For the Record. Joan Grierson

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      FOR THE RECORD

      FOR THE RECORD

      THE FIRST WOMEN IN CANADIAN ARCHITECTURE

      Edited by Joan Grierson

      and the For the Record Committee

      Copyright © Joan Grierson 2008

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

      The Photo Credits on pages 130–31 constitute a continuation of this copyright page.

      Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

      J. Kirk Howard, President

       Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      For the record : the first women in Canadian architecture/edited by Joan Grierson and the For the record committee.

      Includes index.

      ISBN 978-1-55002-820-1

      1. Women architects—Canada—History. 2. Women architects—Canada—Biography. 3. University of Toronto. School of Architecture—Graduate students—Biography. I. Grierson, Joan II. Title.

      NA1997.F67 2008 720.92 C2008–900380–2

      1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08

      We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

      Editor: Meg Taylor

      Design: Counterpunch/Peter Ross

      Printer: Friesens

      Opening photographs:

      page 1 (left) Residence of Lawren Harris, Toronto, 1933, Alexandra Biriukova, Architect; (right) Royal View Apartments, Edmonton, 1954, Wallbridge and Imrie, Architects.

      page 2 (left) Harvie House, Calgary, 1953, Wallbridge and Imrie, Architects; (right) District Office for the Ministry of Natural Resources, Midhurst, Ontario, 1974, Natalie Liacas, Architect.

      page 3 (left) Silvano Color Lab, Toronto, 1979, Joanna Ozdowski, Architect; (right) Daymond House, Guelph, 1991, Joan Burt, Architect. pages 18–19 Plan for an infirmary at the Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf, Belleville, Ontario, 1972, Natalie Liacas, Architect.

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      To women in Canadian architecture,

      past, present and future

      CONTENTS

Foreword by Eva Matsuzaki

Preface

A SHORT HISTORY OF EARLY WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE

WOMEN GRADUATES IN ARCHITECTURE 1920 TO 1960, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

1920s

1930s

       1940s

       1950s

       Epilogue

       WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE TODAY

      Appendices

       A The Story Behind the Exhibit by Blanche Lemco van Ginkel

       B The Original Exhibit by Mary Clark and Lennox Grafton

       C Survey of Canadian Registered Women Architects 1997–1998

       D Canadian Schools of Architecture

       Selected Resources

       Acknowledgements

       Photo Credits

       Index

FOREWORD

      The older I get the more I appreciate those who went before me. The more I learn of their lives and their work, the more I am amazed by their accomplishments and can’t help but wonder how they did it. We may not be able to retrace the how of much of it, but books such as this tell us what they did, and we can draw inspiration and courage from the stories of the women profiled here.

      Who encouraged these pioneering women to enter a male-dominated field like architecture? Who told them they could do the job just as well or even better than men? Who mentored them if they wanted to juggle family and career? Maybe it was a family member or someone at school or in the office, or maybe no one did – maybe they just knew they could. But most of us have relied on good advice at crucial points in our lives, and we all need encouragement to be patient, to persevere against the odds.

      Where were the role models for women in the 1960s when I decided on a career in architecture? They were few and far between. It was my Latvian immigrant parents, Osvalds and Marta Pupols, and my upbringing in New York City that told me to follow my dream. After that, what can I say? I jumped into the deep end of the pool.

      We were six women in the entering class.map of sixty at the School of Architecture at Cornell University in 1961. Life at school was collegial, but there were