The Laurence A. Cummings Lecture on Cultural History
Thoughts on Agency, Utopia and Property in Contemporary Architectural and Urban Theory
This lecture will discuss and criticize the uses of the concept of ‘utopia’ in some contemporary authors on architecture and urban form, and will explore the implications of those usages, particularly in respect to the phenomenon of human ‘agency.’
George Baird
George Baird is Emeritus Professor of Architecture and the former dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University
of Toronto. He is the founding principal of the Toronto-based architecture and
design firm Baird Sampson Neuert Architects. His 2011 book, Public Space; Cultural/Political Theory; Street Photography was published by SUN Publications. In 2011 Baird was awarded an Honorary Degree in Engineering by the University of Waterloo. He is the 2012 winner of the Topaz Medallion of the American Institute of Architects and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
This lecture is endowed by a special fund created by family and friends in memory of former SJU professor, Laurence A. Cummings.