Barry Vance Downs (June 19, 1930 – July 19, 2022) was a Canadian architect and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

. He was known for his contributions to West Coast Modern architecture and for his works that blended buildings with their surrounding natural landscapes.

Early life

Downs was born on June 19, 1930, in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia. His mother was a homemaker while his father was a sales executive. He grew up in the

West Point Grey West Point Grey is a neighbourhood in the northwest of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is on Point Grey and bordered by 16th Avenue to the south, Alma Street to the east, English Bay to the north, and Blanca Street to the ...

neighborhood of the city and graduated from

Lord Byng Secondary School Lord Byng Secondary School is a Public education, public secondary school located in the West Point Grey neighbourhood on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It opened in 1925 and was named in honour of the then Governor Gener ...

. During his time at the school, he was introduced to

Art Phillips Arthur Phillips (September 12, 1930 – March 29, 2013) served as the 32nd mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 1973 to 1977. Prior to being elected to this post, he founded the Vancouver investment firm of Phillips, Hager & Nort ...

, who would later go on to become a mayor of the city of Vancouver and also be one of Downs's clients. After graduating, he enrolled in a commerce course at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, which he quit after two years. He then moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and studied architecture at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. During his time at the university, he was influenced by the architectural and design themes of

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

advanced by architects such as the German-American

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

Career

Downs returned to Vancouver after getting his degree in 1954. He started out as an apprentice at

Thompson Berwick and Pratt and Partners Thompson Berwick and Pratt and Partners is an architectural firm that was founded in 1908 as Sharp and Thompson. The firm played a substantial role in Vancouver and Canadian Architecture and began as a birthplace for several famous Canadian archit ...

, a prominent architecture and design firm in the city. During his time there, he was introduced to other architects, including

Ronald Thom Ronald James Thom, (May 15, 1923 – October 29, 1986) was a Canadian architect. He is well known for two works: Massey College and Trent University's riverside campus. Early years He was born in Penticton, British Columbia, the son of James ...

, Doug Shadbolt, and Freddy Hollingsworth, shaping his early views of West Coast Modern architecture. Themes of his work during this stage included moving away from design ideas of austerity. While he did not move away from the ideas of minimalism, he was introduced to the addition of "organic texture and form". In 1956, he took an architectural tour around the world with his wife, visiting landmarks including

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

's houses in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

, and the

Johnson Wax Headquarters The Johnson Wax Headquarters is the corporate headquarters of the household goods company S. C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin, United States. The original headquarters includes two buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: the Administ ...

in Wisconsin, before traveling to Europe to see

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

Unité d'habitation The ''Unité d'habitation'' (, ''Housing Unit'') is a Modern architecture, modernist residential housing Typology (urban planning and architecture), typology developed by Le Corbusier, with the collaboration of painter-architect Nadir Afons ...

residential buildings in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France. These radical architectural examples further influenced him towards modernist architecture. Downs partnered with Hollingsworth between 1963 and 1967 before starting DA Architects + Planners with Richard Archambault in 1969. Downs has been noted for advancing the use of understated exteriors allowing for a natural flow of space, which has since been a characteristic of modern architecture in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. In the 1990s, Downs was part of the team that redeveloped the site of

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

along

False Creek False Creek () is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown Vancouver, Downtown and West End, Vancouver, West End list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four ...

, converting it into the largest private development in North America at that time. Downs received the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2014 for his contributions to architecture. The citation specifically called his contributions to the West Coast Modernist style of architecture and his works that blended buildings and their surrounding natural landscape. He was also a member of the

City of Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

's civic design and heritage panel.

Personal life

Downs married Mary Stewart (1931–2021) in 1955. The couple had met a few years earlier in

Bowen Island Bowen Island (; ), British Columbia, is an island municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver, and within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust. Located in Howe Sound, it is approximately wide by long, and at its closest point is about w ...

, an island off the coast of Vancouver. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. Downs died on July 19, 2022, aged 92.

Select works

Sources: * North Vancouver Civic Center, North Vancouver, British Columbia * Britannia Communia Community Services Center, Vancouver, British Columbia * Lester Pearson College, Pedder Bay, British Columbia (collaboration with

) *

Vancouver Library Square Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

, Vancouver, British Columbia (collaboration with

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie (; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. He is well known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design throughout his six-decade career. His projects include cultural, ed ...

) * Campbell River Museum,

Campbell River, British Columbia Campbell River is a city in the Sayward Land District of British Columbia, Canada, on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the 50th parallel north along the important Inside Passage ship ...

Canada Place Canada Place, co-named Komagata Maru incident, Komagata Maru Place, is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is home to the Vancouver Convention Centre East Building, the Pan Pacific Hotels and Resor ...

, Vancouver, British Columbia * Yaletown Roundhouse, Vancouver, British Columbia File:Vancouver (BC, Canada), Canada Place -- 2022 -- 1906.jpg,

, Vancouver, British Columbia File:Vancouver Library Square July 2004.jpg,

, Vancouver, British Columbia (collaboration with

) File:YaletownRoundhouseExterior.JPG, Yaletown Roundhouse, Vancouver, British Columbia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, Barry 1930 births 2022 deaths Canadian architects People from Vancouver University of British Columbia alumni University of Washington alumni