Nunatsiaq News

A Montreal architect who has won an international reputation for innovative, affordable housing was in Iqaluit this week to advise municipal officials and developers on how to think outside the box-like structures that often pass for homes in the North. Deputy Mayor Glenn Williams invited Avi Friedman to Iqaluit after hearing him at a conference for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Montreal. Friedman, co-founder and director of the Affordable Homes program at McGill University and a professor in the architecture department, took Williams up on his offer and visited Iqaluit from August 18 to 21. “I have spent the last two decades working on affordable housing,” said Friedman in an interview after he returned to Montreal. “Once the situation was presented to me I realized that my expertise was needed. I like challenges and this was just the challenge I was looking for.”