George took me on as a mentee and agreed with my premise — that Toronto’s “edge cities” and modern apartment neighbourhoods were foundational to the contemporary city’s identity and conspicuously missing from current understandings of Toronto’s past (and its future potential).

from Graeme Stewart’s feature “George Baird and the Toronto School”

After the passing of George Baird in October, ERA principal Graeme Stewart reflected in Azure Magazine on his relationship with the architectural theorist and educator and the great value of engaging with architecture and urbanism through an interdisciplinary prism. Baird has been described as a member of what is sometimes referred to as “The Toronto School of Economic and Urban Thought” along with Marshall McLuhan, Jane Jacobs, Naomi Klein, and Doug Saunders, a group exemplifying the power of collective, lateral thought. From his thesis at the University of Toronto to later collaborative research ventures with Baird to the culmination of the Tower Renewal initiative, Graeme explores what made Baird the architectural giant he’s remembered as.