George Thomas Kapelos

George Thomas Kapelos FRAIC is an architect and planner, and teaches architecture and planning at Ryerson University.  A native of London Ontario, he received his Master of Architecture from Yale University and a Master of City Planning from the Harvard School of Design.

His research focuses on the interrelationship between humans and their environments, through critical investigations of architecture, landscape and urbanism in the modern and post-modern periods, and contemporary explorations of design and design pedagogy. Themes of Canadian modernity, health and the environment, phenomenology and architectural education are explored.  He is past president of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, past chair of his academic unit, and a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He is the chair of the Ultraviolet Radiation (UVR) Working Group of the Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition. His research and teaching have been recognized through national awards and honours.

Research outcomes presented through conference papers, exhibitions, charrettes and symposia have considered ideas of nature, human imaginings and constructions of the built and natural world, diachronically and synchronically, and human perceptions and understanding of community, place and time. Studies of health and environment have focused on environmental health, specifically the linkage between UVR and skin cancer.  Considered works of architecture, landscape and urbanism can mitigate effects of harmful UVR; and funded projects engaging research-into-practice have provided direction on policy, practice and application for UVR mitigation to public health agencies, urban planners and cancer prevention advocacy groups in Canada.