Schoenauer, Norbert, 1923-2001

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.