
The Promenade reclaims neglected industrial
and infrastructural fringe, transforming it into a
public, leisure-oriented natural environment
and reactivating the city’s access to the St. Law-
rence River and shoreline. The project delicately
weaves together diverse experiences and atmos-
pheres, navigating from the boundless visual
expanse of the river to the tactile, sensory experi-
ence of human scale.

The Quai des Cageux marks the western
entrance of the project. The use of wood as the
singular, signature material of the Pavilion and
the Observation Tower references the harbour
vernacular and the lumber pilings that character-
ized Quebec’s ports for decades. Reviving the im-
agery of a river pier, its structures and activities,
the Quai des Cageux honours Quebec City’s past
while creating a contemporary local landmark
and light beacon on the horizon. The name—Quai
des Cageux—refers to the fearlessness of restless
lumberjacks who once danced on an endless sea
of floating wood logs.
The Cageux Pavilion is wrapped in wood inside
and out. The building houses a multi-functional
space with carefully choreographed covered out-
door spaces, all directly overlooking the river.
Marc craMer
de-Champlain requalifies a highway into a land-
scaped, permeable urban boulevard. The sinuous
2.5-kilometre pedestrian and bicycle path acts as
the project’s connecting spine. Immersed in an
all-encompassing green tide are four thematic
gardens: Quai des Brumes, Quai des Flots, Quai
des Hommes, and Quai des Vents. Each of these
singular landscape follies captures and magnifies
the material and poetic qualities of the local
coastal environment.
The gardens celebrate the mist, the sensory
pleasures of the water, the memory of the dock-
Marc craMer
lands’ archetypes and the power of the wind.
The sublime atmospheres and textures are
created by the interconnections of a variety of
materials, and the use of stone boulders, timber
assemblies and Corten steel thresholds, with
native plants and trees, all complemented by
vapour, shade, glowing lights and reflections on
the water.
The urban furniture, specifically designed for
this project, maintains the robust simplicity of
maritime harbour heritage, paramount to this
site’s genius loci. The linear rhythm of benches

Seamlessly extending out onto the belvedere’s

public deck, the Pavilion’s 250 square metres are
able to accommodate a variety of exhibits and
events related to the Promenade Samuel-de-
Champlain.
The Observation Tower sits at the southern
edge of the Quai des Cageux’s belvedere and
brings visitors 25 metres above the river. The
tower, with its steel structure and latticed timber
flanks, creates a panoramic window onto the
river, the bridges and the new linear park.
As an essential gesture, the Promenade Samuel-

toP right the ILLuMInateD fountaIns at

QuaI Des fLots. right a range of neW

LIghtIng anD seatIng Is IntegrateD Into
the serIes of QuaIs; the WooDen rafts
anD Ice fLoe-InspIreD pavIng pattern
Marc craMer

brIng an InforMeD anD WhIMsIcaL nar-

ratIve to thIs LanDscape.

50 canadian architect 05/10

Marc craMer
and lights is complemented by freely placed
furniture, dotting the landscape like rafts in a sea
of greenery.
The underlying achievement of the Promenade
Samuel-de-Champlain is its contribution to the
restoration of this unique, rich and diverse
coastal ecosystem and the renewed accessibility
to the St. Lawrence River and its banks.
Jane Pendergast: This project animates the St.
Lawrence River edge with a lively array of outdoor
places. I like the beautifully restrained composi-
Marc craMer
quai des Brumes
aBovethe proMenaDe saMueL-De-chaMpLaIn terMInates at the fourth DestInatIon poInt—
the QuaI Des cageux. Bottom left a MeDItatIve vertIcaL eLeMent WIth vIeWs out to the st.
LaWrence rIver DefInes QuaI Des cageux.
tions of pure elements that are strung along the
pathway system. client coMMIssIon De La capItaLe natIonaLe Du Québec (serge
fILIon, DIane sIMarD)
design team réaL Lestage, renée Daoust, caroLIne beauLIeu,
LucIe bIbeau, MartIn aDaM, MarIa benech, anDré naDeau, sIMon
Betsy williamson: There is no imposition of Magnan, racheL phILIppe-auguste, catherIne st-MarseILLe, hubert
peLLetIer, neLson couture, JacQues MIchauD
the project on the pedestrian. The built moments engineering genIvar anD snc-LavaLIn
contractor poMerLeau
are not only finely crafted but are quietly bal- lighting écLaIrage pubLIc
area 2.5 kM In Length
anced between historical allusion and contempo- Budget $50 M
comPletion June 2008
rary culture.
quai des flots quai des hommes quai des vents
05/10 canadian architect 51
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2010 raic GOld medal

GeOrGe Baird’s
PrOvOcative WisdOm
GeOrGe Baird is the 2010 reciPient Of the rOyal architectural institute Of canada’s
GOld medal. havinG enjOyed a lOnG and rich career, Baird’s cOlleaGues, mentOr and
fOrmer students reflect On his intellectual and PrOfessiOnal leadershiP.

Barry sampson
Partner, Baird Sampson Neuert Architects
George Baird returned to Toronto from England
in the late fall of 1967, having collaborated with
Charles Jencks on the internationally celebrated
book, Meaning in Architecture. Recruited by es-
teemed architect John Andrews—then Chairman
of the Department of Architecture at the Univer-
sity of Toronto, George joined his colleague Peter
Prangnell in the process of transforming the cur-
riculum. When he was introduced to the faculty,
he cut quite a figure in his slim jeans, leather
jacket over a T-shirt, long woolen scarf and a
Mick Jagger haircut. He was returning to the city
of his birth after a heady period of graduate study

Courtesy BsN ArChiteCts

and involvement in the vigorous London archi-
tectural scene, which included learning with the
architectural historian and theorist Joseph Ryk-
wert, who served as his advisor. The time spent in
London had diverted his attention to theoretical
musings on semiology and architecture that led to
Meaning in Architecture as well as other critical
writings. At such an early age he had already de-
veloped the reputation as a rising intellectual.
The Toronto he returned to was a city that was
being rapidly transformed by comprehensive re-
development projects based on older Modernist
principles. The process was actively encouraged
by the instruments of city planning at the time—
the official plan and zoning bylaws—and promoted
by city politicians from the Establishment, along
with a development industry that was not dis-
posed to public scrutiny. George was part of a new
generation of thinkers with attitudes and ideas
that were open to the reappraisal of what had be-
come the predominant manifestation of Modern-
ism in Toronto—the redevelopment of whole
blocks using tower-in-the-park or plaza typolo-
gies based on single-use zoning. A number of
professional friends such as Jerome Markson who
had been his mentor, and colleagues from his
studies in architecture at the University of Toron-
to had ambitions to promote a new kind of Mod-
ern architecture based on different architectural
and community-based sensibilities inspired by
Scandinavian models and The Death and Life of
Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. Some of his
colleagues worked in firms associated with the
aBOve GeorGe BAird eNjoys A momeNt with wife elizABeth, A CANAdiAN CuliNAry iCoN.
ongoing transformations of the city while others
were involved in the growing Municipal Reform
movement—individuals like James Lorimer and
John Sewell, who sought his engagement and that
of his students to criticize the big projects as part
of a process of building community resistance and
an alternative idea of city form and community-
based design.
By 1972, when he established his firm George
Baird Architect, he had already completed the
renovation of his own house, and a very creative
renovation of a small Victorian cottage for James
Lorimer. Both were Modern in character, but
highly responsive in sensibility to the underlying
historical features of the host house. This ability
to achieve a nuanced relationship between new
and old—what I call a discourse through temporal
space with previous generations—was indicative
of a subtlety that George would bring to his con-
tributions to the creation of an urban design
scene in Toronto and Canada more generally, not
to mention his role in broadcasting its accom-
plishments abroad.
Four graduating students from the University of
Toronto—Joost Bakker, Bruce Kuwabara, John van
Nostrand and myself—joined George in his new
practice with the intention of doing competitions
and whatever architectural projects might come
next. More often than not, they were cryptically
referred to as “back porch projects.” Most notable
amongst these was a back and front porch com-
mission for the much-loved film editor Don Haig,
which was published in Progressive Architecture.
What also came as a result of George’s writing and
public engagement with issues of urban form
were seminal urban design projects for Toronto,
onbuildingdowntown, and Built-Form Analysis. Co-
authored with Steven McLaughlin and Roger du
Toit in 1974, onbuildingdowntown: Design Guide-
lines for the Core Area created a policy document
never before seen in Toronto. It announced a new
era concerned with urban design and included
well-articulated issues on environmental design
and insightful approaches to mapping.
In 1975, a young planner by the name of Ron
Soskolne was in charge of revamping planning
controls for the downtown core. Soskolne com-
missioned George Baird Architect to undertake a
“Working Paper on the Implications for Built
Form of Land-Use Policies Relating to Housing,

54 canadian architect 05/10

Mixed Uses, and Recreation Space in the Inner
Core Area.” This document brought the research
capacity of the firm to the forefront, along with
George’s ability to bridge between theoretical
issues and observations relating to a developer’s
response to zoning controls. It included analysis
of form relating to a diverse range of existing pre-
cedents, as well as scenario-planning of potential
development sites. It also yielded insights into the
unintended consequences of various zoning re-
gimes and planning practices. Most perplexing, it
highlighted the finding that dramatic changes in
building typology, from low-rise to high-rise, can
be linked to zoning thresholds, thus calling into
question the practice of planners brokering what
appeared to be minor changes in density that were
actually leading to completely different urban
forms rather than expected outcomes.
These landmark studies led to other innovative
assignments. In 1976, the firm was asked to ad-
vise on the planning of the St. Lawrence neigh-
bourhood, which was being reconsidered by a
group within the City and supported by external
consultants. The approach being taken was
rational and focused on maximizing street-related
built form and density. George’s firm observed
that this resulted in an island-like approach to the
block planning of the neighbourhood and risked
unintended social consequences of a discontinu-
ous urban fabric exhibited by the notorious Re-
gent Park. A schematic map produced by the firm
proposed an alternative street and block frame-
work that would extend the north-south streets
from the original ten blocks of the Town of York
into the new development. For the St. Lawrence
neighbourhood, we also proposed that the 19th-
century vision of the Esplanade as a linear park be
recovered and serve as an east-west open-space
armature for the new neighbourhood. These rec-
ommendations were adopted as the basis of a new
planning approach that resulted in what has come
to be celebrated as one of Toronto’s great tri-
umphs in urban redevelopment.
George’s success in Toronto led to further
urban design consulting across the country. As his
notoriety grew, he was invited to be a professional
advisor for design competitions, including the
internationally published Mississauga Civic Cen-
tre, as well as other urban redevelopments. He
also involved himself with the organization of
major international exhibitions that focused
attention on the Canadian scene. Their titles,
OKanada and Toronto: Le Nouveau Nouveau Monde,
were provocative to a European audience and
cleverly allusive of the Canadian character he was
so proud of throughout his career.
Having made a significant contribution to a
culturally vigorous world image of Toronto and
Canada, George was enticed to join a new intel-
lectual scene centred at the Graduate School of
Design at Harvard University. During the time he
taught there, he commuted back and forth to
Toronto to remain active with his firm. Over the
years, many of those that began their careers with
George’s firm have gone on develop their own
distinguished firms. Bruce Kuwabara joined Tom
Payne—who also worked at George Baird Archi-
tect—to form Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg
Architects in 1987. Joost Bakker decamped to the
West Coast where he joined Norm Hotson at Nor-
man Hotson Architects in 1973 (the firm eventu-
ally became known as Hotson Bakker Boniface
Haden Architects and has since merged with
Cohos Evamy). John van Nostrand formed his
own firm in 1978, which he merged with Peter
Clewes and others to form architectsAlliance in
1999. He subsequently left in 2008 to take over
planningAlliance and found regionalArchitects. I
left the firm for brief periods to do research work
in Ontario and Paris, but returned to become a
partner with George to form Baird Sampson
Architects. It was later renamed Baird Sampson
Neuert Architects in 1996, when a former student
of mine, Jon Neuert, became a partner.
Happily, the Baird Sampson Neuert Architects
collaborative partnership has itself established a
distinguished record of award-winning work in-
cluding three Governor General’s Medals, an AIA
Honour Award, the RAIC Architectural Firm
Award in 2007, and many urban design awards.
Don McKay, who worked with the firm in the early
years, has become a distinguished designer and
teacher of architecture at the University of Water-
loo. Brigitte Shim, who worked with the firm in
its middle period, has formed an internationally
renowned partnership with her husband Howard tOPpuBlished iN juNe 1974, onbuilding-
Sutcliffe. Martin Kohn, who also was with the firm downtown remAiNs AN importANt
for a period of time in the ’80s, has partnered urBAN desiGN doCumeNt for ArChiteCts
with John Shnier to form the high-profile design ANd plANNers. aBOve As Advisors to A
1975 BloCk study for the CreAtioN of
firm of Kohn Shnier Architects. toroNto’s st. lAwreNCe NeiGhBour-
In this regard, George’s legacy of ideas is not hood, GeorGe BAird’s firm proposed AN
only embedded in his projects, but also in the exteNsioN of the North-south streets
people with whom he inspired a desire to utilize from the oriGiNAl 10 BloCks of the
design research to move beneath the surface of towN of york iNto the sCheme.
everyday practice, and most particularly, to be
wary of formulaic responses when reconsidering The Stage did not cater to architectural students’
the design of the city. While George Baird was al- interests, but instead provided an insider view of
ways too gracious to make unnecessary trouble, he what was happening in the British theatre and cin-
was never averse to engaging in a battle of ideas. ema world, particularly exciting in the early ’60s.
I was intrigued that anyone in my audience
joseph rykwert would have such enthusiasms—and as we became
Paul Philippe Cret Professor Emeritus of Architecture, friends, I realized that his interests were as much
University of Pennsylvania School of Design socio-political as literary; we were both fascinated
I became aware of George Baird as the quiet, re- by the developments of linguistic theory through
served person at the back of the lecture room at the following decades, not so much for the struc-
the Architectural Association in London, folding a tural models it offered, but as a way of looking
copy of The Stage he was reading in order to listen at communications and at human polity. This
to the lecture. This was years ago, and even then became central to the contribution George has
05/10 canadian architect 55

vArious puBliCAtioNs ANd
aBOve, left tO riGht
exhiBitioNs iN whiCh GeorGe BAird wAs
iNvolved iNClude: Meaning in architec-
ture (1968); alvar aalto (1969); vacant
lottery (1978); the iNAuGurAl issue of
trace, A short-lived But iNflueNtiAl ArChi-
teCture mAGAziNe (1980-81); the CAtA-
loGue for the oKanada exhiBitioN iN
BerliN (1982); toronto: le nouveau nou-
veau Monde (1987); Queues, rendezvous,
riots (1995); the space of appearance
(1995).
made to architectural thinking. Very few of his
contemporaries were as acutely aware of how
critical this issue was to all building and to the
very nature of urban dwelling.
Such concern spilled inevitably into teaching.
What has made him one of the great teachers of
his generation is not just the coherence of his own
position but his humility, the enviable gift of
making pupils feel that their ideas, however un-
developed, are valuable—such that he is able to
nurture into maturity the callow and the raw pre-
sented to him. George is not only a thinker and a
teacher, but very much a doer, and his ability to
translate conviction into urban plans and projects
gives body and substance to his ideas and beliefs.
56 canadian architect 05/10
Bruce Kuwabara
Founding Partner, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blum-
berg Architects
When I first met George Baird as an architecture
student at the University of Toronto, he asked us
to consider architecture within the context of the
history of ideas and culture. The essay “Langue
and Parole” contained in his book Meaning in
Architecture opened up discourse on architecture
as a system of signification which was subject to
rules and individual interpretations of a common
language to produce difference and expression.
After graduating, I worked with George and my
classmates—John van Nostrand, Barry Sampson
and Joost Bakker—on a design competition spon-
sored by Casabella magazine that expanded on
John’s thesis entitled “Getting to Know Eglinton,”
which concerned the reinhabition of the highway
and hydro infrastructure in Etobicoke. When
George decided to open his practice, he invited us
to work with him in his studio at 35 Britain Street,
a cultural vortex of a building that included the
publishing companies House of Anansi Press and
James Lorimer & Company.
His teaching and writing gave my generation a
way of thinking about architecture as a gesture
within a social and cultural context. He illuminat-
ed to us the deep structure of Toronto, and his
early focus on the formation and construction of
the public realm as one of the urgent projects of
architecture and urbanism had an indelible im-
pact on the way we look at the world.
For decades, George has been the singular
architect in Canada who has balanced theory and
practice, and the intellectual that international
architects and theorists talk about as a figure who
has impacted their thinking. The brilliance of
George Baird lies in his ability to articulate and
make clear and evident what many of us might
intuit on a good day. His ability to be “provoca-
tive, if balanced” as he was once described,
reflects an intellect that is at once worldly, yet
distinctly Canadian.
Having left Toronto to teach at Harvard Uni-
versity for 10 years, he was the unanimous choice
to succeed Dean Larry Richards to become the
Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape
and Design at the University of Toronto in 2004.
It was there that he sustained a level of academic
excellence and collegiality within the faculty that
expanded and elevated design education. In 2008,
he was able to consummate the largest gift to any
design school in Canada—$14 million from John
and Myrna Daniels.
miChAel AwAd
 joost Bakker
Principal, Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects
For over 43 years, I have witnessed the unfolding
of George Baird’s remarkable life trajectory, one
that is carefully balanced between generosity of
vision and strategic drive.
In his 1995 book The Space of Appearance,
George postulated that “...it is possible to see how
1968...constitutes a sort of pivot point in the
whole 20th-century evolution of ideas about
human affairs.” It was also the moment George
chose to return to Canada, coinciding propitiously
with major revolutions about to hit the University
of Toronto.
As fresh new students in 1967, we encountered
vestiges of old Modernism embodied in severe
men in lab coats insisting that grey paper shapes be
composed on 8” x 10” white card. Subsequently de-
bating aesthetic nuances of 40-card compositions
was a perplexing introduction to architecture.
Barely into that first term, the “winds of
change” roared into the school, spearheaded by
John Andrews and Peter Prangnell. Bowled over
and hardly able to catch our breath, we sensed an-
other presence in the studio—shaggy-haired in
jeans, boots and a brown leather jacket—formu-
lating incomprehensible terms like “...phenom-
steveN evANs
enology...epistemological crisis...animal
laborans...” From this first encounter with
George, we all quickly embraced his drive for
broader platforms beyond the academic, but it
was the establishment of George’s fledgling prac-
tice where we more directly encountered his rest-
less intellect, drive and strategic design sense.
George’s interest in wider cultural frameworks
manifested itself at the school with more activist
minds like Jim Lorimer and John Sewell. His keen
urban/political interest eventually bloomed with
projects like onbuildingdowntown. Cross-Canada
work soon followed. Most significant for me, as a
longtime Vancouver resident, was George’s 1982
Greening Downtown study. This, along with Roger
DuToit’s Downtown South Study—planted the
seeds for the urban phenomenon now smugly
branded internationally as Vancouverism.
George’s remarkably quick urban pattern-reading
and political intuition coined notions like “double
cross” and “green courts”—morphologies still
resonant in this city.
A stealthier platform that quietly emerged was
George’s support of his partner Elizabeth’s re-
markable talent. Unsuspectingly, what began as
late-night dinners after work rapidly transformed
into the celebration of Elizabeth’s inventive
culinary skill. George remains a champion of her
ascendancy into Canadian food lore.
The early ’80s also saw the launch of TRACE
magazine, “founded to serve a national and inter-
national forum for the discussion and presenta-
tion of architecture,” signalling George’s foray
beyond national boundaries. His evolving stra-
tegic vision ultimately allowed him to step onto
the larger international academic stage.
john van nostrand
Founding Principal, planningAlliance and regional-
Architects
George Baird is the son of a dairyman from the
“left bank” of Toronto’s Don River, and a student
of Joseph Rykwert. He has simultaneously prac-
ticed and taught, and has masterfully managed to
balance both. Nobody has a better understanding
of what bridges meant to Toronto, or what
the evolutioN of
OPPOsite BOttOm, left tO riGht
BAird sAmpsoN Neuert ArChiteCts’
NuANCed ApproACh to puBliC spACe CAN
Be seeN iN three of their projeCts—triNity
squAre pArk CompetitioN iN toroNto
(uNBuilt,1983); two imAGes of Cloud
GArdeNs pArk iN toroNto (1994); ANd
old post offiCe plAzA iN st. louis (2008).
sAm feNetress
05/10 canadian architect 57
Hannah Arendt meant to architecture. He was the
first teacher to suggest that we might take a closer
look at Toronto—and at the same time read from
Rem Koolhaas’s Delirious New York. I remember
helping George prepare for a lecture about Yonge
Street. We drove to every major intersection—
from Yonge and Queens Quay up to Yonge and
Davis Drive—taking slides from the centre of
each intersection. George showed them all during
his talk.
In 1972, George purchased 35 Britain Street
with Jim Lorimer and opened George Baird
Architect—which he began under pressure from
Bruce Kuwabara, Don McKay and myself. We were
joined shortly thereafter by Joost Bakker and
Barry Sampson. One of our earliest projects
involved the preparation of something called
“design guidelines” for Toronto’s downtown. We
split a day into three eight-hour sessions that
were spent walking set routes prescribed by our
colleagues to draw and otherwise document what
we saw. George drew the all-night shift—which he
happily accepted. The following day, we pinned
up our drawings and these formed the basis for
onbuildingdowntown.
George is a brilliant theoretician with a won-
derful sense of place. He has influenced an entire
generation of architects—in Canada and the US. I
am honoured to have been part of that generation.
donald mcKay
Associate Professor, University of Waterloo School of
Architecture
Over a recent Christmas dinner, I asked George
what he had been reading. His answer was (more
or less) “nothing, entirely.” The truth has always
seemed to me to be more about “everything.” We
need architects who know everything, and remain
confident that they know “nothing, entirely.” That
is what George has taught us: as much as archi-
tects might want it to be all about architecture, it
is really all about everything. “Everything” gives
George context, and the meaning of what we do is
inevitably in that context. And, it is in George’s
nature to know everything.
At some moment in 1974 or ’75, Barry Sampson
and I made slides for George as a bit of last-
minute help to complete a lecture. We cropped
the images with care and presented a gorgeous set
of slides. George was disappointed. We had
cropped out the “bookness” of the images, and
their immediate context.
These days, I think I understand: no context
provides no understanding. George is right.
john sewell
Mayor, City of Toronto (1978-80)
George Baird is known for his wondrous analytical
and critical interpretation of architecture, but
what first brought him to my attention was his
impressive practical approach to built form. In
58 canadian architect 05/10
1973, the new Toronto City Council was struggling
with how to approach its downtown. Members of
City Council like myself were angry with the large
number of tall buildings that were dominating the
downtown, and we were pushing to reduce allow-
able densities. Ours was a particularly innocent
approach, attacking height and size as the evil to
be confronted. But our city staff, then an innova-
tive bunch, retained George to give his advice.
He produced a report titled onbuildingdown-
town which, to put it mildly, opened my eyes to
the new world of possibilities. He put his finger
on things that not many of us on City Council
realized were problems—the open plazas around
the big buildings; the many bland banking halls
that deadened the street; the wide setbacks that
killed the idea of public space; the importance of
selecting sidewalk materials to ensure they clearly
communicate public space that all are entitled to
occupy; the need for identifiable public furniture.
To me, these were revolutionary ideas and far
more sophisticated than our simple approaches.
They helped shape City Council’s new plans for
the city in the 1970s. George had opened the eyes
of the Reform Council to a more intelligent ap-
proach to setting rules which would build a good
city. I only wish that City Councils in the last three
decades had asked for his practical advice. It
would have served the city well.
The other example was about community de-
sign. As a City Councillor, I was heavily involved
in the creation of the St. Lawrence community to
the south and east of the downtown around the
historic St. Lawrence Market. It was a derelict and
forgotten area occupied by scrap yards, auto
wreckers, open-air storage for coal yards, and de-
caying railways sidings. I helped lead the fight for
the City to acquire these lands and build a new
mixed-use area. But we needed something to pull
the plan together, which was hampered by unused
railroad tracks at its very heart.
City staff called on George. His idea was abso-
lutely brilliant: use the railway land as a long nar-
row green space of walkways, parks and school-
yards. Treat it as the spine of the new community.
And that is what it has become in the last three
decades. Treating the railways lands as green
space totally flummoxed the railway companies
and they quickly agreed to sell the land to the city.
The space took shape with a long tree-lined walk-
way along one edge and it seems busy day and
night, giving a sense of public safety to the whole
of St. Lawrence. The rest of the land is used for
public purposes—wading pools, dog runs, areas to
read and chat, and schoolyard playgrounds.
George had done it again.
robert Glover
Partner, Bousfields Inc., Director of Urban Design,
City of Toronto (1998-2001)
When I was an architecture student at the Univer-
sity of Toronto in the early 1970s, Toronto’s plan-
ning and development thinking was being chal-
lenged. The rules, processes and decisions that
had provided the basis for the city’s postwar de-
velopment were being reconsidered. George Baird
was the conduit for bringing much of this debate,
and a number of leading thinkers and politicians
at the time—including a very young John Sewell—
were invited to speak at the school. As architec-
ture students, we followed the debate closely,
which was often reflected in our student work.
Following the election of a Reform Council in
1973, Mayor Crombie and his allies, aided by the
ideas of Jane Jacobs, were challenging the way we
thought about the city—politically, physically, and
through its infrastructure and character.
I first got to know George personally when, in
1972, he taught us the new third-year core studio
entitled “Settlement.” Conceived by George, the
studio was focused on teaching architecture stu-
dents ideas that are now commonly thought of as
being in the realm of urban design. Importantly,
George’s understanding and teaching of urban
design went beyond a singular focus on architec-
tural patterns or replicating context, but made
references to the political, social, planning and
technological forces that extended beyond the
static certainty of a master planner’s mindset.
Inspired by this approach to urban design, I
ended up working for Toronto’s Planning Depart-
ment in 1980, thereby combining the field of
urban design with land-use planning. In those
days, I often consulted with George on my profes-
sional work, which included a diversity of projects
such as the large-scale Harbourfront, Railway
Lands and Ataratiri projects, along with various
infill and redevelopment projects throughout the
city centre. During the 1990s, George’s presence
was limited by his teaching schedule at Harvard,
but I think that his influence can still be seen in
the King-Spadina, King-Parliament and Univer-
sity of Toronto plans of this decade.
George’s presence and influence is so much a
part of the design DNA of Toronto that we some-
times take him for granted. His contribution to
Toronto’s approach to urbanism is the result of a
lot of hard work by an amusing, intelligent,
thoughtful and highly principled architect and
urban designer.
Peter rowe
Raymond Garber Professor of Architecture and
Urban Design, Harvard University Graduate School
of Design; Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Design
(1992-2004).
I first came to know of George Baird as, I suspect,
did many others, with the publication of Meaning
in Architecture in 1969, which he co-edited with
Charles Jencks. Almost 25 years later, I got to
know George, as an esteemed colleague and friend
when he agreed to join the faculty of the Graduate
School of Design at Harvard University. Not long
after, in 1995, he graciously gave me a copy of his
then-new book, The Shape of Appearance, in which
he took up a similar question: “What is architec-
ture’s place in the world?” In it, George both
thoroughly and meticulously probed Postmodern
expressions of a Modernist critique that began in
the 1960s, more specifically around the political
and socio-cultural turning point of 1968.
The point of this literal bookending is to sug-
gest a very important, sustained, creative and pre-
cise intellectual contribution on George’s part,
about the relevance and, indeed, the fate of archi-
tecture. It is a discussion George has been having
with many others over the years, often with pro-
found effect, including numerous and by now in-
fluential former students. Moreover, it is a dis-
course at the ends of which he appears to be
advocating much the same sentiments, namely
“advocating designing within user experience
with neither arrogance nor indifference,” if I’m
quoting correctly from the first book, and the
“construction of a public sphere of appearance
that is large and diverse enough to make places for
us all,” from the second book.
Beyond this perhaps overly cryptic account,
there is a generosity to George’s message. It is
broad in the scope of its intended social and cul-
tural engagement. It is not trendy, nor populist,
but wisely reflective. It recognizes but ultimately
eschews both the pessimism of many recent
critical theoretical accounts, as well as other over-
ly bright and sanguine positions. It challenges us
and takes measures of architecture that require
living up to. This, after all, is the point of stan-
dards. It is also interpretatively open enough,
leaving literal and metaphorical space to work
with and to fruitfully consider architecture’s
future.
Not surprisingly, the same or similar qualities
have suffused George’s role as a leader in archi-
tectural education. He played, for instance, a very
significant role in guiding the course of architec-
tural education at Harvard for more than a decade,
officially as Program Director. During any num-
ber of discussions he would often remind the rest
of us on contentious points and the need to think
further, rapidly running his hand across his chin
and saying, “Well! Let’s not forget that...” followed
by a pithy and pertinent set of predicates.
George thomas Kapelos
Associate Professor, Ryerson University Department
of Architectural Science
From my perspective, what distinguishes George
Baird is his ongoing and persistent interest in the
local and regional condition, and his steadfast
commitment to nurturing an architectural culture
here at home.
I first encountered George’s enthusiasm for the
local in 1976 when we were presenters at the an-
nual meeting of the Society for the Study of Archi-
tecture in Canada (SSAC), a small but important
organization passionate about Canadian architec-
ture. Our meeting led to a series of collaborations
which celebrated historical and contemporary
Canadian architecture, locally and abroad.
George’s 1978 keynote address at “Conserving
Ontario’s Main Streets” presented a case study of
Brantford, Brockville and Napanee, focusing on
the significant public spaces and the rich archi-
tectural traditions found in these Ontario towns.
Ironically, his message about the value of public
spaces and historical Main Street architecture still
resonates today as communities struggle to retain
their identity in the face of declining downtown
populations, large-scale retail incursions, ques-
tions about reusing redundant historic buildings,
and rapid suburbanization. In fostering a Cana-
dian architectural culture, George addressed cur-
rent practice, exposing contemporary Canadian
architecture to an international public. Two ex-
hibitions—OKanada (Berlin, 1982) and Toronto:
Le Nouveau Nouveau Monde (Paris, 1987)—cele-
brated our nascent architectural culture, and con-
textualized Canadian architectural production in
the world at large. In working with George on
these initiatives, I grew to appreciate his promo-
tion of a local architectural culture, which recog-
nized the value of our collective architectural past
and simultaneously nurtured innovation and tal-
ent necessary to ensure a vibrant architectural
present and future.
George’s passion continues. Last spring, at the
SSAC meeting held at Toronto’s Ryerson Univer-
sity, he commented on Toronto’s infatuation with
“starchitecture.” He lamented that recent projects
undertaken by name architects from abroad had
not enriched the local architectural scene, unlike
projects of earlier decades. Finally, and with a
typical positiveness, George suggested that To-
ronto could well learn from Barcelona, where a
strong, local architectural culture was fostered by
editorial policy of the regional press. There, in the
1970s and ’80s, local architects were invited to
discuss architectural projects and cultural activ-
ities in the larger world, while international
architects were invited to comment on the local
Barcelona architectural scene. Such a move,
George contended, supported and expanded dia-
logue, and contributed to the evolution of an in-
fluential architectural culture in that city.
In celebrating George Baird’s accomplish-
ments, therefore, I am grateful that this voice for
the local remains strong and unequivocal.
donald chong
Principal, Donald Chong Studio
It is entirely plausible to suggest that I am a direct
beneficiary of the evolving legacy of George Baird.
He personifies what I believe might be the cor-
nerstone of the quintessential practice in archi-
tom voGel
aBOveA reCeNt portrAit of GeorGe BAird,
tAkeN duriNG his teNure As deAN of the
johN h. dANiels fACulty of ArChiteCture,
lANdsCApe ANd desiGN.
tecture: one which invites, fosters and expects
dialogue at the intersection of practice, academia
and the city. Perhaps it is fitting that my reflec-
tions—that of an emerging practitioner whose age
likely equals the years George has devoted to his
profession and the city—may further illustrate
how his ideas continue to resonate across borders
and across decades.
Through George, I have enjoyed aligning and
conflating cross-generational ideas of key figures
in my formative years—among others, Jane
Jacobs, Barton Myers, Bruce Kuwabara, Detlef
Mertins and Brigitte Shim, in the works of Vacant
Lottery, onbuildingdowntown, The Presence of Mies,
and Site Unseen. My practice owes much of its own
enrichment and ambitions to these oral trad-
itions; cradled by my teachers, catalyzed by
George in his trajectories, offerings and threads
of discussion. My privileged vantage point of a
well-steeped, real-time thesis unfolding before
my eyes shows that George has quite simply
blazed trails. Enough so, that my generation may
feel it incumbent upon itself to give back to the
next and carry these conversations forward.
One wonders, then, whether this is the real
project for architecture in the everchanging city—
one that recognizes mentorship as the one true,
sustainable framework for urban equity, and a
lasting balance for layered, critical thinking well
beyond that of a single generation. George Baird’s
ongoing narrative of teaching, writing and build-
ing has coalesced into a career committed to the
civic art of architecture. ca
05/10 canadian architect 59
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aluminum and Metal composite
Materials
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05/10 canadian architect 63
ProFeSSional directory Product ShowcaSe

the hPnc Program

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nelio from lightolier

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Photo: Shai Gil

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64 canadian architect 05/10

calendar
Other Space Odysseys:
Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan,
Alessandro Poli
April 8-September 6, 2010 The Canadian
Centre for Architecture in Montreal
presents three approaches to the ideas
of an adventurous journey that start­
ed 40 years ago after the 1969 moon
landing. For architects Greg Lynn,
Michael Maltzan and Alessandro
Poli, space has provided not only a
rich context for experimentation, but
also an extreme condition in which
to test new ideas for life on earth.
www.cca.qc.ca
Architectural Dialogues:
Moriyama & Teshima
May 4-November 15, 2010 This exhibi­
tion at the Archives of Ontario, lo­
cated at York University in Toronto,
explores the role that the process
of dialogue has played in both the
construction and experience of the
structures/spaces designed by Mori­
yama & Teshima Architects.
www.ontario.ca/archives
Architecture en vers
May 18-October 31, 2010 This exhibi­
tion at the Grande Bibliothèque in
Montreal consists of five architec­
tural installations by groups of archi­
tects and glass artists, including
Pierre Thibault, Éric Pelletier archi­
tectes, Menkès Shooner Dagenais
LeTourneux Architectes, Suzanne
Bergeron of Amiot Bergeron archi­
tectes, and the C­M­R collective.
www.banq.qc.ca
doors Open toronto
May 29-30, 2010 This annual citywide
celebration featuring free access to
150 architecturally, historically, cul­
turally and socially significant build­
ings, is back for its 11th year.
www.toronto.ca/doorsopen
design and health canada
2010: Global Perspectives,
local identities
June 7-8, 2010 This international
symposium takes place at the Isabel
Bader Theatre, University of Toron­
to, and is dedicated to exploring
global perspectives on enhancing
health, well­being and quality of life
within the local context of healthy
file name mesca_CityMulti Half Page Ad_Can Arch_C1_R1.indd
communities and infrastructure de­ The Next Wave
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velopment in Canada.
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ingerid helsing almaas lecture
June 8, 2010 This lecture at Dalhousie
University’s Faculty of Architecture
and Planning will be delivered by
Norwegian author Ingerid Helsing City Multi is again at the forefront of leading-edge HVAC
Almaas at 7:00pm.
http://architectureandplanning.dal.ca/ technology. Introducing City Multi HydraDan. Mitsubishi
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sanitary use or hydronic radiant heating and cooling applications.
communities This highly efficient system facilitates virtually no energy waste,
June 8-10, 2010 The third annual reduced CO 2 emissions and drastically reduced operating
Canadian Green Building Council
cost. Also, with a reputation for exceeding industry efficiency
National Conference takes place at
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the Vancouver Convention Centre, standards, like VRF technology, it’s only natural to find City Multi
with sessions and workshops on how at the cutting edge of geothermal HVAC installations.
to foster an energy conservation and
efficiency culture.
www.cagbc.org/cagbc/conference/
neocon World’s trade Fair
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June 14-16, 2010 Held in Chicago, the
42nd annual NeoCon World’s Trade www.intelligentHVAC.ca
Fair—the National Exposition of
Contract Furnishings, is North Am­
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erica’s largest exhibition of contract
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www.neocon.com THINK
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Sami rintala lecture
THINK GREEN
June 15, 2010 This lecture at Dalhousie
University’s Faculty of Architecture
and Planning will be delivered at THINK
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7:00pm by Sami Rintala of Rintala Eg­ GREEN
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gertsson Architects in Oslo, Norway.
http://architectureandplanning.dal.ca/ THINK GREEN
current_events/index.shtml
Take even more comfort with our
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June 16-17, 2010 An interdisciplinary
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such as creating vibrant cultural
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www.revitalizingdowntowns.net
For more inFormation about
these, and additional list-
ings oF Canadian and inter-
national events, please visit
www.canadianarchitect.com
circle rePly card 36
05/10 canadian architect 65
BackPage
POrtraits frOm aBOVe
a recent study of hong Kong’s informal rooftop housing
reveals an entire world built on top of existing buildings.
teXt rufina wu and stefan canham
PhOtOs stefan canham
No publicly accessible maps or guidebooks offer the specific locations of
Hong Kong’s rooftop communities. The best way to find them is to simply
walk the city, with your head tilted upward. There is a broad range of self-
built rooftop structures: in more affluent areas they are used as storage
sheds; others are living-space extensions from the floor below. The roofs of
tenement buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s are often trans-
formed into low-cost housing catering to low-income groups and new im-
migrants. Quite a few consist of intricate two- to three-storey-high struc-
tures equipped with amenities like high-speed Internet connections and
rooftop gardens, while others provide little more than basic shelter.
Self-built settlements on the roofs of high-rise buildings have been an
integral part of Hong Kong’s history for over half a century. The rise of
rooftop communities is closely linked to the migration history from the
Chinese mainland to Hong Kong. Large influxes of migrants arrived in the
city with each of China’s tumultuous political movements in the 20th cen-
tury. The resultant severe housing shortage fostered the emergence of a
plethora of informal settlements, and the flat roofs of buildings became
attractive sites for bricolages of self-built homes.
The majority of rooftop residents climb four to nine storeys to their
homes. When seen from higher buildings across the street, the roofs re-
semble small villages. A maze-like system of corridors and stairs provides
66 canadian architect 05/10
when viewed from a distant rooftop, hundreds of illegal
aBOVe
dwellings built atop existing apartment buildings have the
cumulative effect of a rural village.
access to each unit. Building services, typically found on the exterior of the
building envelope in subtropical climates, are easily extended upwards to
serve rooftop units. The strata of various building materials offer clues to
the evolution of a rooftop settlement. The metre-high parapets act as secure
armatures for subsequent layers of construction, and the first layer of units
provides the foundation for a second, and sometimes a third. Over time, the
huts grow to be structurally dependent on each other. Remove one, and the
rest may collapse.
Today, rooftop housing remains a vibrant phenomenon in the city’s older
districts. For the underprivileged, rooftop housing continues to be an af-
fordable housing choice where it is needed—in central urban areas, in the
vicinity of employment opportunities, and in areas with well-established
social networks. Officially, rooftop structures are classified as “unauthor-
ized building works” and are subject to demolition at any time. In the
course of the city’s rapid urban renewal, areas with older buildings and a
large number of inhabited roofs generally receive a tabula rasa redevelop-
ment approach—whole building blocks and traditional urban fabric are
demolished to make way for new, more profitable developments. In the face
of imminent urban renewal, the future of Hong Kong’s rooftop legacy
remains precarious at best. ca
Portraits from Above is a book and exhibition project by Rufina Wu and Stefan
Canham. For more information, please visit www.peperoni-books.de.
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