The architect and the public. On George Baird's contribution to architecture

“The old binaries that we, ‘the theorygeneration,’ used to fight about—theoryversus history, formalism versus realism,autonomy versus social engagement, cultureversus media, critical versus post-critical—seem quite flat and dry. There is much morevolume now, more layering, more color,though, perhaps, less depth. George Bairdcan claim to have been one of the few to usherin this new imbrication of design researchand a kind of ‘theory-in-the-making.’”
K. Michael Hays

Is architecture indeed a public matter? What makesit public? What agency does the architect have toempower architecture’s publics?
The Architect and the Public presents a range of originalperspectives on the Canadian architect George Baird’stheoretical work in connection with his teaching anddesign practice. Working across several media and culturalcontexts, Baird played a significant role in the debateon architecture’s meaning and appearance in light ofthe cultural and disciplinary changes that happened inthe second half of the twentieth century in NorthAmerica and beyond. This volume spans more than fiftyyears to construct the first collective critical reflectionon his contribution to architectural discourse, in particularto the theory of the public in architecture and urbanism.Assembling previously unpublished archival material,essays, and interviews representing an intergenerationalgroup of voices, the book includes contributions byPier Vittorio Aureli, Marc Baraness, Joseph Bedford,Adrian Blackwell, Andrew Choptiany, Scott Colman,Peter Eisenman, Kenneth Frampton, K. Michael Hays,Hans Ibelings, Bruce Kuwabara, Lars Lerup, Louis Martin,John van Nostrand, Joan Ockman, Michael Piper,Richard M. Sommer, Hans Teerds, and Mirko Zardini.
The distinct intellectual paths of these nineteencontributors converge on Baird’s career as an example ofthe architect’s public engagement in contemporary society.