The essays consider the contemporary architectural scene from a variety of perspectives in theory and practice. They include seminal pieces that framed important debates in the field, such as the introduction to the exhibition catalogue Monolithic Architecture, as well as observations on buildings and practices from around the world, from Santiago, to Beirut and Beijing. Together, the polemical provocations and interpretive insights construct a critical panorama of a global architectural landscape in rapid transformation since the 1990s. The book is divided into there parts. “Polemics” addresses broad issues and trends with essays that claim a position in current debates. “Agents” examines the oeuvres of particular architects, with pieces that situate their work in relation to such debates. “Artifacts” takes on single buildings, instances where ideas are sedimented into form to situate current architectural discussions in concrete objects.

• Introduction by George Baird
• Authored by Rodolphe el-Khoury

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Contributors Biographies

Rodolphe el-Khoury is Dean of the Miami University School of Architecture. He was Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto, Head of Architecture at California College of the Arts, and associate professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design. El-Khoury was trained as a historian and an architect; he continues to divide his time between scholarship and practice with Khoury Levit Fong. His books on eighteenth-century European architecture include The Little House, an Architectural Seduction, and See Through Ledoux; Architecture, Theatre and the Pursuit of Transparency. Books on contemporary architecture and urbanism include Monolithic Architecture, Architecture in Fashion, and States of Architecture in the Twenty-first Century: New Directions from the Shanghai Expo.

George Baird was born and grew up in Toronto. After graduating from the University of Toronto in 1962, he worked for two years for Toronto architect Jerome Markson. In 1964, he commenced graduate studies in architecture at University College, in London, England, and went on to teach architectural theory and design at the Royal College of Art, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, returning to Toronto in 1967. In 1968 he founded his architectural practice, and joined the faculty of architecture at the University of Toronto. He has been active in architecture, urban design, and heritage preservation in Toronto, across Canada, and abroad since that time. A principal author of the pioneering 1974 urban design study “On building downtown,” he acted also as a key advisor to Toronto’s St. Lawrence Neighbourhood site planning team, strongly recommending both the extension of the street grid of the original city, and the creation of what is now known as Esplanade Park. In 1992, Baird was the winner of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Architecture and Design Award, and in 1999, he was invited to deliver the annual Kilbourn Lecture for Heritage Toronto. In 2001, he received the order of Da Vinci Medal from the Ontario Association of Architects. He received the RAIC Gold Medal in 2010 and the Topaz Medal for excellence in architectural education in 2012. He is the author/editor of numerous books, including Meaning in Architecture (with Charles Jencks, 1968), Alvar Aalto, (1969), The Space of Appearance, (1995), Queues, Rendezvous, Riots (with Mark Lewis, 1995). In 1993, he joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he was the G. Ware Travelstead Professor of Architecture, and Director of the MArch I and MArch II Programs. From 2005 to 2009 George was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.