Lord Foster to visit Toronto in May 2007

[wyliepoon]

Link to article

2007 Festival of Architecture entitled The Next 100 Years: Healthy Buildings, Healthy Communities – Beyond Today's Crisis
12/13/2006


Planning has already begun for the OAA/RAIC Conference and Festival to be held in Toronto from May 9-12, 2007.

The 2007 conference explores the fact that Canadian cities, and indeed all cities around the world, are in crisis. A crisis of uncontrolled growth, traffic congestion, sprawl, lack of a sense of community, sick buildings, poor air quality, and the production of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The Centers for Disease Control and others predict that for the first time, children will not live as long as their parents. Climate change is affecting the world and humankind in ways never predicted.

Architects are ideally positioned to take the lead in turning around this crisis, creating better buildings and better communities and in turn to ameliorate the effects of climate change. The next 100 years, the second century for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, will be critical for mankind and our civilization. Architects as visionaries, leaders and designers of buildings and communities, much rise to this challenge.

Architects from around the world will come together in Toronto to engage in debate discussing how to:

*improve the quality of life for Canadians
*achieve sustainability
*contribute to and enrich Canadian culture and heritage
*promote innovation, research and improve building technology

To date, two confirmed speakers are setting the tone for the gathering.

*Lord Norman Foster, leader of one of the world's most respected design firms, London-based Foster and Partners, has lectured throughout the world and taught architecture in the United Kingdom and the US.
*Professor Francine Houben, architect-director of Mecanoo architects in Delft (The Netherlands) is one of Europe's most active architects credited with many publications, conferences, exhibitions and the curatorship of the First International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam.

 

[bizorky]

A crisis of uncontrolled growth, traffic congestion, sprawl, lack of a sense of community, sick buildings, poor air quality, and the production of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The Centers for Disease Control and others predict that for the first time, children will not live as long as their parents. Climate change is affecting the world and humankind in ways never predicted.

These guys don't aim low when it comes to the doom and gloom scenarios, do they? Maybe they should consider how their profession has contributed to some of these problems in the first place.

How can something affect the world in ways never predicted? If one is making reference to future scenarios, then one is making predictions. Predictions do not automatically equal reality.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"Lord Foster to visit Toronto in May 2007"

He's so gonna love how "his" Pharmacy building turned out...:evil

 

[jeicow]

. A crisis of uncontrolled growth, traffic congestion, sprawl, lack of a sense of community, sick buildings, poor air quality, and the production of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.[/quote
Possibly a dumb question but what's a sick b

 

[ahrvojic]

^ Sick buildings are those in which occupants experience health issues caused by poor ventilation, air quality, mold, etc.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Like the current building housing the Archives of Ontario for instance.

 

[4Pook]

I read somewhere that relatively, the budget/sqm for the Pharmacy building was Lord Foster's lowest ever. That would be any busy architect's mortification, but Toronto was lucky to have an architect of his skill to deal with that sort of problem. The doors on the building are sweet.