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Macy DuBois, 77: Architect
Nov 13, 2007 04:30 AM
Brett Popplewell
Staff Reporter
In 1958, Macy DuBois came to Toronto as a young man with aspirations to change the city's skyline.
A native of Baltimore and still a student at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, DuBois had been chosen from among 500 architects from around the world as a finalist in the competition for the design of a new Toronto City Hall.
The 28-year-old's submission was ultimately not chosen, but the experience of competing on the world stage for a prime architectural gig changed his life.
"That experience convinced me to work in Canada, where Canadians and the media were clearly fascinated by architecture," he once wrote.
DuBois, the visionary behind many Toronto landmarks, died Nov. 9 of heart failure. He was 77.
Following the competition for City Hall, DuBois moved permanently to Toronto, got married, had four children and began two architectural firms.
As a Toronto-based architect, DuBois began designing houses in the city's expanding suburban areas as well as larger landmarks such as the University of Toronto's New College.
Though many of his most recognizable creations were first envisioned on his drafting tables in Toronto, they were often erected outside the city's limits. The Ontario Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal and the Canadian Embassy in Beijing stand as two of his crowning achievements.
What kept in him in Toronto, according to his son Mark – himself an architect – was a love for the city's proximity to nature.
"He loved the climate. He was a big fan of Scandinavian architecture and climate. He loved how you could go an hour north of Toronto and be among rocks and lakes and trees," Mark said.
Mark remembers growing up amid blueprints and drafting sheets.
"My parents used to joke that I was brought up in a bassinet under a drafting table," he said.
Mark doesn't describe his father as an architectural renaissance man, but says he should be remembered as "one of several architects in the early 1960s who brought contemporary architecture to Toronto."
DuBois met Helga Plumb in 1973 and the two became partners both romantically and professionally.
As an architectural firm, the DuBois Plumb Partnership worked on numerous schools and university projects, hospitals and banks, as well as the headquarters for the Toronto Emergency Services.
The patriarch of a family of architects, DuBois never picked favourites among his projects, but he won several awards including the Toronto Historical Board Award of Merit for his work on the Toronto Island Church.
His final creation was the Windsor Justice Facility in 2001.
Macy DuBois, 77: Architect
Nov 13, 2007 04:30 AM
Brett Popplewell
Staff Reporter
In 1958, Macy DuBois came to Toronto as a young man with aspirations to change the city's skyline.
A native of Baltimore and still a student at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, DuBois had been chosen from among 500 architects from around the world as a finalist in the competition for the design of a new Toronto City Hall.
The 28-year-old's submission was ultimately not chosen, but the experience of competing on the world stage for a prime architectural gig changed his life.
"That experience convinced me to work in Canada, where Canadians and the media were clearly fascinated by architecture," he once wrote.
DuBois, the visionary behind many Toronto landmarks, died Nov. 9 of heart failure. He was 77.
Following the competition for City Hall, DuBois moved permanently to Toronto, got married, had four children and began two architectural firms.
As a Toronto-based architect, DuBois began designing houses in the city's expanding suburban areas as well as larger landmarks such as the University of Toronto's New College.
Though many of his most recognizable creations were first envisioned on his drafting tables in Toronto, they were often erected outside the city's limits. The Ontario Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal and the Canadian Embassy in Beijing stand as two of his crowning achievements.
What kept in him in Toronto, according to his son Mark – himself an architect – was a love for the city's proximity to nature.
"He loved the climate. He was a big fan of Scandinavian architecture and climate. He loved how you could go an hour north of Toronto and be among rocks and lakes and trees," Mark said.
Mark remembers growing up amid blueprints and drafting sheets.
"My parents used to joke that I was brought up in a bassinet under a drafting table," he said.
Mark doesn't describe his father as an architectural renaissance man, but says he should be remembered as "one of several architects in the early 1960s who brought contemporary architecture to Toronto."
DuBois met Helga Plumb in 1973 and the two became partners both romantically and professionally.
As an architectural firm, the DuBois Plumb Partnership worked on numerous schools and university projects, hospitals and banks, as well as the headquarters for the Toronto Emergency Services.
The patriarch of a family of architects, DuBois never picked favourites among his projects, but he won several awards including the Toronto Historical Board Award of Merit for his work on the Toronto Island Church.
His final creation was the Windsor Justice Facility in 2001.
