On September 21st, the SFU Centre for Dialogue hosted a public lecture on affordable housing featuring internationally recognized affordable housing expert Avi Friedman, Professor of Architecture at McGill University.

From the event site:

Metro Vancouver’s many attributes make it a highly desirable place to live and invest. Unfortunately, that makes housing, whether rental or ownership, unaffordable for many of the region’s citizens. The need to think outside the box about lower-cost residential options has become an urgent priority. Renowned international housing expert Dr. Avi Friedman will look at what’s making housing unaffordable in Metro Vancouver—as well as the direct and indirect contributions that affordable housing makes to communities. He will describe potential housing strategies, including examples of local and international projects, that offer innovative affordable housing solutions for this region.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend this lecture, but thankfully the SFU team recorded the presentation available online.  Here it is.  Note, it runs over an hour and a half, but it is well worth the watch.   if you don;t have the time today, book mark this post for a rainy afternoon. For a written analysis of the event, check out this thorough analysis in the Tyee.

Thinking Outside the Box about Affordable Housing

Running time: 1h 42 minutes

Avi Friedman, Professor, McGill University School of Architecture

Dr. Avi Friedman received his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Town Planning from the Israel Institute of Technology, his Master’s Degree from McGill University, and his Doctorate from the University of Montréal. In 1988, he founded the Affordable Homes Program at the McGill School of Architecture where he teaches.

He is known nationally and internationally for his housing innovation and in particular for the Grow Home and Next Home designs. He is the author of ten books and was a syndicated columnist for the CanWest Chain of daily newspapers. He is a practicing architect and the recipient of numerous awards including the Manning Innovation Award and the United Nations World Habitat Award.

In the year 2000 he was selected by Wallpaper magazine as 1 of 10 people from around the world “most likely to change the way we live”.