Raise the hammer

Bruce Kuwabara, the architect responsible for renovating the Art Gallery of Hamilton and Hamilton Hall at McMaster University, was recently interviewed in downtown Hamilton on CBC's national radio show The Current. Kuwabara is one of Canada's best-known architects, and has won many awards including the Governor General's Gold Medal for architecture and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's Gold Medal. Aside from his architectural expertise, Kuwabara grew up in Hamilton and is a passionate advocate of good urban design in the city. During the interview he pointed out some of Hamilton's urban planning mistakes (notably Jackson square), and then proposed some simple ideas for improving the downtown.