Photo © Michael Awad

George Baird, FRAIC, is this year's recipient of the 2010 Gold Medal from the RAIC. One of his projects is the University of Toronto at Mississauga's Roy Ivor Hall.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has named three new Honourary Fellows, along with this year's Gold Medallist.

Canada's Christian Ouellet has been called to RAIC's College of Fellows. A Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament, he has been a pioneer in solar, bioclimatic techniques, and green architecture since 1973. Ouellet promotes sustainable building by instituting new energy efficiency policies.

Manfredi Nicoletti, also recognized as an Honourary Fellow, is a professor of architectural composition at the Sapienza University of Rome. He has received the International Award of World Renewable Energy Network (WREN), and his work includes aspects of urban and architectural design integrated with those of specialists in various scientific and technological sectors around the world.

The final new Honourary Fellow is Sunand Prasad, a founding partner of London, England's Penoyre & Prasad. He was president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for two years, and his experience encompasses education, healthcare, housing, arts, commercial development, sustainable design, and master planning.

George Baird, FRAIC, is the RAIC's Gold Medallist. The former dean of the school's Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, he is a professor at the University of Toronto and a partner in the Toronto-based Baird Sampson Neuert architecture and urban design firm.

They will all be acknowledged at the RAIC-Saskatchewan Association of Architects (SAA) Festival of Architecture, taking place June 23 to 26 in Saskatoon.