Architect, theorist, and educator George Baird died at his Toronto home on October 17, 2023, at the age of 84.
A member of the Order of Canada (OC), Baird was the former Dean (2004-2009) of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, and a partner in the Toronto-based architecture and urban design firm Baird Sampson Neuert Architects. Prior to becoming Dean at the University of Toronto, Baird was the G. Ware Travelstead Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. He has published and lectured widely throughout most parts of the world.
He was co-editor, with Charles Jencks, of Meaning in Architecture (1969), and, with Mark Lewis, of Queues Rendezvous, Riots (1995). He is author of Alvar Aalto (1969), The Space of Appearance (1995), and Writings on Architecture and the City (2015). A book of essays about his work and influence, The Architect and the Public: On George Baird’s Contribution to Architecture, appeared in 2019.
Baird’s consulting firm, Baird Sampson Neuert is the winner of numerous design awards, including Canadian Architect Magazine awards over many years, and Governor General’s Awards for Cloud Gardens Park in 1994 and Erindale Hall on the campus of the University of Toronto at Mississauga in 2006. Baird is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He has been the recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Architecture and Design Award (1992) and the Da Vinci Medal of the Ontario Association of Architects (2000).
“George’s influential contributions to architectural discourse, scholarship, and practice extended globally for over five decades. We celebrate and honour George’s life as an architect, educator, mentor, and friend,” writes colleagues from his firm, Baird Sampson Neuert. “We would like to offer our condolences to his wife Elizabeth and to his many colleagues, friends and admirers. He will be greatly missed.”
A major commemorative event hosted through the Daniels’ Faculty is being planned in George’s honour. Further details will be shared when confirmed.