A Note From the Editor - SEXTONdigital

Society for the Study of
Architecture in Canada
President
MarkFram
159 Russell Hill Road, No. 101
Toronto, Ontario M4V 259
Past President
Douglas Franklin
30 Renfrew Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario KlS 1Z5
Vice-President
Diana Thomas
Historic Sites Selvice
Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism
Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 112 Street
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Ann Bowering
Heritage Canada
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Shannon Ricketts
Environment Canada, Parks Service
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ISSN No. 0228.0744
Produced with the assistance or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
COVER: The 38th Annual MeetU.g of the Albena Associatiot1 of Architects, Calgary,
1948. Mary Imrie and Jean W allbridge are secot1d and third from the right, middle row.
( ProvU.cial Archives of Alben a, Neg. No. 88· 290) See pages 12-18,
BULLETIN
Volume/Tome 17, Number/Numero 1
A Note from the Editor/Note du redacteur
by Dorothy Field ........................................................................... 3
Slowly and Surely (and Somewhat Painfully): More or Less
the History of Women in Architecture in Canada •
by Blanche Lemco van Ginkel .................................................... 5
Wall bridge and Imrie: The Architectural Practice of Two
Edmonton Women, 1950-1979*
by Em a Dominey ........................................................................ 12
Women and the Built Environment: A Course for Students
at the Technical University of Nova Scotia•
By Maria Somjen ........................................................................ 19
What's New in Print/Quoi de neuf? ........................................ 23
* Proceedings
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The Society for the Study or Architecture in Canada is a learned soci~ty devoted to
the examination or the role or the built environment in Canadian soc1ety. Its member·
ship includes structural and landscape architects, architectural historians, urban his·
torians and planners, sociologists, folklorists, and specialists i~ su~h fields as heritage
conservation and landscape history. Founded in 1974, .the ~1ety 1s cu.rrently ~e sole
national society whose focus or interest is Canada's bu11t enVIronment In all or 1ts
manifestations.
2 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC 17:1

A Note From the Editor
Note du redacteur
~he theme of the 1991 Annual General Meet­
.1 ing and Conference of the SSAC was "Architecture
on the Edge." Appropriately, it took
place in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, near the eastern
edge of the country. In addition to examining the
local architecture which lies geographically at edge
the of Canada, the conference dealt with architecture
which lies historically, structurally, and sociologically
at the periphery.
The articles which comprise this issue of
the Bulletin are based on papers presented during
the session "Women and Architecture." Although
women represent over half the nation's population
they have always been marginal participants in the
field of architecture. This session provided an opportunity
to bring forward a variety of historical and current
topics to examine women's architectural
activities in Canada. A historical scarcity of women
architects in this country might have been viewed as
an indication of a lack of material on which to base a
session, but there was no lack of interest in the subject,
and no lack of qualified people wishing to address
the topic at the conference. The three
speakers selected provided a thought-provoking
review of the topic through their presentations, and
in their persons as well.
Blanche Lemco van Ginkel is uniquely
qualified to give an overview of the history of
women in architectural practice in Canada. Prof.
van Ginkel's long and distinguished career practising
and teaching architecture in Canada, the United
States, and Europe enables her to bring her personal
experience and insight to bear on the subject.
Erna Dominey, who works with the Historic Sites
and Archives Service of Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism,
is pursuing a graduate programme of research,
focusing on a two-woman architectural firm,
Wall bridge and Imrie, active in Edmonton from the
1950s through the 1970s. And Maria Somjen, a
Halifax architect, has been involved in the groundbreaking
course on "Women and the Built Environment"
at the Technical University of Nova Scotia
since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Although the participation of women in
the architectural profession has historically lagged
behind other fields, recent years have seen a significant
increase in enrolment in architecture
schools and registration by architectural associations
across the country. There has been a parallel increase
in the attention given to the study of women's
roles in the production of architecture. This has encompassed
not only women as architects, but
women as patrons or users of architecture. Slowly
L
e th~me de I 'Assembl~e g~n~rale annuelle de
1991 et de Ia conf~rence de Ia SEAC portait
sur "L'architecture ~ un tournant". La conf~rence
s'est tenue ~ Baddeck, en Nouvelle-Ecosse, pr~ de
l'extr~mit~ est du pays; il s'agissait I~ d'un choix
appropri~ pour !'emplacement puisque le titre de Ia
conf~rence sugg~re que !'architecture a atteint un
point limite. En plus d'examiner I' architecture locale
qui est siture ~ une extr~mit~ du Canada, Ia
conf~rence traitait aussi de !'architecture qu'on
retrouve en ¢riph~rie, au point de vue historique,
structure! et sociologique.
Les articles con tenus dans le Bulletin de ce
mois-ci sont tir~ d'expos~s qui ont ~t~ pr~sent~s
Iars de Ia session intitul~e "Femmes et Architecture".
Bien que les femmes repr~sentent plus de Ia
moiti~ de Ia population canadienne, elles ont
toujours jou~ un r61e secondaire dans le domaine de
!'architecture. Cette session a permis de ramener ~
Ia surface une ~rie de th~mes historiques et actuels
permettant d'examiner les activit~s des Canadiennes
en architecture. Le tr~s petit nombre de femmes architectes
dans notre histoire aurait pu etre per

and surely (in the words of Blanche van Ginkel),
books, articles, exhibitions, and lectures have been
added to the ever-increasing body of knowledge of
women in the built environment. The result of these
initiatives, in simplified terms, has been a heightened
awareness of and appreciation for the role women
have played - often anonymously- in the architectural
history of Canada. This issue of the Bulletin
gives a taste of how far women have come in architecture
in Canada. It also suggests how much
their story needs to be documented and appreciated
-and how determined they are to continue to influence
the future course of architecture in Canada.
My thanks to Dominique Michel for translation.
Dorothy Field, Edmonton
Guest Editor
derni~res ann~es ont connu une hausse notable
d'inscriptions dans des ~coles et des associations
d'architecture A travers le pays. En meme temps, le
nombre d'~tudes portant sur le rl'Jle des femmes
dans Ia production architecturale a lui aussi
augment~. Ces ~tudes ne comprennent pas seulement
les femmes en tant qu'architectes, mais aussi
celles qui parrainent et utilisent !'architecture. Lentement,
mais sOrement (pour reprendre les mots de
Blanche van Ginkel), on a ajout~ des livres, des articles,
des expositions et des conf~rences au corps
grandissant de connaissances sur les femmes et
l'environnement bati. En termes simples, le r~ultat
de ces initiatives se r~ume en une sensibilisation accrue
et une appr~ciation du rl'Jie que les femmes ont
jou~- souvent de fa~n anonyme- dans l'histoire
architecturale du Canada. Le Bulletin de ce mois-ci
donne un aperc;u du chemin qu'ont parcouru les
femmes dans le domaine de !'architecture au
Canada. II rappelle que leur histoire doit etre
document~e et appr~ci~e; il rappelle aussi com bien
les femmes sont d~termin~es A continuer d'intluencer
le cours de !'architecture au Canada.
Merci A Dominique Michel pour Ia traduction.
Dorothy Field, Edmonton
R~dactrice invit~e
4
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
17:1

Slowly and Surely
(and Somewhat Painfully):
More or Less the History of Women
in Architecture in Canada
CANADA'S FIRST WOMAN ARCHITECT .
M iss E . M . Hill , of Toronto. who received the D e gr·ee o f B . A .Sc . fro m t hP
Unr v ~rs rty o f Tcu·n..,to. :~t the recent spccii11 Conv oci1 t ion.
Figure 1. E. Marjorie Hill, "Canada's First Woman
Architect." (Saturday Night. 12 June 1920, p. 31
[University of Toronto Archives])
By Blanche Lemco van Ginkel
17:1 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC 5

Figure 2. A three bedroom brick house designed by
Marjorie Hill. (VICtoria Daily Colonist, 1952 [Uniwtrsity
of Toronlo Archives])
View and Sunshine in Privacy
tltci::e ~"~ 'J
u~ o · 1 ·~ · J. "
w~•~•~ ; · ~
.
D••••>
1 ·o."W• II C.
T X Tomeo entered the profession of architecture in Canada very slowly and with great dif­
Y Y flculty. A$ a student in architecture at McGill in the 1940s, I knew that women had
not been admitted to the program until 1939. I attributed this resistance to admitting women
to architecture to the social climate of Quebec, where my mother could not sign a contract,
and where women had been disenfranchised until 1940. These, of course, were much more
fundamental issues. Women of previous generations had distinguished themselves as architects
in England and the United States: Sophia Hayden had graduated from the Massachussets
Institute of Technology in 1890; Ethel Charles had been admitted to the Royal
Institute of British Architects in 1898, albeit with difficulty; and Julia Morgan had established
a prestigious practice in California in 1920. So I assumed that Quebec was the anomaly in
Canada. I discovered, only much later, that although women had received a Canadian degree
in architecture since 1920, they experienced great difficulty in entering the profession in
Canada, and their numbers were negligible (only five women were registered in 1939).
Until the late nineteenth century, an architect learned his craft by apprenticeship
and there was no licensing of architects by an authorized body. I can find no record of a
woman working as an architect in Canada in the nineteenth century, though undoubtably
there were women designing and supervising the construction of buildings on their own account.
And, of course, pioneering women in Canada, particularly in the new West, worked on
the construction of their own homes.
The first formal education in architecture in Canada was offered in 1890 at McGill
University and the University of Toronto. In the same year, the associations of architects in
B
SSAC BULlETIN SEAC 17:1

Figure 3. An apalfment house on Fort Street in Victoria,
designed by Matjorie Hill in 1952. (University of
Toronto Archives)
Ontario and Quebec were the first to register architects. It was not until 1916 (by which time
there were five schools/ that a woman was admitted to a programme of architecture. In that
year, Mary Anne Kentner was admitted to the programme at the University of Toronto and
Marjorie Hill 2 to the University of Alberta. The former withdrew after two years for reasons
ofill-health. 3 The latter transferred to the University of Toronto in 1918 and received the degree
ofB.ASc. in Architecture in 1920 {figure 1).
A cursory examination of Marjorie Hill's career reveals much about the position of
women in the early twentieth century in Canada. After graduation, Miss Hill worked for the
Eaton's Department Store in Toronto in the interior decorating department. In January 1921
she moved back to Edmonton, where her parents lived, and applied for registration with the
Alberta Association of Architects. She was denied. It appears that a Mr. Burgess, who had
been her teacher at the University of Alberta and who "did not approve of women in architecture,"
was also one of her examiners. 3 She taught at an "ungraded Country School" until the
spring of 1922, when she gained employment as a draughtsman in the office of MacDonald &
Magoon, Architects. The projects on which she worked included the Edmonton Public ubrary.
In the fall of 1922, Hill decided to extend her knowledge in the field, and returned
to the University of Toronto for a post-graduate year in town planning. It is evident from
Miss Hill's accounts of her career that she experienced discrimination not only when attempting
to work in her chosen profession, but also in her studies. In 1984 she wrote:
When I went back to University of Toronto in the fall of 1922to study town planning I was under a worse cloud, mostly
on account of the enormous applause given me when I went to kneel before the Chancellor and partly because the
Albert.1 Architects Association did not want to register me and the then Minister of Education in Albert.1, also
University of Toronto alumnus, was so annoyed over it he put through the Legislature an amendment to the Profes·
sional Architects' Actio the effect that "any graduate of any school of architecture in His Majesty's Dominion shall be
admitted." It was a woman who spiked that by adding "arter a year's experience in an architect's office." Naturally, all
this did not go down well with (Chairman of Architecture) C. H. C. Wright 4 who was already prejudiced. He didn't
even come to Convocation 1920 when be bad 4 students graduating in architecture and it was left to Dean Mitchell to
shake my band and congratulate me before 11eftthe platform! 5
During the summer of 1923 Hill attended a course at Columbia University in New
York. She remained in New York, working for architect Marcia Mead until December 1924,
when she returned to Edmonton. She reapplied to the Alberta association and was accepted
as a registered architect in 1925. But she must have found the social climate for a woman in
architecture less inimical in New York than in Toronto and Edmonton, for in September
1925 she returned to New York to work for architect Kathryn C. Budd.
Miss Hill returned to the Edmonton office of MacDonald & Magoon in April 1928
but, as was the case throughout North America, the Depression severely curtailed architectural
work, and she left the office in 1930. Since it was impossible to find work as an architect,
and being a resourceful and independent woman, she applied her design skills to other
enterprises. She became a prize-winning weaver, taught glove-making, and produced greeting
cards for sale on a hand-press inherited from her father.
When her parents retired in 1936, Hill moved with them to Victoria. It was there,
during the spate of building which followed the Second World War, that her practice finally
flourished. Her work included several houses {figure 2), a motel addition, Fellowship Hall,
apartment buildings (figure 3), and a convalescent hospital for seniors. She was not
1 University of Toronto, McGill University, Ecole
Polytechnique, University of Alberta, and University
of Manitoba.
2 Esther Marjorie Hill was born 29 May 1895 in Guelph,
Ontario, and died 7 January 1985 in Victoria, B.C.
3 E.M. Hill to Anne Ford, 23 March 1984.
4 C.H.C. Wright was the first professor of architecture in
the School of Practical Science at the University of
Toronto, and Chairman of Architecture.
5 E.M. Hill to Blanche L van Ginkel, 3 July 1984.
17:1 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
7

Figure 4. E. Marjorie Hill (1895-1985), in later life.
registered in British Columbia until 1952; 6 either her Alberta registration sufficed, or the
value of her commissions was not great before that time. She practiced as an architect until
1963, when she was 68 {figure 4), but continued with great energy to weave, make woodcuts,
and produce various design works for sale until shortly before her death at the age of 89.
Notwithstanding that Marjorie Hill spent much of the early years of her career outside
the practice of architecture, she must have remained strongly engaged. Her academic
training was at a time when the University of Toronto remained immersed in the teachings
derived from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and when practice relied on a pastiche of borrowed
forms and decoration. Nevertheless, contrary to many of her contemporaries who continued
to design in this mode, Hill applied a social sensibility to her work and extolled the virtues of
sun, light, air, and space. Her modest apartment buildings are well-proportioned with a
straightforward grace and clarity of detail.
One might have assumed that with Marjorie Hill the barricades had been breached,
and that other women would have followed in swift succession. But by the end of the 1920s
only two more women had graduated in architecture, both from the University of Toronto.
In the 1930s there were 16 women graduates, representing 5. 7 percent of the total of 282
graduates in architecture from Canadian schools. These numbers should be seen in the context
of a sparsely-populated country whose architects had no recognition internationally and
little at home. During the era of great railway building and western expansion most major
buildings were designed by architects from Britain or the United States, and this tendency
continued, if to a diminishing degree, until the 1960s.
Resistance to women entering architecture was both overt and covert. Once admitted
to a school, women were subjected to subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination: there
were unfunny jokes and derogatory remarks in the classroom; their presence was ignored in
the studio, where instruction is frequently on an individual basis. Ramsay Traquair, the head
of the school at McGill, actively opposed admission of women as late as 1930 because of "the
very insufficient accommodation of our present classes." Furthermore, in a report to Principal
Sir Arthur Currie, Traquair gave the following reasons why it was "impracticable to
admit women":
1. Women are not admitted to tbe Faculty of Applied Science and tbe School of Architecture is an integral part of
tbat Faculty.
2 There are not provisions in tbe Engineering Building for tbe accommodation of women students, and it would be
an expensive matter to provide tbese.
3. At present tbe School of Architecture has a registration of forty, and tbere is no accommodation available for additional
students.
4. Much architectural draughting is done at night, tbe main drawing room being open until ten o'clock. The
responsibility for tbe maintenance of discipline in the evening is assumed by tbe students themselves. If women students
were admitted, it would be necessary to provide staff supervision during tbese evening drawing periods and such
supervision would require additional members of staff and put tbe School to extra expense for which it has no funds. 7
6 During an interview by David Hambleton, FRAIC, on
26 May 1984, Hill remarked: "tbe AIBC solicitor was
not at all nice and asked, 'how did you come to be
here?'" She also said tbat Fred Lasserre, director of
tbe School of Architecture at tbe University of British
Columbia, was on tbe e:umination committee. Lasserre
had written to me (about 1950) tbat he was opposed
to women teaching in tbe school.
7 Margaret Gillett, We Walked Very Warily (Montreal:
Eden Press, 1981), 319.
As was noted at the time, none of these problems was insurmountable, particularly
(given the expertise of the Engineering faculty) the plumbing shortcomings delicately
referred to in the second statement. It is surprising that Professor Traquair did not enunciate
the reasons most often cited for the exclusion of women: a lack of intellectual capacity and
physical strength. In any event, the admission of women was not seriously considered until
1937, when enrolment in the McGill school had fallen from 40 to 27 due to the Depression.
Women were finally admitted in 1939, the first being Catherine Chard and Arlene Scott.
Given the obstacles and general ill-will, it is perhaps to be expected that women
entering a school of architecture in these early years were unusually committed to their
course of study. At the University of Toronto, Beatrice Centner was awarded the Toronto Architectural
Guild Medal on graduation in 1930, and Pegeen Synge the Royal Architectural Institute
of Canada Medal in 1945. In the decade from 1980 to 1989 at the University of
Toronto, the proportion of major awards earned by women on graduation was marginally
higher than their 29 percent presence in the classes.
Architecture was one of the last professional programmes to which women were admitted
in Canadian universities, probably because the earliest programmes were in schools of
engineering (though enrolment did not increase substantially when architecture was transferred
from the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1923).
Women were accepted in medicine at Queen's University in 1880, and even McGill admitted
women to medicine in 1918, having already admitted women to the law faculty in 1911.
But schooling was only one of the hurdles on the licensing track. Prior to the
"registration examination," work experience or internship in the office of a registered ar-
8
SSAC BULLETlN SEAC 17:1

chitect was required. Apprenticeship without schooling, although lengthy, was and still is a
possible route to licensing as an architect. But finding a position in an architect's office and
gaining the required professional experience either as an apprentice or intern was at least as
difficult, if not more, as securing a place in a school. Until the late 1960s, the term "discrimination"
had limited currency and was seldom applied to women. The refusal of an office
to even entertain the idea of employing a woman could not be contested. Many women fully
qualified by a university to take the first step into the profession were denied employment.
Granted, there was very little work at all in architecture in Canada during the 1930s, but this
overt discrimination against women by architects' offices persisted through the boom period
of the 1950s.
There were, of course, exceptions to the prevailing attitude which excluded women
from architects' offices. Like Elma Laird, a few of the earliest women to be licensed as architects
did gain their credentials via the long term of apprenticeship. Nevertheless, even if
hired by an office, a woman often had difficulty gaining a broad range of experience. She was
frequently confined to work on domestic projects, particularly kitchens, and perhaps some
small schools, but not more complex buildings that required a sophisticated knowledge of construction
and engineering. And she was usually excluded from construction supervision,
which is where a great deal is to be learned. She also was likely to be excluded from consultations
with clients and contractors because it was assumed that they would not have confidence
in a woman.
If and when a woman finally did achieve her goal and was registered as an architect,
the social and political climate still placed her at a disadvantage with respect to her male
peers. The daily press may represent an unduly unsophisticated view of society, but one might
consider the following references to female architects- which presumably were acceptable,
since no one objected to them. In one report in a Toronto newspaper about Marjorie Hill's
graduation from the University of Toronto in 1920, the headline read: "New Trail Blazed by
a Varsity Girl," though the accompanying photograph of her convocation clearly showed a
woman of some maturity. I do not find a reference to a "boy graduate" in architecture, let
alone to a "boy architect," but the Canadian newspapers frequently referred to a female architect
as a "girl." Admittedly, the more sophisticated Saturday Night did identify Hill as
"Canada's First Woman Architect." 8 Then again, the Mail and Empire titled an article: "Miss
Marjorie's Plans." 9
In 1951, a Toronto newspaper described Barbara Harrison, who graduated from
McGill in 1947, as "up to her attractive ears, you might say, in the building business." 10 Even
in 1956, a Montreal newspaper carried the heading "Local Girl Architect Wins Award at
Vienna Congress,'' 11 and this referred to a woman who had been working as an architect for
eleven years and was an assistant professor of architecture at a university in the United
States. Apart from such condescension, there remained a general perception that women
were not equal to the task, at least in anything more than a single-family home. And if she did
gain the confidence of a client, there remained the scepticism of the conservative construction
industry, with an arsenal of weapons to undermine confidence.
It is a wonder, then, that Marjorie Hill did finally establish a practice of her own,
and that she weathered the Depression and other perils.
In the decades from 1920 to 1939, of a total of 420 graduates from architecture
schools in Canada, 19 were women. But by 1940, only two of these women were licensed by a
provincial association of architects: apart from Marjorie Hill in 1925, the Alberta Association
of Architects registered Margaret Buchanan, a graduate of the University of Alberta school,
in 1939. In this same period an additional three women were licensed, two having been educated
in Europe and one entering the profession via apprenticeship. Sylvia Holland, educated
in England, was licensed in British Columbia in 1933, and Alexandra Biriukova, educated in
St. Petersburg and Rome, was licensed in Ontario in 1931. Biriukova is credited with the wellknown
house for artist Lawren Harris at 2 Ava Crescent in Toronto {figure 5). Whether it
was because of resistance to this frankly modernist house in conservative Toronto, or because
of the Depression, she does not appear to have had additional commissions. 12 She trained as
a nurse specialized in tuberculosis at West Park Hospital, York, graduated in 1934, and
resigned from the OAA the same year. She remained at the hospital until her retirement in
the 1960s, and is mentioned in The Story of Toronto Hospital as one of the longest serving
tuberculosis nursesY Apparently, few in her later profession knew she had been an architect.
Elma Laird also registered in Ontario in 1931. Having a business college education,
she had worked for two contracting firms in Brant ford, Ontario, before serving an apprenticeship
with architect F.C. Bodley. 14 But she, too, was a victim of the Depression, and after
1934 worked as a secretary until her retirement in 1968.
8 Saturday Night, 12 June 1920, p. 31.
9 Mail and Empire, Toronto, 7 August 1920, p. 17.
10 Glebe and Mail, Toronto, 20 January 1951, p. 12
11 Montreal Star, August 1956.
12 Geoffrey Simmins, Ontario Association of Architects: A
Centennial History, 1889-1989 (foronto: University of
Toronto Press for the Association, 1989), 110.
13 Godfrey L. Gale, The Changing Years: The Story of
Toronto Hospital and the Fight Against T uberculo.ris
(foronto: West Park Hospital, 1979). I am grateful to
Dorothy Field for this reference.
14 Simmins, Ontario Association of Architects, 112
17:1 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
9

Figure 5. Lawren Harris residence, 2 Ava Crescent,
Toronto, built in 1931. The design is credited to
Alexandra Biriukova. (Photo: B. L van Ginkel, 1991)
By 1960, of the 2,400 architects registered in canada, only 30 were women. There
were only ten women among the 1,010 registered in Ontario and five women among the 669
in Quebec. However, Manitoba and Alberta each registered six women when the membership
in each province was only about 160.
It was not until the 1970s that women gained a recognizable presence among
graduates of the canadian schools of architecture. From 1970 to 1979 they represented 12
percent of graduates, and from 1980 to 1985 they were 25 percent. Consequently, it was not
until the 1980s that there was a meaningful increase in women's registration in the profession.
In 1960 women were 1.2 percent of all registered architects in canada; in 1985 they were 6.6
percent.
By 1990, women accounted for 7.7 percent of registered architects in Ontario, but
the proportion had increased to 16 percent in Quebec. Considering that there was not a
woman registered in Quebec until 1942, and the second was not registered until 1952 (by
which time all but the small maritime provinces had admitted women), this indeed represents
a dramatic change in the profession in Quebec. Signals of change had appeared in 1971,
when the first woman was elected to the council of the Quebec association, and two years
later, when the first woman to sit on the council of the Royal Architectural Institute of
canada was the representative from Quebec. Only Alberta had preceded Quebec's election
of a woman to a provincial association council (in 1966). In Ontario it did not happen until
1977.
Considering the high proportion of women now in public life in Quebec, it might be
reasonable to assume that the apparently higher regard for women architects in the province
is a function of the fundamental societal change of the "Quiet Revolution" in the 1960s.
There does seem to be a concurrence between the acceptance of women in architecture and
their acknowledgement as citizens. Apart from the Quebec story, one might consider that the
first school of architecture to accept a female student was in Alberta; that Alberta and
Manitoba in 1960 had by far the highest proportion of women among registered architects;
and that these two provinces, together with Saskatchewan, were the first to enfranchise
10
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC 17:1

women (in 1916). I speculate, too, on whether this more generous acceptance of women as
"persons" was due to the role that pioneering women had played in a tough territory.
I am reminded of the story of women architects in Finland. I do not have recent
figures, but in 1975 women represented 25 percent of the practicing architects, and in 1979,
43 percent of the students in architecture were female. The first woman received a degree in
architecture from the Polytechnic Institute in Helsinki in 1890, when Finnish nationalism was
gathering force. Finland had a high degree of autonomy during the period when it was a
duchy of the Russian Empire (1809-1917), and the nationalist movement was as much cultural
(particularly counter to 650 years of Swedish culture) as it was political. It was a movement
which belonged to the entire people, not just to an elite male group. Consequently,
women were enfranchised and could hold office as early as 1906, and today about one-third
of the members of parliament are women. In this social climate, a woman architect, Vivi
LOnn, was commissioned to design the central fire station at Tampere in 1908, and Elsa
Arokallio designed the Kauhava barracks for the Finnish army in 1923. 15
Architecture is a cultural pursuit and those who practice it-or are allowed to practice
it - reflect our culture, our mores, our attitudes, in Canada as elsewhere.
But numbers are not all- and distinction in the profession is ultimately more important.
It may be significant that the open competition in 1989 to design a new headquarters
building for the Ontario Association of Architects was won by a woman, Ruth Cawker.
Others have achieved distinction in recent years: Patricia Patkau of British Columbia, who,
with her partner, won the national competition for the Clay and Glass Museum in Waterloo,
Ontario, in 1982; Helga Plumb of Dubois/Plumb, who was awarded a Governor General's
Medal for Architecture in 1983 for design of the Oaklands apartments in Toronto; and
Brigitte Shim, whose work was featured on the cover of the prestigious Architectural Review
in April1991.
The only international institution in Canada devoted to architecture, the Canadian
Centre for Architecture, in Montreal, was founded by Phyllis Lambert, who also received a
Massey Medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as architect of the Saidye
Bronfman Centre in Montreal. The liveliest and most innovative Canadian periodical on architecture,
SECTION a, was founded and published by Odile Htnault. And 14 women have
now been elevated to the status of Fellow of the RAIC. So, despite the painful process and
slow pace, women surely are making their place in architecture in Canada, not merely in
quantity but with quality.
15 Profiles: PiOfleering W omm Architects from Finland
(Helsinki: Museum of Finnish Architecture, 1983).
I am grateful to Anne Ford for introducing me to
Marjorie Hill; to David Hambleton, FRAIC, for
interviewing her on my behaff; and to Mary Clarlr,
MRAIC, from whose as·)'llt unpublished studies of
women in architecture in Canada I obtained dllla on
Canadian schools.
Data on registration is from the provincial associations
of architecture. lnformaoon on the UniwJrsity of Toronto
is from the School of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture, UniwJrsity Archives, and Faculty of
Applied Science and Engineering.
17:1 SSAC BUl.l.ETlN SEAC
11

WALLBRIDGE
The Architectural Practice of Two
8 Y E R N A
12
SSAC BUUETIN SEAC 17:1

AND IMRIE
Edmonton Women, 1950-1979
DOMINEY
Figure 1. The Queen Mary apartments in Edmonton,
built between 1951 and 1953, were Wallbridge and
Imrie's first effort in private practice. (Photo: Mary
Bramley)
17:1 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
13

T .J" Tomeo have made great strides in the architectural profession during the course of the
Y Y ~entieth century. While the experience of Canadian women has certainly not been
easy, their numbers in this specialized field have grown substantially in the past thirty years. 1
The few who took degrees in architecture during the first half of this century struggled first to
gain entry, then acceptance into the profession. Once there, they had to fight simply to stay in
business. That the situation is no longer quite so difficult is in no small way due to the efforts
of those women who had the courage to enter that most un-feminine realm, the construction
industry. In Alberta, two such pioneering women were Jean Wallbridge and Mary Imrie.
Wallbridge and Imrie were the third and fifth women respectively to join the Alberta
Association of Architects, but the first in Edmonton to form their own architectural practice.
They were in business from 1950 unti11979, when Jean died at the age of 67. By far the
majority of their architectural projects were of a domestic nature: private residences and
apartment buildings, as well as both tract and row housing. This was typical of the experience
of women architects, as the literature on the subject makes clear. According to Gwendolyn
Wright, author of one of the first studies on women and architecture in North America,
Those few women who were able to uke part seldom challenged ... or competed with the men who dominated architectural
practice; instead they took up the slack where they could, performing jobs and concentrating on the services
which their male colleagues either put aside or treated only peripherally. 2
Mary Imrie (standing) and Jean Wallbridge, 1947.
(Alberta Recreation, Paries and Wildlife Foundation)
1 Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, "Slowly and Surely {and
Somewhat Painfully): More or Less the History of
Women in Architecture in Canada," in this issue of
the SSAC Bulletin {pp. 5-11 ).
2 Gwendolyn Wright, "On the Fringe of the Profession:
Women in American Architecture," in The Architect:
Chaplen in the History of the Profession, ed. Spiro Kos·
tof {New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 280.
3 Mary Imrie to Eric Arthur, 3 June 1954, Provincial
Archives of Alberta.
4 Frank Burlington Fawcett, ed., Their Majesties' Courts
Held at Buckingham Palace 1932 (London: Grayson
and Grayson, 1932), 115, 138.
A spattering of ''women's fields," namely domestic architecture and interiors,
evolved as areas of specialization where it was permissible for women to practice, since here
they were dealing with other women's needs. Wallbridge and Imrie's practice did indeed conform
to this pattern, as Mary Imrie herself observed in a 19541etter to Eric Arthur, her
former professor at the University of Toronto:
Our business is still providing a meagre living, although it is not so booming as last year. If only we got more bigger
jobs and fewer headachy ones, we would be considerably wealthier and happier. But that is probably one of the disadvantages
of being female. People will get us to do their houses, be thrilled with them and go to larger male firms for
their warehouses or office buildings. 3
There may be many reasons why they focused on domestic architecture, but these remain to
be explored.
Jean Wallbridge was born in Edmonton in 1912. She was schooled privately in Victoria,
Switzerland, and England. Before returning home, she was presented by Lady Cunliffe­
Lister to King George V and Queen Mary at their Third Court on 23 June 1932. 4 This would
seem to indicate a social position that would enable her to make career choices unavailable to
most women at the time.
She completed grade 12 at Edmonton's Victoria High School, then enroled at the
University of Alberta. She was one of four women to graduate with a Bachelor of Applied
Sciences in Architecture in the 27 -year history of the programme. Her teacher was Cecil Burgess,
a Scottish architect who had come to Edmonton in 1913 via Montreal, after having been
recommended by Percy Nobbs for the position of University Architect and Professor of
Architecture. Burgess taught his students an Arts-and-Crafts respect for materials and a
knowledge of the Classical orders.
In 1939, her graduating year, Jean was awarded a fourth in Class A of the Royal
Architectural Institute of Canada medals. Some of her student drawings are preserved in the
University of Alberta Archives. She took a Bachelor of Arts the following year, and on 6
February 1941 she was registered with the Alberta Association of Architects.
Her first job was with Rule, Wynn and Rule, a firm established by one of her
classmates, Peter Rule. Her next position was with the Town Planning Commission in Saint
John, New Brunswick, during World War II. She returned to Edmonton in 1946 to work as a
draughtsman in the Department of the City Architect and Inspector of Buildings, where she
remained until 1949.
Mary Louise Imrie was born in Toronto in 1918. She moved to Edmonton in 1921,
when her father, John Mills Imrie, became publisher of The Edmonton JournaL He encouraged
Mary in her interest in architecture and allowed her to design the family's lakeside
cottage when she was 16. Mary received her education in the Edmonton public school system,
completing high school in 1936. She took a ·secretarial course and then worked for a year
before enroling in architecture at the University of Alberta in 1938.
Upon hearing that the architecture programme at the University of Alberta would
no longer be offered after the retirement of Cecil Burgess, Mary applied to the University of
Toronto and was accepted into second year architecture in 1940. The summers of 1941 and
14
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC 17:1

1942 were spent back home in Edmonton, employed in the office of Rule, Wynn. and Rule,
who were on their way to becoming the most successful firm in the city. In 1944 she received
her degree, but stayed in Toronto to work with architect Harold Smith on hospital projects.
She then moved to Vancouver to work in the office of architect C.B.K. Van Norman. By the
end of 1944 she had returned to Edmonton, joining the Alberta Association of Architects on
7 December. 5
Back with Rule, Wynn and Rule in 1945, Mary draughted plans for schools, offices,
and industrial buildings. In 1946 she entered the office of the City Architect and Inspector of
Buildings, and worked there for four years. Although both she and Jean Wallbridge were
registered architects, the pair accepted positions as draughtsmen on civic projects. It seems,
however, that they were highly regarded by the city architect, Max Dewar. In 1947 he recommended
that they be given three months' leave to take a study tour of post-war reconstruction
and community planning in Europe.' City commissioner D.B. Menzies authorized the
leave, but did so reluctantly, insinuating that Dewar's office must be overstaffed for him to
release staff at the height of the building season.
Both women kept diaries and took photographs on this, the first of their many journeys
together overseas. These are now in the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Mary Imrie
wrote articles on their travels, which she submitted to the Journal of the Royal Architectural
Institute of Canada. 7 Their first contribution, "Planning in Europe," documenting the British
leg of the journey, appeared in the October 1948 issue.
The two women's contribution to their employer was not lost on the city architect,
who, in 1949, recommended that they be reclassified so that their wages could be increased.
He suggested that Miss Wallbridge be given the title "Technical Assistant in Town Planning"
and that Miss Imrie be known as "Junior Architect." In his letter to the commissioner, Dewar
wrote
Both these girls, being registered architects, are much more valuable to this department than would be a draughtsman
who would accept a salary of this amount I can assure you that it would be next to impossible to replace them with experienced
draughtsmen in this salary bracket 8
Further correspondence in the City of Edmonton Archives reveals that Dewar was unsuccessful
in his bid to pay the two women the wages of experienced draughtsmen, let alone
registered architects.
In the December 1949 issue of the RAIC Journa~ it was noted in the column
"News from the Institute" that the Misses Imrie and Wall bridge had resigned from their positions
"to carry out private researches in South America." They took a full year to make the
long drive there and back, and submitted an article on their travels, "South American Architects,"
to the Journal in 1951.
They were unable to return to their jobs with the city after their trip: Dewar had
gone into private practice. Wallbridge and Imrie decided to follow suit. "The girls," as they became
known, established themselves in an office in downtown Edmonton and began to look
for commissions.
As a result of their years in the City Architect's office they knew projects were often
submitted to the City Building Permits office without an architect's stamp. Mary Imrie found
the firm's first job by going to see her former co-workers and then following up the leads they
provided. 9 The Queen Mary apartments were three medium-sized apartment buildings of ten
suites each (figure 1). They were built between 1951 and 1953 for a consortium from Regina
of two dentists, a contractor, and a plasterer. The site was favourable for developers, located
north of Edmonton's downtown, and relatively low in price because it had originally been part
of the Hudson's Bay Reserve lands. Although not markedly different in appearance than
most walkups of the time, the Queen Mary apartments are spacious, convenient, and well
landscaped. They have been so well kept that, after forty years, they are still commanding the
highest rents in the neighbourhood.
From this beginning, the firm continued for nearly thirty years and undertook 224
projects. Of these, 67 were private residences. Most were in Edmonton, but there were a few
in Calgary, Red Deer, and Lloydminster. The firm designed 23 residential additions and alterations,
including garages, fireplaces, and recreation rooms- many for houses they had
originally designed -as well as five lakeside cottages.
Fifty of the firm's projects were apartments, mainly walkups but also row housing
and what are listed in their files as "garden apartments." These seem to have been relatively
inexpensive structures, for developer clients. Most were located in Edmonton but 11 were in
northern Alberta. The firm also designed tract housing for construction and lumber companies
in Edmonton. 10
5 Much of this biographical information on Mary Imrie
was compiled by Mary Clark for the 1986 exhibition
For the Record, which documented women graduates
in architecture from the University of Toronto.
6 M.C_ Dewar to the City Commissioners, 21 July 1947,
City of Edmonton Archives.
1 "Les Girls en Voyage," February 1958, pp. 44-46;
"Hong Kong to Chandigarh," May 1958, pp-160-63;
"Khyber Pass to Canada," July 1958, pp. 218-79.
8 Max Dewar to Commissioner D.B. Menzies, 8
February 1949, City of Edmonton Archives.
9 Mary Clark, "Architectural Scrapbook" (unpublished),
prepared for the exhibition For the
Record, University of Toronto Archives.
10 These companies included Alldritt Construction,
Maclab Construction, and Imperial Lumber.
17:1 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
15

Figure 2 (above). Side view of Wallbridge and lmrHJ's
home and office, Six Acres. The main living areas on
the ground floor and the offiC8S and spare b«Jroom in
the bllsernert face the ravine. (Provincial Archives of
Albelta)
Figure 3 (below). Ground floor plan of Six Acres. The
compact open plan with built· in furniture demonstrates
the simplicity and economical use of space that is
typical of their worlr. (Provincial Archives of Alberta)
v
~~~~~..-~"!:::~~1!!!!'!~~m- ': -- ----= ---- --- ·- 0 0 ~~
fUNd C.Uati !IM)U ) I. ; :
t - - ·
--,-- ~~ -:L -_ -_ ..-·'~
't
.,
CR.OUOo.ID rLOOIIl. !
i [ · & ·- .,
. te ' 'T
Late in their practice the firm designed three apartments for senior citizens in small
centres for the Alberta government's Alberta Housing Corporation. The only other projects
done for the Alberta government were three small town telephone exchanges (two were extensions
to existing buildings), and the Department of Public Welfare's Diagnostic and
Receiving Centre for young offenders in Edmonton, through the Department of Public
Works.
There are only 23 commercial projects listed in Wall bridge and Imrie's files. These
include two small office buildings and two office alterations, a machine shop, two warehouses
and an extension to one of them, the Alberta Seed Growers' plant and a later addition to it,
three stores, two alterations to stores, and one small shopping centre, all in Edmonton. Their
firm also designed a radio and 1V station in Lloydminster, a hotel in Lac LaBiche, two
motels and a restaurant in Jasper, and a burger drive-in in Edmonton. There was also a
Roman Catholic church, St. James, in Edmonton (with a later addition), and a small museum
made of logs, the Luxton, in Banff.
According to architectural colleagues of Wall bridge and Imrie, this concentration
on residential work differed markedly from the pattern of the typical architectural firm in Edmonton
at the time. As Roy Gordon observed,
I would think that most firms starting out would depend on house commissions to some degree but they would
18
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC 17:1

Figure 4 (above). Lo-floor plan. (Provincial Archives
of Alberta)
Figure 5 (below). Dining room and kitchen. The openbeamed
ceiling and the horizortal window between the
kitchen counter and cupboards are found in many of their
houses. (Provincial Archives of Alberta)
D
.II&.•CA'If'AT&D
.. •
•
D
........... CAL n
0
w-.T&&•~&
L.ow 1!. R.
?LOOR.
broaden their practice very quickly because house design was not a very lucrative practice. Domestic design doesn't
have to be unremunerative. It is in Edmonton because of the circumstances. The houses are small and people are not
prepared to pay you what it's worth for the design. 11
When asked why his firm didn't do domestic work, one successful Edmonton architect stated
flatly, "No money in it," and chuckled, "we couldn't charge what they were worth. They [the
clients] would waste your whole afternoon talking about a kitchen and then they'd change
their minds." 12 This is in direct contrast with what clients of Wall bridge and Imrie said of the
pair:
I think the one thing about them that architects or all professional people would do well do emulate was their ability
to combine business with pleasure. You didn't feel as if they were punching a time clock or charging you $40 apiece
for every phone call. 13
By all accounts, "the girls" were extremely conscientious about meeting the clients'
needs and designing houses that would "fit" and make them happy. Here's what another
client recalled:
I didn't want any hot shot architect telling me what I wanted .... There weren't any conflicts with them, they listened and
they advised ... and I was amazed at how they could produce a house that pleased us so well with so little instruction ....
II InTerview with Roy Gordon of Gordon Mangold
Hamilton Architects, 28 June 1991.
12 Interview with Gor,don Wynn of Rule, Wynn and
Rule, Architects, rt June 1991.
13 Interview with Mamie and Sanford T. Fitch, 21 June
1991. The Fitch family took occupancy in Aprill967.
17:1 SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
17

Fi(JUre 6. v-of the ravine and Notfh
Sas/attc'-17 River from the dining room. (Provincial
Archi'les of AJ~)
But it was really such a wonderful experience for us and we were so fond of them .... After 23 yean, I would hate to be
parted from the house. 14
14lnterviewwith Mn. Jean Ward, 20June 1991. Mn.
Ward and her late husband Henry moved into their
house in October 1968.
Wallbridge and Imrie's own home, which they began in 1954, will serve as an introduction
to their architectural style. In May 1957 they moved into the combined home and office,
named "Six Acres" after the size of the property. Originally just a weekend shack, they
built a large part of it themselves, including the window frames, and became, in Mary Imrie's
words, "half-decent carpenters."
As with many of their projects, the house was built on a river bank, taking full advantage
of the beautiful view (figure 2). The compact open plan with built-in furniture
demonstrates the simplicity and economical use of space that is typical of their work (fagures
3, 4). The open-beamed ceiling and the long horizontal window between the kitchen counter
and cupboards are found in many of their houses (figure S). The house's front elevation is unassuming,
as the main living area was located at the rear, oriented toward the view (figure 6).
Their office, located in the basement, had large windows because of the drop in elevation. On
her death in April 1988, Mary Imrie left Six Acres to the Alberta Recreation, Parks and
Wildlife Foundation.
While their architectural practice did not conform to that of most firms in Edmonton
at the time - they were hands-on, "studio" architects who specialized in domestic architecture
-contemporaries agree the two were spirited, talented, capable architects and a
credit to the profession in the province. In their careers Jean Wallbridge and Mary Imrie overcame
the obstacles placed before Canadian women architects. Wall bridge and Imrie's 30-year
practice demonstrates that success, on their own terms as well as their profession's, was possible-
if not easy.
Ema Dominey, a graduate student in M History at the
University of Alberta, is IIK)rlcing on a Master's thesis on
the Edmonton firm of Wallbridge and Imrie, Architects.
At this early stage most effort has been of a
•reconnaissance· nature: reading through the firm's
project files in the Provincial Archives of Alberta,
identifying and locating their buildings, conacting the
current Ownet3, and photographing as many projects
as possible.
Happily, many of the houses are still occupied by the
original clients, many of whom have been willing to
participate in an oral history project to gather more
data about Wallbridge and Imrie. And many of their
friends and colleagues have also co-operated,
providing valuable information impossible to obtain
through written sources.
18
SSAC BULlETIN SEAC 17:1

WOMEN AND THE
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
A course for students in the Masters of Architecture and Planning Program at the
Technical University of Nova Scotia, Halifax
1n 1984, a group of women consisting of architectural
students, practising architects, and local artists
decided to meet regularly to read articles about
art and architecture with a feminist theme. Each
week a different member of the group would suggest
a reading for discussion. It was from these grass
roots beginnings that the course "Women and the
Built Environment" evolved and became an official
entry in the calendar of the School of Architecture
and Planning at Technical University of Nova Scotia
(TUNS).
Having been asked to instruct the course,
my first plan of attack was to approach Sherry
Ahrentzen, a faculty member at the School of Architecture
and Planning at the University of Wisconsin
who had recently published an article about a similar
By Maria Somjen
course in Women and the Environment magazine.
Ahrentzen sent us an outline with the names of
others who taught similar courses: Rochele Martin,
Chris Cook, Susan Saegert, and Canadians Gerda
Werkele and Rebecca Peterson.
The TUNS course structure is similar to
others in that it provides a general survey of women
in the roles of creators, consumers, and critics of the
built environment. The objective of the course is to
create an awareness of the built environment as a
feminist issue. Although many references are
provided to the students taking the course, the main
texts are Women in American Architecture: A Historic
and Contemporary Perspective, edited by Susanna
Torre, and Redesigning the American Dream, by
Dolores Hayden.
Carolyn Wallace (centre) and
Maria Somjen (right) in
conversation with former student
Kathleen Robbins. (Photo: Paul
Toman, TUNS)
17:1
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
19

Students at the TUNS School of
.ArchitBcture and Planning
examine a model of the
conceptual design for the new
GST building, designed by Carol
Rogers, an architect with Public
Worlcs Canada. (Photo: Paul
Toman, TUNS)
The course is composed
of three parts, based on the roles
described above. In addition, an
introduction to the course surveys
the women's movement and
culminates with an explanation of
feminism as a discipline of study.
Carolyn Wallace and I do this
quick survey because we have students
who come from diverse
backgrounds: this introduction
attempts to put the students on
an equal footing.
The first part of the
course, "Women as Producers of the Built Environment,"
is a series of lectures and presentations by
students which surveys the unacknowledged role of
women in the production of architecture. Traditionally,
history and theory courses in architecture follow
a standard approach which deals with great men,
great monuments or great movements and totally ignores
the roles and contributions of women. When
American Modernism or the European movements
are analyzed, women- even those notable by virtue
of the fact that they worked alone, as was the
case with architects Julia Morgan, Eileen Grey, and
Eleanor Raymond - are ignored in most textbooks.
And when we look at women architects such as Lily
Reich, Denise Scott Brown, and Marion Mahoney
Griffin, who worked side by side with famous men,
their accomplishments are often obscured or discounted
because of their associations with these
men.
Historically, the design of domestic architecture
was considered a role for which women were
eminently suited. At the same
time, domestic architecture was
denigrated as not being "serious
architecture." For example, one of
the women designers most widely
mentioned in histories of architectural
design is Catherine Beecher,
who, though she worked to
redesign the american home (particularly
the kitchen) within a
domestic ideology based on ration-
Recent scholarship has
shown that women and
men seem to have
fundamental differences in
the way they perceive,
experience, and interpret
the built environment.
al principles, did not consider herself
an architect. In this first part
of the course we attempt to cover
a few individual women architects from various
backgrounds, a project which requires diligent research.
The second part of the course explores
"Women as Consumers ofthe Built Environment."
Recent scholarship has shown that women and men
seem to have fundamental differences in the way
they perceive, experience, and interpret the built environment.
The "man-made" environment embodies
patriarchal values and implies definitions of
the role of women in society. Two topics, "Women
and Housing" and "Women and Public Space," are
considered in this part of the course. Cooperative
living as a means for increasing women's options in
the domestic sphere was emphasized in the first of
these sections this year, and incorporated a criticism
of existing designs for housing as antithetical to the
emancipation of women. Cooperative utopias, both
theoretical and actual, in Canada, the United States,
and England were analyzed and criticized. We
studied such diverse projects as the Oneida Perfect-
20
SSAC BULLET1N SEAC
17:1

An exhibition of Women in
ArchitectJJre and Plaooing held in
NoWHnber 1991 at the School of
ArchitectJJre and Planning featured
the wotb of architects PIW/a
Costello, Sharon Fodo, T818Sa
Janik, and Carol Rogers; graduate
architects Jennifer Corson and
Brenda Webster; architecture
students Wanda Felt and Karen
Keddy; and planning student
Go/sa Soraya. (Photo: PIWI
Toman, TUNS)
ionist Community, working class
cooperative housing in Cape
Breton, and the communes of the
late 1960s. We also took field
trips to a Parent Resource Centre
in a public housing project and to
a newly constructed shelter for
battered women in a small Nova
Scotia community.
In ancient Athens there
quence in the field of criticism, but
also discussions on the shape that
architecture might take in
response to feminist values and
principles. In biology, psychology,
philosophy, and art we are used to
distinguishing between male and
female elements. In architecture,
as in other fields of science and
technology, principles have been
considered neutral with respect to
gender. Architecture dominated
by male values to the exclusion of
female values results in a diswas
a sharp division between the
public space of the polis (city) and
the private realm of the household.
It excluded from the city
centre women and those who did
not fit the definition of the ideal state of citizenship.
It is interesting to note that architecture based on
the classical Greek style has continued to be the architecture
of democracy and government buildings
up to this day, and that the public/private split still
serves to exclude women from the public sphere.
Public places still control women's lives, not only
symbolically, but also physically by their lack of
safety, transportation, and amenities, and their offensive
advertisements and alienation. One of the
most enlivening and controversial discussions in this
section occurred when consumer representatives of
the Grace Maternity Hospital planning committee
explained their structural isolation as a result of
being the only non-medical persons on the committee.
The final section of the course, "Women
as Critics," also deals with politics and theory. It offers
not only discussions about women such as Jane
Jacobs and Catherine Bauer, both voices of conse-
Architecture dominated by
male values to the exclusion
of female values results in
a discrepancy between the
social and psychological
needs of all people, and
between the planned and
built environment.
crepancy between the social and
psychological needs of all people, and between the
planned and built environment.
This past year we had an even number of
female and male students taking the course. This, in
combination with the diverse backgrounds of the students,
generates lively discussions, although the students
with stronger backgrounds in women's studies
generally participated more actively.
Originally, the course was listed under
Ideology and Architecture in the academic calendar,
and I taught the course by myself the first year. In
the subsequent years there was a course actually
called "Ideology in Architecture" taught by Carolyn
Wallace, in which she did one lecture on feminism.
For the last two years we have taught "Women and
the Built Environment" together, which makes it
less onerous for us, since we also work full time as
designers. It has also been less isolating for us, as
there are no full-time women members of the faculty
at the School of Architecture. We have attempted
17:1
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
21

to teach the course on feminist
principles by promoting cooperation
and the diminution of hierarchy.
This has resulted in students
bringing readings to us and
developing a camaraderie which
allows women students to express
some of the frustrations they experience
in a faculty which has no
women professors.
Students are required to
write four reaction papers, short
responses to the required readings
which might include useful personal
insights, links to other ideas, contradictions,
and similarities. The readings allow women to recognize
and discuss painful issues, such as sexist treatment
received during work terms. Each student also
Developing a camaraderie
allows women students to
express some of the
frustrations they
experience in a faculty
which has no women
professors.
conducts a major project in which
theoretical research and applied
analysis are undertaken. Some of
the topics by students have been
"A Look at Intergenerative Relations
at a Day-Care in a Senior's
Centre," "Women's Housing:
Shelter in a Patriarchal Society,"
and "The Issue of Control and the
Birthing Process and Conditions
for Nurses at the Grace Maternity
Hospital."
This year, in addition to
the "Women and the Built
Environment" course outlined above, and in conjunction
with it, we have organized an exhibition of
work by women architects and planners from the
local area.
22
SSAC BULlETlN SEAC 17:1

• The Architectural Theory of Vwllet-le-Duc: Readings
and Commentary, ed. M.F. Hearn (Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press, 1990). xvii, 290 p., ill us. ISBN
0262220377.
• Art and Architecture Thesaurus, by Toni Petersen
(New York: Oxford University Press and the Getty
Art History Information Program, 1990). 3 vols.,
1,087 p. ISBN 0-19-506403-8.
• Bright Future: The Re-use of Industrial Buildings,
by Marcus Binney (London: SAVE Britain's
Heritage, 1990), 128 p., ill us.
• Les forts de Ia pointe Uvy, par Yvon Desloges
(Ottawa: Environnement Canada, Service des pares,
1991). 73 p., illus. ISBN 0-660-93137-0. 4,95 $.
• Architectural Heritage: Traditional Mennonite
Architecture in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, by
Edward M. Ledohowski and David K. Butterfield
(Winnipeg: Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Recreation,
Historic Resources, 1990). vi, 90 p., illus. ISBN
0771108699. Free.
• America's Downtowns: Growth, PoliJics, and Preservation,
by Richard C. CoUins (Washington, D.C.:
Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation,
1990). 159 p., illus. ISBN 0891331778.
• Architectural I d/entities, by Yew-Thong Leong
(Toronto: Tectonic Union Press, 1991). ISBN 1-
89533-900-6.$10.00.
• In Search of Our Heritage: Resources for Understanding
the Built Environment Through VISUal Arts
(Intermediate/Senior Levels), ed. Carolyn Crosby (Mississauga,
Ont: Peel Board of Education, 1991). 161 p.,
illus., + 36slides. ISBN 1-550-38041-9. $50.00.
• Governor General's Awards for Architecture, 1990,
ed. Robert H . Stacey (Ottawa: RAIC and the
Canada Council, 1991). 112 p., illus. ISBN 0-919424-
12-0. $24.95.
• Les Prix du gouverneur general pour /'architecture,
1990, ed. Robert H . Stacey, trad. Brigette Caron
(Ottawa : IRAC et le Conseil des arts du Canada,
1991). 112 p., illus. ISBN 0-919424-12-0. 24,95$.
• PatkauArchitects: Projects, 1978-1990 (Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Fme Arts GaUery,
1991). 24 p., illus. ISBN 0-88865-284-4.$5.00.
• Competing Vzsions: The Kitchener City Hall Competition,
ed. Detlef Mertins and Virginia Wright,
with essays by Larry Richards et al. (Toronto: Melting
Press, 1991). 128 p., illus. ISBN 0-9694950-0-5.
$29.50.
• Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Architecture,
1990 (Halifax: Resource Centre Publications, Faculty
of Architecture, Technical University of Nova
Scotia, 1990). 44 p., illus. ISBN 0-929112-07-5.
$10.00.
• Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Architecture,
1991 (Halifax: Resource Centre Publications, Faculty
of Architecture, Technical University of Nova
Scotia, 1991). 24 p., illus. ISBN 0-929112-10-5.
$7.00.
• Construction Technology Information Sources (Ottawa:
RAIC, 1992). 220 p. $15.00.
• The RAIC Directory of Scholarships and Awards
for Architecture, ed. Timothy Kehoe, research by
Valerie Yates (Ottawa: RAIC, 1991). 95 p. ISBN
0-919424-14-7. $15.00.
• Identifying Architectural Styles in Manitoba (Winnipeg:
Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Recreation,
Historic Resources Branch, 1991 ). 69 p., ill us. ISBN
0-7711-0876-1. Free.
• La quincaillerie d'architecture de Place-Royale,
par Fran~ise Du~ (Qutbec : Les Publications du
Qutbec, 1991), xxviii, 408 p. ISBN 2551146232.
12,95$.
• Hidden Cities: Art and Design in Architectural
Details of Vancouver& Victoria, by Gregory
Edwards (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1991). 151 p.,
illus. ISBN 0-88922-287-8.$22.95.
• Foundations of Faith: Historic Religious Buildings
of Ontario, by Violet M. Holroyd (Toronto: Natural
Heritage/Natural History, 1991). 175 p., illus. ISBN
0-920474-64-0. $14.95.
• Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, vol. 4, ed.
Thomas Carter and Bernard L. Herman (Columbia,
Mo.: University of Missouri Press and the Vernacular
Architecture Forum, 1991). 312 p., illus.
$34.95US.
• A Place to Belong: Community Order and
Everyday Space in Calvert, Newfoundland, by Gerald
L. Pocius (Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia
Press/Montreal and Kingston: MeGill-Queen's
University Press, 1991). xx, 350 p., illus. ISBN 0-
7735-0805-8. $44.95.
• "Distant Memories, Faint Images: The Survival
and Adaptation of Acadian Housing in Maritime
Canada," by Peter Ennals, in To Build a New Land:
Ethnic Landscapes in North America, ed. Allen G.
Noble (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1992).
What's
new
•
zn
print
17:1
SSAC BULlETIN SEAC
23

Quoi
de
neuf
?
•
• Wayfinding: People, Signs and Architecture, by
Paul Arthur and Romedi Passini (Toronto:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1992). xiii, 238 p., ill us.
ISBN 0-07-551016-2. $65.00.
• Engine Houses and Turntables on Canadian Railways,
1850-1950, by Edward F. Bush (Erin, Ont.:
Boston Mills Press, 1990). 160 p., ill us. ISBN
1550460021. $35.00.
• The Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More: An Illustrated
History of Railway Stations in Canada, by Ron
Brown (Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press,
1991 ). 200 p., illus. ISBN 0-921149-84-0.
• Buying Wood & Building Farms: Marketing Lumber
and Fann Building Designs on the Canadian Prairies,
1880 to 1920, Studies in Archaeology, Architecture
and History, by G.E. Mills (Ottawa: National Historic
Sites, Parks Service, Environment Canada, 1991 ). 199
p., illus. ISBN 0-660-13801-8.$19.95.
• Parables and Other Allegories: The Work of
Melvin Charney, 1975-1990, by Alessandra Latour,
Patricia C. Phillips, and Robert-Jan van Pelt
(Montrtal: Centre Canadien d'Architecture, 1991).
214 p., illus. ISBN 0-920785-09-3. $42.50.
• Paraboles et autres allegories: l'czuvre de Melvin
Charney, 1975-1990, trad. et rtvision, Jacqueline
Cardinal et al. (Montr~al : Centre Canadien
d'Architecture, 1991). 214 p., illus. ISBN 0-920785-
07-7. 42,50 $ .
• The Architecture of Edward and W.S. Maxwel~ by
John Bland, Henry B. Yates, Ellen James, Rosalind
M. Pepall, Robert Sweeny, Irena Murray, Jeanne
M. Wolfe, and Peter Jacobs, preface by Pierre
Th~berge, intra. by Robert G. Hill (Montreal:
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1991). 191 p., illus.
ISBN 289192150X. $45.00.
• L'architecture de Edward et W.S. Maxwe~ par
John Bland, Henry B. Yates, Ellen James, Rosalind
M. Pepall, Robert Sweeny, Irena Murray, Jeanne
M. Wolfe et Peter Jacobs, preface par Pierre
Th~berge, intra. par Robert G. Hill (Montrtal :
Muste des Beaux-Arts de Montr~al, 1991). 191 p.,
illus. ISBN 2891921496. 45,00 $.
• Les Gratte-ciel de Montrea~ par Madeleine Forget
(Montrtal: Editions du M~ridien, 1991). 164 p.,
illus. ISBN 2920417711.
• Space and Revolution: Projects for Monuments,
Squares, and Public Buildings in France, 1789-1799,
by James A Leith (Montreal and Kingston: MeGill­
Queen's University Press, 1991 ). 384 p., ill us. ISBN
0-7735-0757-4. $60.00.
• Waterfronts: Cities Reclllim Their Edge, by Ann
Breen and Dick Rigby (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1993). 256 p., illus. $39.00US.
• Toronto Places: Elements of Urban Design, ed.
Marc Baraness and Larry Richards, photos by
Geoffrey James and Steven Evans, text by Barry
Callaghan, Austin Clarke, Katherine Govier, M.T.
Kelly, and Josef Skvoreckj (Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 1992). 108 p., illus. ISBN 0-8020-
2834-9. $50.00.
• Expwring Manitoulin, by Shelley J. Pearen
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992). 187
p., illus. ISBN 0-8020-6899-5. $18.95.
• Atlantic Architects: An Illustrated Directory
(Halifax: Resource Centre Publications, Faculty of
Architecture, Technical University of Nova Scotia,
1992). 96 p., illus. ISBN 0-929112-16-4. $15.00.
• A New Room for Architecture: Technical University
of Nova Scotia (Halifax: Resource Centre Publications,
Faculty of Architecture, Technical
University of Nova Scotia, 1990). 56 p., ill us. ISBN
0-929112-06-7. $12.00.
• Manitoba's Rural Heritage Architecture: A Direction
for the Future, by Edward Ledohowski [Master
of Arts thesis edited and abridged by Graham A
MacDonald] (Winnipeg: Manitoba Historical
Society, 1990). ii, 20 p., illus. ISBN 092195008X.
• The Experience of Place, by Tony Hiss (New
York: Knopf, 1990). xx, 233 p., illus. ISBN
0394568494. $19.95.
• Vanishing Vancouver, by Michael Kluckner
(North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 1990). 207 p.,
illus. ISBN 1-895099-24-2. $39.95.
• The Historic Houses of Prince Edward Island,
by H .M. Scott Smith (Erin, Ont.: Boston Mills
Press, 1990). 175 p., illus. ISBN 1-55046-024-2.
$24.95.
• Historical Sketches of London, by Nancy Z. Tausky,
ill us. by Louis Taylor (Peterborough, Ont.:
Broadview Press, 1990). ISBN 0-921149-49-2.
$19.95.
• Robin Ward's Vancouver, by Robin Ward
(Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour Publishing, 1990).
144 p., illus. ISBN 1-55017-030-9. $29.95.
• Repertoire des zones et des organismes
patrimoniaux du grand Montrea~ rM. Fran~is
R~millard (Montr~al: Htritage Montr~al, 1991).
241 p. ISBN 2920588192. 12,50$.
24
SSAC BULlETlN SEAC
17:1

• Montreal, son histoire, son architecture, tome 4,
par Guy Pinard (Montrtal : Editions du Mtridien,
1991). 450 p., illus. 29,95 $.
• Principes et criteres de restauration et d'insertion:
Le patrimoine architectural d'interit public au
Quebec, par Claude Reny (Qutbec: Les Publications
du Qutbec, 1991), viii, 120 p., illus. ISBN
2551146011. 14,95$.
• Muskoka Boathouses, by Jacqueline Carroll (Erin,
Ont.: Boston Mills Press, 1990). 90 p., illus. ISBN 1-
55046-042-0. $40.00.
• Les appartements: Repertoire d'architecture
traditionnelle sur /e territoire de Ia communaute urbaine
de Montreal (Montrtal: Communautt urbaine
de Montrtal, 1991). 460 p., illus. 18,00$.
• Les portes et /es portes cocheres; Les foyers et /es
cheminees; Les plfitres interieurs; Les planchers, /es
escaliers et /es boiseries interieures; L 'isolation
(Guides techniques no. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, Coli.
Maitre d'reuvre), par Odile Roy (Qutbec: Service
de l'urbanisme de Ia Ville de Qutbec, 1991). 1,50$
chacun.
• Charlevoix: Two Centuries at Murray Bay, by
Philippe Dubt, trans. Tony Martin-Sperry (Montreal
and Kingston: McGiU-Queen's University Press, 1990).
JN, 271 p., illus. ISBN 0-7735-07264. $29.95.
l
m
Canadian
Architecture
edited by
I Geoffrey Sirnmins
L ________ ____,
• Une ville de kx:ataires : Quebec au XVIIr siec/e,
Etudes en archtologie, architecture et histoire, par
Yvon Desloges (Ottawa: Environnement Canada, Service
des pares, 1991). 313 p., illus. ISBN 0-660-93445-0.
• Les chemins de Ia memoire, tome 2, par Ia Commission
des biens culturels du Qutbec (Qutbec:
Les Publications du Qutbec, 1991), 565 p., illus.
ISBN 2-551-14570-8. 99,00$.
Le tome 2 poursuit sa route A travers !'Ouest du
Qutbec. En plus de l'fle de Montrtal, le circuit
couvre les rtgions de l'Estrie, de Ia Monttrtgie, de
Lanaudi~re, de Laval-Laurentides, de I'Outaouais et
de I'Abitibi-Ttmiscamingue. En tout quelque deux
cent cinquante monuments, sites historiques,
archtologiques et naturels.
• Monuments to Faith: Ukrainian Churches in
Manitoba, by Basil Rotoff, Roman Yereniuk, and
Stella Hryiuk (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba
Press, 1990). ix, 197 p., illus. ISBN 0-88755-621-3.
$19.95.
• Outremont et son patrimoine : dix circuits de
decouverte architectura/e, par Pierre-Richard Bisson
(Editions Continuitt, hors strie numtro 2, automne
1991). 3,86 $.
• Documents in Canadian Architecture, ed. Geoffrey
Simmins (Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview
Press, 1992). x, 293 p. ISBN 0-921149-79-4.
$17.95.
• La maison de faubourg : L 'architecture domestique
des faubourgs Saint-Jean et Saint-Roch avant
1845, par Htl~ne Bourque (Qutbec: Institut
qutbtcois de recherche sur Ia culture, 1991). 199 p.,
illus. ISBN 289224157X. 22,00$.
• The Garden of Dreams: MacKenzie J(jng at
J(jngsmere, by Edwinna von Baeyer (Toronto: Dundurn
Press, 1990). 232 p., illus. ISBN 1-55002-080-
3.$39.95.
• Paving Paradise: Is British Columbia Losing its
Heritage? by Michael Kluckner (Vancouver:
Whitecap Books, 1991). ix, 217 p., illus. ISBN
1-895009-90-0. $22.95.
17:1
SSAC BULI..ETlN SEAC 25

• Houses of Snow, Skin and Bones: Native Dwellings:
The Far North (Architecture for Children), by
Bonnie Shemie (Montreal: Tundra Books, 1989). 24
p., illus. ISBN 0-88776-240-9. $12.95.
• Grand Hotels of North America, by catherine
Donzel, Alexis Gregory, and Marc Walter (Toronto:
McClelland and Stewart, 1989). 255 p., ill us. ISBN 0-
7710-2855-5. $75.00.
• More Victoria Landmarks, ill us. by Barry F.
King, text by Geoffrey castle (Victoria: Sono Nis
Press, 1988). 220 p., illus. ISBN 0-91920-397-3.
$19.95.
• Saskatoon Imagined: Art and Architecture in the
Wonderful City, by Elaine DeCoursey, Don Kerr,
Dan King, and Matthew Teitelbaum (Saskatoon:
Mendel Art Gallery, 1989). 64 p., illus. ISBN 0-
919863-44-2.
• Pioneer Buildings of British Columbia, by Rudi
Dangelmaier (Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour Publishing,
1989). 160 p., illus. ISBN 1-55017-012-0. $39.95.
• Collingwood: Historic Homes and Buildings, by
Laurel Lane-Moore, photos by Eileen Crysler
(Collingwood, Ont.: Blue Mountain Foundation for
the Arts, 1989). 112 p., illus. ISBN 0-9693992-1-9.
$22.95.
PERIODICALS:
• Music of the Eye: Architectural Drawings of
Canada's First City, 1822-1914, by Gary K. Hughes
(Saint John, N.B.: New Brunswick Museum and
RAIC, 1992). xii, 136 p., illus. ISBN 0-919326-35-8.
$19.95.
STILL IN PRINT:
• Portrait of a Profession: Landscape Architecture in
1988, by Moura Quayle, Neil Guppy, and Luc
Roberge (Ottawa: Canadian Society of Landscape Architects,
1989). 51 p., illus. ISBN 0-9694242-0-5. $3.00.
• Houses of Nova Scotia: An Illustrated Guide to Architectural
Style Recognition, by Allen Penney
(Halifax: Formac Publishing and the N.S.
Museum, 1989). x, 145 p., illus. ISBN 0-88780-
072-6. $12.95.
• "St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Toronto's
•cathedral of Presbyterianism'," by Janine Butler, in
Ontario History 83 (September 1991 ), pp. 169-192.
• "Schools for the 'Brave New World': R.AD.
Berwick and School Design in Postwar British
Columbia," by Rhodri Windsor Liscombe, in BC
Studies 90 (summer 1991), pp. 25-39.
• "Architecture and the State of the Nation," by
Phyllis Lambert, in City Magazine 12 (summer
1991), pp. 22-24.
• "Jewel Among the Temples: cardston's Mormon
Mecca Reopens After a $16 Million Restoration,"
by Terry Johnson, in Alberta (Western) Report 18
(24 June 1991), pp. 40-41.
• Architecture et plan d'urbanisme, dans Plan
Canada 30 (novembre 1990), pp. 10-45 (auteurs:
Yves Archambault, David Belgue, Doug Clark et
Gerald H. Couture, Jean-Paul Guay, Ray Spaxman,
Daniel Tranchida ).
26
SSAC BULLETIN SEAC
17:1

• Heritage preservation on the Prairies, in Prairie
Forum 15 (fall 1990), pp. 235-374 (authors: Stephen
Barber, Don Kerr, Frits Pannekoek, Mark Rasmussen).
• Restoration/renovation, in The Canadian Architect
36 (October 1991): Marine Building, Vancouver;
Pier Six, Toronto; Mormon Temple,
Cardston, Alta.; Judy Oberlander on renovating the
Marine Building; Claude Bergeron on mannerism
and post-modem architecture.
• "Acquiring Cartographic, Architectural and Engineering
Records," in The Archivist 17 (November/December
1990), pp. 21-22.
• "Heritage Planning on a District-Wide Basis," in
City Magazine 12 (winter/spring 1991 ), pp. 16-20.
• "Timothy Gardens: an innovative mixed-use
project enhancing Moose Jaw's heritage theme," in
Canadian Howing 7 (winter 1990), p. 29.
• "Constructively slamming Vancouver: famed architect
Arthur Erickson lambastes the look of his
home town, to nods of approval," in The Financial
Times 19 (W/UJ May 1991), p. 21.
• "Restoring British Columbia's Marble Palace," by
Alan Hodgson, in Canadian Parliamentary Review
14 (summer 1991), pp. 2-7.
• "Stained glass and stone tracery: the Gothic
Revival and the shaping of Canadian sensibilities,"
in The British Joumal of Canadian Studies 5 (1990),
pp. 78-98.
• "The Buildings of the Winnipeg-based Union and
Northern Crown Banks: A Glimpse Into Early
Twentieth Century Corporate Architecture," by
David Spector, in Manitoba History 21 (spring
1991), pp. 25-31.
• "Pioneer physician's 172-year-old home focus of
Ontario controversy" [Dr. Levi Perry homestead,
Woodstock, Ontario], by David Helwig, in CMAJ
[Canadian Medica/Association Journal] 144 (15
May 1991), pp. 1308-11.
Robin Ward"s interpretation of 587 West King Edward Avenue,
Vancouver, a Cots wold-styled cottage designed by architect
Ross Lott in the 1940s for builder Brenton Lea. See page 24.
(Vancouver Sun)
17:1
SSAC BULlETIN SEAC 27

THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF ARCHITECTURE IN CANADA
SOCIETE POUR L 'tnJDE DEL 'ARCHITECTURE AU CANADA
P.O. BOX 2302, STATION D!C.P. 2302, SUCC. D
OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P 5W5
ISSN 0228-0744