Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Baird, George
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1939 -
History
George Baird was born in Toronto on August 25, 1939. He graduated from the University of Toronto School of Architecture in 1962. He conducted postgraduate research at University College in London, England, before returning to Canada in 1967 to teach at the University of Toronto, where he served as acting chair and as chair of the architecture program between 1983 and 1985, remaining as professor until 1993.
In 1993 Baird left the University of Toronto to join the faculty at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he was appointed G. Ware Travelstead professor of architecture in 1996 and where he taught design studio and architecture theory. He served as director of the MArch I (professional) and MArch II (post-professional) degree programs until 2004, then returned to Toronto to become dean of the University of Toronto's faculty of architecture, landscape and design until 2009.
Baird established his practice, George Baird Architect and Associates, in Toronto in 1972. In 1982 the office evolved into the partnership of Baird/Sampson Architects, and in 1998 became Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc.
Baird's office has produced award-winning architecture and urban design, and has authored many influential studies, notably 1982's Greening Downtown: Design Guidelines for Georgia-Robson Corridor, Vancouver, British Columbia, which established the firm's reputation for intelligent urban analysis. Notable early projects included the office headquarters for the Ontario Trucking Association, Rexdale, Ont (1980); an unsuccessful but influential entry to the Edmonton City Hall Competition, Edmonton, Alta (1982); and the unbuilt Elliot Lake Auditorium for the Arts, Elliot Lake, Ont (1984).
Baird/Sampson Architects and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc. completed a number of award-winning projects, including Cloud Gardens Park in Toronto (1994); the Butterfly Conservatory for the Niagara Parks Commission, Niagara Falls, Ont (1996); student residences for the University of Toronto in Mississauga (1999) and in Scarborough (2003); and mausolea at Prospect Cemetery (2001) and Pine Hills Cemetery in Toronto and Beechwood Cemetery in Vaughan, Ont (2002).
George Baird's honours and awards include the Toronto Arts Foundation Award for Architecture and Design, the da Vinci Medal of the Ontario Association of Architects, and Governor-General's Awards for Cloud Gardens Park (1994), Erindale Hall at the University of Toronto at Mississauga (2006) and the French River Visitor Centre (2010). He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and is the recipient of the 2010 RAIC Gold Medal, an honour bestowed in recognition of a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian architecture. From the American Institute of Architects and the Association of Collegiate Schools in Architecture, George Baird was awarded the 2012 AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education.