George Baird (architect)

[4] In a 2005 lecture at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, Baird claims that the true concept of the “public” has shifted and the postmodern architecture movement is a consequential factor for its disappearance.

[6] Since his return to Toronto from England in 1967, Baird’s involvement in practice allowed him to witness first-hand the extent of private properties in the city and the increase of control over urban land.

[7] Through architectural theory and conversation, his interest predominantly focuses on reigniting the importance of shared public space as a central design strategy for the agendas of today's architects and urbanists.

[5] One of Baird's most significant considerations, regarding human behavior, is that Benjamin's concept of distraction introduces a “threshold of consciousness” in respect to the public's experience of buildings.

His book captures a social and cultural collection of 20th century photographic works by Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and others.

[5] Baird goes on to deeply analyse the various conditions of conscious states including focused observation, mutual awareness, intentional performability, and the assembly of the parade.

[3] Baird’s reflections regarding the interrelationships of bodies in space, shown through street and news photography, helps to facilitate his three architectural conditions of publicness which he refers to as “visibility, propinquity, and continuity”.

[citation needed] In relationship to architecture and urban design, each of these conditions work within the physical and psychological networks of bodily proximity and become present to those who exist within shared public space.