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June 9, 2006
Living green and healthy at SFU
Local architect and developer Michael Geller has a rabbi's spirit.
MONIKA ULLMANN
During his 30-year career as an architect and developer in Vancouver,
Michael Geller got used to getting negative letters and e-mails.
But things have changed. As president and chief executive officer
of one of North America's most ambitious "green and sustainable"
development projects, SFU's UniverCity, people write to him because
they are supportive of the project.
"It's really powerful to get e-mails that are in favor of something,"
said Geller, who recently received a number of messages urging him
to put a café in the development's town square. The café
has been installed. Now he's looking for someone to run a neighborhood
pub and is concerned about getting a school built.
All the publicity that his project has been getting should help.
Since environmentalist David Suzuki mentioned the UniverCity project
on The Nature of Things recently, the New York Times
has sent a reporter to find out what's happening on Burnaby Mountain.
And what's happening is that UniverCity is on its way to becoming
a model of how to build an ideal, green, 21st-century community.
Geller said that the six years he has spent shepherding the massive
project from conception to first-stage completion have given him
"a chance to learn from all the mistakes I've made in the past."
In fact, UniverCity has allowed him to use his past experience as
an architect, planner of social housing and developer of condominium
projects in equal measure.
"I've been involved in almost every design decision, down to
the size of pavers and the shape of awnings," he said, laughing.
This is a community where everything has been planned to optimize
the health and well-being of its inhabitants. "Something I've
learned from this project is that good planning and well-designed
buildings can contribute to better physical and mental health,"
he added.
In working on such developments, Geller has proven his rabbi wrong.
"I had a rabbi who tried to encourage me to become a rabbi
by sending me off to yeshivah camp in the Catskills one summer,"
he explained. "He couldn't understand why I wanted to be an
architect, claiming architects didn't really do much for mankind,
the way rabbis did."
Geller didn't listen to the advice – he's wanted to be an architect
since he was 10 years old. Now, at 59, he has one more year on the
mountain before taking a sabbatical and going on to other things.
UniverCity won't be totally completed for another two decades, but
it's already a community that redefines an earlier, less hectic
and less car-focused way of life. Geller said that UniverCity was
designed with five main needs in mind.
"People want to know their neighbors, they want to walk to
school and shopping, they want to be close to nature, use their
cars less and feel safe," he said. Since affordability is a
real issue for most people, Geller has managed to get local bylaws
changed, so that the condos feature small, independent rooms with
some cooking and bathroom facilities that can be legally sublet.
Other features of the community are North America's first community
bus pass, enabling residents to ride in all three transit areas
for $28 a month, and possible membership in a car co-operative.
Cycling paths and walkways are everywhere and stores are independently
owned. Big brands in big boxes are not part of this vision.
UniverCity is the culmination of a professional life that includes
many comprehensive development projects with a strong social planning
factor and reflects Geller's interest in serving the Jewish community.
After growing up in Toronto, attending an Orthodox shul, he moved
to Vancouver in 1974 and began a career that included projects like
the Shalom Branch 178 housing development in Kitsilano and the Oak
Gardens Jewish seniors' housing condominium on Oak Street, with
the late Morris Wosk as his partner. Geller also worked on developing
the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, which was followed by the creation
of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg (of Baltimore) Residence. In
addition, he has found time to be a director of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Vancouver and was president of the Jewish Community Centre
of Greater Vancouver for a couple of years.
Geller said he was "pleased to be able to help Hillel create
a permanent home at SFU in UniverCity" and the way it happened
was reflective of his vision of community. Hillel had approached
him because they had their eye on his old office in a corner of
the central library. Since the library had already allocated it
for their own use, Geller suggested that Hillel move into one of
the new UniverCity buildings. Thanks to some vigorous fund-raising,
the Jewish students' group was able to move into their first new
home in 40 years. At the opening ceremony for Hillel, one of the
university chaplains was so impressed that he decided to move his
office into the same building.
"So now I have Hillel on my left and the Elllesmere United
Church about to move in on my right," said Geller, sounding
pleased.
His rabbi would be proud, after all.
Monika Ullmann is a freelance editor and writer living
in Vancouver.
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