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 HaysIs 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