Henry Sears (architect)
{{Short description|Canadian architect (1929–2003)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Henry Sears
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|FRAIC|RCA|OAA|size=100%}}
| image = Henry Sears.jpg
| alt = Portrait of architect Henry Sears in the mid-1960s
| caption = Sears in the mid-1960s
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|10|30}}
| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|3|19|1929|10|30}}
| death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| education = B. Arch
| alma_mater = University of Toronto
| occupation = Architect, planner
| movement = Modernism
| spouse = Doreen Sears (m. 1951)
| children = 2
| awards =
}}
Henry Sears {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|FRAIC|RCA|OAA}} (October 30, 1929 – March 19, 2003) was a Canadian modernist architect, and an urban and gallery planner. He was a founding partner of both Klein & Sears Architects and Sears & Russell Architects Ltd.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oaa.on.ca/images/docs/1316533964_PerspectivesSpring1998-1.pdf|title=Perspectives|date=1998|website=OAA {{!}} Ontario Association Of Architects}} His work centred around social housing development on a neighbourhood scale.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/04/11/the_rethinking_of_alex_park_public_housing_complex.html|title=The rethinking of 'Alex Park' public housing complex|last=Kidd|first=Kenneth|date=April 11, 2010|website=The Star}} It spanned Canada, the United States and Europe.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/a-magnet-for-architects/article20386759/|title=A magnet for architects|last=LeBlanc|first=Dave|date=August 22, 2008|website=The Globe and Mail}}
Career
Sears began his career in 1958, opening an architecture firm with Jack Klein.{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theglobeandmail/obituary.aspx?n=henry-sears&pid=189769507|title=Henry SEARS|date=March 20, 2003|website=Legacy.com}} The firm maintained close ties to Raymond Moriyama, with whom they shared an office that opened on the same day. The Sears family lived on Woodlawn Avenue in the neighbourhood of Summerhill, Toronto for some time, living alongside many other architects and academics on the street and in the area.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/jerome-markson-and-the-birds-of-tranby/article689776/|title=Jerome Markson and the birds of Tranby|last=LeBlanc|first=Dave|date=July 20, 2007|website=The Globe and Mail}}
As part of Sears & Russell Architects Ltd., beginning in 1987,{{Cite web|url=https://www.oaa.on.ca/oaamedia/documents/Perspectives%20V1%20-%201987-OCR.pdf|title=Perspectives|year=1987|website=OAA {{!}} Ontario Association Of Architects}} Henry Sears' work shifted focus to the design and planning of cultural institutions. The firm built a team of specialists to adapt to the many areas in which the partners now worked. The geographic reach of Sears & Russell began to shift as well, taking on new clients in the United States and Europe. This produced a balance of national and international work, strengthening Sears' presence abroad.
Throughout his career, Sears developed an architectural style. His primary material was brick,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/toronto/alexandra-park-redevelopment-brings-residents-into-the-planning-process/article32440076/|title=Alexandra Park redevelopment brings residents into the planning process|last=LeBlanc|first=Dave|date=October 20, 2016|website=The Globe and Mail}} influenced by the homogeneity of European communities that use it. This applied a modern approach to a traditional technique and style. Many of his projects had shared communal space such as paths or courtyards, deemed an "exemplary design solution." by James Murray of Canadian Architect, along with the placement of cars outside of the major arteries of the project or underground. This focus on community interaction and involvement was part of a movement based on the Defensible space theory. Using this approach, Sears designed Alexandra Park which, in the 1990s,{{Cite book|title=Toronto Architecture: A City Guide|last1=McHugh|first1=Patricia|last2=Bozikovic|first2=Alex|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|year=2017|pages=184–185}} went on to become the first self-managed public housing initiative in Canadian history.
Sears was named the third most interesting Canadian in 1978 as part of The First Original Unexpurgated Canadian book of Lists with the reasoning that
This Toronto-based architect is a brilliant theoretician and has taken his discipline to new heights, embracing sociology and psychology in helping others to design buildings and institutions which serve the soul as well as the eye.{{Cite book|title=The First Original Unexpurgated Canadian book of Lists|last1=Ondaatje|first1=David|last2=Brown|first2=Jeremy|publisher=Pagurian Press|year=1978|pages=37–39}}
Buildings
Curatorial and gallery work
Henry Sears contributed to the gallery design and curatorial approach of many museums around the globe. When the National Museum of Ireland was lacking display space, they called on Sears to lead the creation of a master plan for a new building on the Collins Barracks, Dublin grounds, along with the functional brief that would act as a guide to implement the change. He found "The challenge was to incorporate the technically demanding requirements of a contemporary museum into the existing historic context appropriately and sensitively." Sears then went on to develop the museum's exhibit strategy and the functional brief for its Irish folklife division. He described that "Working in Ireland seems to have opened a world of possibilities for the firm." Other building design of cultural institutions includes the curatorial centre at Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum, a partnership with Joe Somfay Architect Inc.,{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterlooregionmuseum.ca/en/collections-and-research/curatorial-centre.aspx|title=Curatorial Centre|website=Ken Seiling {{!}} Waterloo Region Museum|date=October 2020 }} and additions to both Whitby's Centennial building,{{Cite news|url=http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/Whitby/002451943p1.pdf|title='Major changes' part of Centennial facelift|last=Kowalski|first=Mike|work=Whitby Free Press|date=July 10, 1991}} and Mississauga's Benares Historic House, where a museum was established in 1995.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/8147_ClarksonBook_PartOne.pdf|title=Part One 1807-1850|last=Mississauga}} In Whitby, this new multi-story West Wing was part of a reconfiguration to house a museum and the Whitby archives and, in Sears' words, for the institution to "...play a significant part in the cultural life of the community".
Sears also played a role in developing a new curatorial approach at the Royal Ontario Museum in consultation with its staff. He consulted on gallery design at the museum{{Cite web|url=http://archive.macleans.ca/article/1982/11/8/snivelling-still|title=Snivelling still|date=November 8, 1982|website=MacLean's}} and taught the same subject at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Sears reported to the Museum of Vancouver and its H. R. MacMillan Space Centre in 1996, recommending serious structural reforms. This resulted in new management with increased oversight from the Vancouver City Council, along with greater input from indigenous peoples.{{Cite thesis|url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0087959|title=Examination of the systems of authority of three Canadian museums and the challenges of aboriginal peoples|last=Mattson|first=Linda Karen|website=The University of British Columbia|year=1997 |doi=10.14288/1.0087959 }} In the same year, he reported on the state of the Oshawa Museum as part of a facility study with the Canadian Conservation Institute{{Cite web|url=https://oshawaexpress.ca/counting-down-to-oshawas-big-day/|title=Counting down to Oshawa's big day|last=Flaherty|first=Dave|date=May 29, 2019|website=The Oshawa Express}} and the cultural facilities in the City of Hamilton.{{Cite web|url=http://www2.hamilton.ca/Hamilton.Portal/Inc/PortalPDFs/ClerkPDFs/Community-Services/2005/Jun28/Hamilton%20Master%20Plan%20Final.pdf|title=Parks, Culture and Recreation Master Plan|date=May 27, 2002|website=City of Hamilton}} Sears created master plans for both the Sharon Temple in East Gwillimbury, Ontario,{{Cite web|url=http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Assets/1+2015+About+Us/0.6+Public+Notices/5+Projects/CPPS+POH1+Pres.pdf|title=Civic Precinct Plan|date=November 6, 2017|website=East Gwillimbury}} and the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-07-20-1995201046-story.html|title=School building set for loft apartments|last=Gunts|first=Edward|date=July 20, 1995|website=THE BALTIMORE SUN}} He performed a feasibility study in 1986 at the [http://www.brucemuseum.ca/ Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre]{{Cite web|url=http://www.brucemuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/A2014.003.1-Krug-Bros.-Co.-Ltd.-series-1-inventory.pdf|title=Finding Aid|website=Bruce County Archives}} and a facilities study of the Kinngait Cultural Centre in 1990.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/linking-tourism-and-art-in-canadas-eastern-arctic-the-case-of-cape-dorset/3B1CED5237D7955371DF1C9C0C6C3E5E|title=Linking tourism and art in Canada's eastern Arctic: the case of Cape Dorset|last1=Milne|first1=S|last2=Ward|first2=S|date=October 27, 2009|journal=Polar Record|last3=Wenzel|first3=G|volume=31 |issue=176 |pages=25–36 |doi=10.1017/S0032247400024839 |s2cid=128818236 |url-access=subscription}} He designed permanent exhibition space at both the Nova Scotia Museum of Industry in 1993{{Cite web|url=https://museumofindustry.novascotia.ca/about/our-history|title=Our History|website=Museum of Industry|date=February 2013 }} and the McDonald Observatory.{{Cite web|url=https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/sites/default/files/VisitorsCenterArchitecture.pdf|title=Fact Sheet|website=McDonald Observatory}} Sears consulted with Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History,{{Cite web|url=http://www.weatherstonbruer.com/yale-peabody-museum-of-natural-history|title=YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY|website=WBa}} the Canadian Forces Communication & Electronic Museum at CFB Kingston,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bairdsculpture.com/projectsheets/military.html|title=MILITARY TOWER SCULPTURE}} the New York State Museum in Albany, and the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario.
Honours and awards
- Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC) (1971){{Cite web|url=https://raic.org/sites/default/files/book-of-fellows-2018.pdf|title=College of Fellows|website=The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.eraarch.ca/2011/jack-klein-and-henry-sears/|title=Jack Klein and Henry Sears|last=MacIvor|first=William|date=March 3, 2011|website=ERA}}
- Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts{{Cite web|url=http://rca-arc.ca/who-we-are/members/|title=Members|website=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts}}
- Member of the Ontario Association of Architects{{Cite web|title=Perspectives|url=https://oaa.on.ca/oaamedia/documents/Perspectives%20V2%20-%201994-OCR.pdf|website=Ontario Association of Architects|page=5|publication-date=Winter 1994|edition=Volume 2 , Number 1}}
- 2 Massey Medals for Architecture (1964 & 1967){{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-torontos-modernist-legacy-uncovering-the-massey-medals/|title=Toronto's modernist legacy: Uncovering the Massey Medals' architectural gems|last=Bozikovic|first=Alex|date=March 15, 2018|website=The Globe and Mail}}
- Canadian Architect Award of Excellence (1976)
- 2 Canadian Housing Design Council National Design Awards (1967 & 1985), 2 Honourable Mentions (1969 & 1976),{{Cite web|url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/schl-cmhc/nh2-44/NH2-44-1977-eng.pdf|title=Awards for Residential Design|website=Government of Canada|publisher=Canadian Housing Design Council}}
- Centennial Award (1967)
- OAA Landmark Winner (2009)
References
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Category:20th-century Canadian architects