(Toronto — February 24, 2011) The Ecology.Design.Synergy: Green Architecture & New Ideas from Germany & Canada speaker series, launched in 2010 by the Goethe-Institut Toronto in cooperation the Faculty of Design at OCAD University (OCAD U), continues with a talk by Barbara Hoidn and George Stockton on Wednesday, March 9 at 6 p.m. Hoidn and Stockton will address the theme Reclaiming The Land: The Designer as Eco-Regenerator.
Curated by OCAD U Faculty of Design Acting Dean Doreen Balabanoff in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, this series explores a range of architectural and design practices that are transforming our understanding of ‘sustainability’ within the built environment. Past speakers in the series have included Friedrich von Borries, Philip Beesley, Manfred Brausem and Martin Liefhebber.
About the Speakers:
Barbara Hoidn studied architecture and city planning at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. She worked as a project architect for the Public Building Administration in Frankfurt/Main and for several years as a project partner with the office of José Paulo dos Santos, Oporto, Portugal. In 1994 she joined the strategy department of the Senate Building Director of Berlin as Head of the Architecture Workshop. In this position she was responsible for the development of public urban design guidelines and the consultation of private projects in central Berlin, the concept and organization of symposia, conferences and exhibitions on urban development in Berlin. From 2000 to 2001 she was head of a team in the housing department of the Senate Department for Urban Development in Berlin, responsible for the handling of several national and European urban renewal programs in Berlin. In 2001, with Wilfried Wang, she founded the office Hoidn Wang Partner in Berlin.
George Stockton is a landscape architect and planner who has been working with Moriyama & Teshima Planners Limited since 1969. Now President of the firm, he has been Project Director of several long-term environmentally sensitive visionary plans which have won major international awards from the Waterfront Center in Washington. In recent years, Stockton has built up a significant body of work in the Middle East, where he headed a team of landscape architects and engineers to undertake the Wadi Hanifah Comprehensive Development Plan to rehabilitate an ancient drainage system in central Saudi Arabia. Over a ten-year period, using ground-breaking processes of bio-remediation, a near-extinct ecosystem and important natural heritage site has been restored and enhanced as an environmental, recreational and tourism resource. The project won the 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Ecology.Design.Synergy:
Green Architecture & New Ideas from Germany & Canada
March 9, 6 p.m.
Reclaiming The Land: The Designer as Eco-Regenerator
Barbara Hoidn & George Stockton
OCAD University
Central Hall (Room 230), 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
416-977-6000 | www.ocad.ca
All are welcome; admission is free. Limited seating available; guests are advised to arrive early.
Next in the Ecology.Design.Synergy Speaker Series:
April 7, 6 p.m.
Reclaiming the City: The Architect/Planner as Eco-Urbanist
Stephan Lanz & Graeme Stewart
Stephan Lanz has been working in urban development and lectures at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder. As a founding member of metroZones - Center for Urban Affairs, he is active in various urban and cultural networks in Berlin and is the editor of the book series "metroZones".
Graeme Stewart is an associate with E.R.A. Architects (Toronto), a noted Canadian architectural firm specializing in professional heritage consultation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings, exemplifying the philosophy that the greenest building is the reused building. Renowned projects include the Stone Distillery at the Distillery Historic District (2007), and the Artscape Wychwood Barns (2009) in Toronto. Stewart’s focus has been with more recently built landmarks, including the 1,000 modern apartment buildings from the 1960s and 1970s, known to be among the most energy inefficient of the Toronto’s building stock. Stewart oversees the ‘Tower Renewal Project’, implementing green technologies, re-skinning, clean energy and urban agriculture.
About the Goethe-Institut Toronto
The Goethe-Institut Toronto (www.goethe.de/toronto) presents important positions, contemporary ideas and arts practices from Germany and Europe to Canadians. Our current focus themes are Culture & Economy, City & Climate, and German film & media art. We organise residencies together with our Canadian partners, offer international liaison work and consulting as well as promote European cultural understanding, e.g. through our cooperation with other European cultural institutes across Canada.
About OCAD University (OCAD U)
OCAD University (www.ocad.ca) is Canada’s “University of the Imagination.” The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.
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For more information contact:
Jutta Brendemühl, Program Coordinator, Goethe-Institut Toronto
416.593.5257 Ext. 205
Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416-977-6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)