Events

Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 12-2pm

Since their foundation, Latin American cities have been receptacles of European and North American architectural and urban influences. The result of these influences are reflected in the similarities of the urban morphology and architecture.

Today, Latin-American cities commonly experience tremendous growth, and are plagued by civil poverty, social apartheid and inadequate public infrastructure. Influenced by culture, geography, and history, these cities face unique developmental, physical and social challenges. They also contain a sophisticated urban intelligentsia and political class that often attempt to address these challenges - and in addressing their own challenges, they provide urban design lessons for North American cities.

Robert Glover
Robert Glover is a professional Architect, Registered Professional Planner and an Urban Designer with 30 years of professional experience. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Design and teaches in the Master of Urban Design program. Mr Glover is a member of the Toronto Preservation Board (2001 to the present) and has been a member of Lamba Alpha International since 2002.

As a consultant, Mr. Glover’s work has focused on the urban design of intensification projects in urban and historical areas, and on creating more compact forms of development in suburban areas. Over the past few years, a major theme has been the appropriate location and design of tall buildings in the City. He has spoken frequently on urban design matters and has provided professional urban design and planning opinions at the Ontario Municipal Board on numerous projects.

Mr. Glover was the first Director of Urban Design of the amalgamated City of Toronto (1998 to 2001). Major City planning initiatives during this period included the new City of Toronto Official Plan and the Toronto Waterfront Plan. Under his Directorship, the City of Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Awards were established with the support of the development industry to promote better urban design and architecture. Before amalgamation, he was Manager of Urban Design with the former City of Toronto, and as manager was responsible for the urban design approach taken in the King-Spadina and King-Parliament Plans, the University of Toronto Plan (1996) and the Urban Design Handbook. Between 1988-92, he was the Urban Design Co-ordinator for the Ataratiri project, which produced a redevelopment plan for the West Donlands area of Toronto’s Downtown.

International work has included participation in the Sustainable Santiago (Chile) project with ICLEI and CIDA in 1997-98, for the purpose of developing a new, community-based urban design plan for the Municipality of La Pintana, Chile, and the development of a new town plan near Temuco (Chile) in 2000. In 2002, while with IBI Group, Mr Glover led a team, which developed a concept plan for a new mixed use and transit-oriented Gateway Boulevard into Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Carmen Franky
Passionate for cities, Carmen is trained as an architect and an urban designer. Her career was developed in Canada and Colombia. Her academic education in Colombia, Belgium, and Canada has provided her a large comprehension and scope about the dynamics of cities. Her professional experience working in the public and private sectors brings the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects ranging from large- to small-scale. She has taught architecture in Colombia at the University Piloto of Colombia, focusing in the Heritage aspects of the Colombian cities. Presently, she is teaching with Professor Robert Glover an optional studio at Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design, titled Studio Norte/Sur. This studio is based upon the urbanism and urban design of Santiago, in Chile. Their goals are to create strong links between the Latin American cities and Canada at the academic and professional level. Last year the Studio Norte/Sur took place in Bogotá Colombia.

This event is presented as part of the Latin American Studies Luncheon Series. A light lunch will be provided to those who register online at http://webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventid=4481 by 9am on Monday, February 11, 2008.