Tall Buildings

The growth of our city is creating development pressure on a finite area of land. With measures such as the preservation of the greenbelt and a new found appreciation of urban living, the density requirements of our city are pushing the height of buildings ever upward. Recently the Toronto planning department undertook a study that may result in significant policy positions on “Tall Buildings” in the near future. This talk will focus on tall buildings and the role they have in shaping our city.

MODERATOR

Lisa Rochon

Architecture Critic, The Globe and Mail

Author, public speaker and frequent design juror, Lisa Rochon is also the architecture critic for The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. She writes from her base in Toronto and, also, from around the world. She is the two-time winner of the National Newspaper Awards (2005, 2006) for her Globe column on architecture and cities. In 2008, she was nominated again for the NNAs and awarded the President’s Award for Journalism by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.Lisa is the author of UP NORTH: Where Canada’s Architecture Meets the Land praised as “the definitive guide to Canada’s contemporary architecture”. She is a contributing editor to Modern North (Princeton, 2010) and Alphabet City’s AIR (2010) and Trash, (2007), both published by the MIT Press, among other publications. She holds an M.A. in Urban Design Studies from the University of Toronto. Before that, Lisa studied international relations at l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris. Her honours degree in journalism and French was completed at Carleton University, Ottawa.

GUESTS

Alan Greenberg

President, MintoUrban Development Services

Mr. Greenberg graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce President & COO Degree from the University of Toronto in 1983. He joined MintoUrban the family business and spent 2 ½ years in Ottawa learning Development various aspects of the business before opening the Toronto Services branch of the business with his brother Roger in late 1985.

Since then, his involvement included all facets of real estate development. For the past 25 years, he has been responsible for the company’s growing investment in the Toronto region. In the late ‘90’s’, Mr. Greenberg became the visionary for Minto’s very successful “green” program. Mr. Greenberg provides strategic vision and hands on guidance to his team as they implement their business plans including award winning projects such as The Prince Arthur, MintoMidtown, Minto Gardens and Minto Roehampton. Recently launched projects include The St. Thomas by minto and The AvenDale by minto.

Mr. Greenberg is affiliated with numerous industry organizations as well as being involved with several charities. As of June 15, 2011 Mr. Greenberg will retire from the day to day operations of Minto. He will remain a member of the Board of Directors and the Investment Committee.

Siamak Hariri

Founding Partner, Hariri Pontarini Architects

Siamak Hariri, born in Bonn, Germany, was educated at the University of Waterloo and Yale University (M. Arch. 1985). As a founding partner of Hariri Pontarini Architects (1994), Siamak has been internationally recognized as one of Canada’s leading architects.

For more than ten years, Siamak has not only directed the firm’s competition-winning schemes, but also has been the Partner-in-Charge of projects garnering over 35 national and international awards of excellence in architecture. His internationally-acclaimed projects include the McKinsey & Company Toronto Headquarters at the University of Toronto’s Victoria Campus on Charles Street (the youngest building to ever receive heritage landmark designation by the City of Toronto); and the award-winning Art Collectors’ Residence. Siamak was the 2006 recipient of the Governor General’s Medal for the Schulich School of Business and Executive Learning Centre at York University, and was the partner-in-charge of the award-winning MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie; the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo; the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at the University of Waterloo; and the Max Gluskin House Department of Economics at the University of Toronto.

He is currently the Partner-in-Charge of the international competition-winning Bahá’í Temple for South America in Santiago, Chile; the renovation and addition of Weston Family Learning Centre at the Art Gallery of Ontario; the international competition-winning Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario; the North American competition winning Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, and the expansion of the French language institute, Alliance Française de Toronto.

Siamak Hariri’s projects have been published extensively both in Canada and internationally and are featured in various books and publications around the globe. As an architect and critic during his career, Siamak has also taught at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, as an adjunct professor. He sits on the boards of the Royal Ontario Museum’s Institute of Contemporary Culture, the Toronto Art Council, the Toronto Community Foundation and the Waterfront Design Review Panel. Siamak has also lectured and participated as a juror extensively across North America and Europe.

Gary Wright

City of Toronto – Chief Planner

Gary Wright is the Chief Planner & Executive Director for the City of Toronto. He oversees the largest planning department in the country and is responsible for Urban Design, Transportation Planning, Policy and Research and Community Planning initiatives across the city.

Gary has played a leadership role on major projects such as the Yonge-Dundas Redevelopment project as well as the approval of many large scale developments in the city and is responsible for guiding the city’s growth and development. He has had a variety of challenging assignments in his 36 plus years with the City of Toronto. This division’s work includes the harmonized zoning bylaw, midrise typology, and a review of the structure of the division.

Margaret Zeidler

Founder and President of Urbanspace Property Group

Margaret Zeidler is the Founder and President of Urbanspace Property Group which specializes in the adaptive reuse of old buildings that provide spaces for artists, cultural producers, social innovators and entrepreneurs. Urbanspace’s projects foster an inspiring integration of commerce, culture and community. Zeidler is the recipient of the 2003 “Jane Jacobs Prize”, the 2004 Toronto Untitled “Best Friend of the Arts” Award, and the Order of Ontario. She co-founded the Centre for Social Innovation, the Centre for City Ecology, the Urbanspace Gallery (devoted to exhibitions on civic issues) and “Jane’s Walk” an annual event to celebrate the life and ideas of Jane Jacobs.

This Pug Talk is made possible
through the support of:

Miele