McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Norbert Schoenauer
Fonds
532 architectural drawings. - 4.2 m textual records and photographs.
Norbert Schoenauer (1923-2001) was a Canadian architect and internationally recognized housing expert and author. He was born in Transylvania and studied in Budapest and Copenhagen. In 1959 he graduated from McGill with a Master of Architecture. He joined the faculty of the School of Architecture in 1960, and was appointed Assistant Professor in 1961 and Director on the early seventies. He was Macdonald Professor of Architecture from 1982 until his retirement from fulltime teaching in 1988, at which time he was appointed Emeritus Professor. His flagship course "The History of Housing" was by far the most heavily attended course in the history of the School.
The three volumes of his most famous book, 6000 Years of Housing were translated into many languages worldwide. His other publications include The Court-Garden House, Housing in Cities, University Housing in Canada, and many articles on Canadian architects, architecture and housing for the Canadian Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of Architecture, and other collective publications.
As architect and planner, Schoenauer participated in the design of a number of award-winning public projects, beginning with the Chomedey Civic Centre and the Confederation Memorial Building in Charlottetown in the 1960's, the Quebec Pavilion at Expo ' 67, and followed by numerous master plan and housing projects including such award-winning schemes as Montreal's Nuns' Island Community and the Town of Fermont in northern Quebec. He served a two-year term as Executive Director of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and, as the Corporation's Senior Advisor on Planning and Design, he continued to represent Canada on numerous missions for the United Nations and other international organizations worldwide.
The architectural material was donated to the John Bland Canadian Architecture Collection by Norbert Schoenauer.
The archive consists of drawings for planning and architectural projects, preparatory notes and visual documentation for Schoenauer's books and articles, as well as course notes, photographs, small sketches and research files on the typology of Canadian housing. The archive reflects the breadth and depth of Schoenauer's involvement with architecture, housing and planning in Canada; his profound commitment to teaching; and his labours as an author of a fundamental, and far-ranging text on housing as a sine qua non of civilized existence.