The Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

It was not until the 1950s, that the needs of the post-war generation prompted a new era of design and construction. This coincided with a social and economic climate in Winnipeg that was conducive to innovation. The University of Manitoba School of Architecture had a new director, John Russell, who was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and retained strong links to that school and to “the east-coast American architectural establishment”. Many of the graduates from Manitoba decided to pursue graduate studies in Chicago, Boston and New York but returned to Winnipeg to practice.

By the 1950s the University of Manitoba had an “entire generation of students and teachers ... in place who understood what modernism was and what it implied, and who were able to handle its ideas and forms in a mature way.” (Kelly Crossman,1999) Winnipeg’s representative sample of architecture from 1945 to 1975 is largely the product of this strong modernist ethic in the University of Manitoba’s School of Architecture and the alumni who remained and practised in the city. Again, the lack of significant development pressure in the downtown has resulted in a considerable number of these buildings remaining.

Winnipeg was similar to most other North American cities in experiencing a major population boom in the 1950s. The expansion of both religious and educational facilities during that period, to meet the increased demands, resulted in an excellent collection of building designs that were both innovative and architecturally interesting.

A wealth of Winnipeg buildings (residential, commercial and institutional) from the 1950s and 1960s remain, however, development pressures are now threatening the buildings, through either “updating” or demolition.

Please enjoy the information about these buildings and landscapes. We hope you will be encouraged to explore them in person.