Brian Carter and Annette LeCuyer publish tribute book on Canadian architect Barry Sampson

Sampson, who passed away in December 2020 at the age of 72, led Baird Sampson Neuert, a significant critical practice in Toronto, and served as a professor of architecture at the University of Toronto for nearly thirty years.

Published by Dalhousie Architecture Press as part of the Documents in Canadian Architecture series, the book investigates key ideas identified in Sampson’s 2019 Baird Lecture at the University of Toronto. Employing these questions as the framework of the book, Carter and LeCuyer examine five critical questions of practice - reflecting on audience; Modernism and its legacies; architecture’s response to the environment and to human needs; architecture’s role in giving form to community; and the survival of critical practice in an age of technocracy.

The publication also documents projects illustrative of Sampson’s approach to design, construction, and use – a school, a university building, and a cabin – with texts, drawings, and images. Carter and LeCuyer also invited Sampson's closest colleagues to reflect on Sampson’s work and diverse roles in architecture – teacher, practitioner, advocate, environmentalist, mentor, client, and builder. Contributing authors are Richard Sommer, Barry Sampson, George Baird, Jon Neuert, Robert Wright, Brigitte Shim, Ian MacDonald, Pina Petricone, Erik Olsen, David Bowick, Nader Tehrani, Bruce Kuwabara, Donald McKay, John van Nostrand, and Joost Bakker. 

Acknowledging their supporting team of collaborating authors, Carter and LeCuyer said: "Like the design and making of a building, the creation of a book demands a committed client and a good team. We were encouraged as plans were developed with Barry's dedicated colleagues."