Maxwell Myron Kalman (May 30, 1906 – November 27, 2009) was a Canadian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. He designed over 1,100 commercial, residential, and institutional projects in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

before and after World WarII. He was noted as the architect of Canada's first

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

, the

Norgate shopping centre This is a list of small shopping centres (mostly neighbourhood shopping centres) in the island of Montreal. *A neighbourhood shopping centre is an industry term in North America for a shopping centre with of gross leasable area, typically ancho ...

, which opened in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1949.

Early life and education

Maxwell Kalman was the fourth child of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n immigrants to Montreal. His father, Ozias Kalman, worked as a general contractor. From a young age, Maxwell was enamored by the idea of becoming an architect. He graduated from the

Baron Byng High School Baron Byng High School was an English language, English-language State school, public high school on Saint Urbain Street in Montreal, Quebec, opened by Governor General of Canada Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy in 1921. The school was atte ...

in 1923 and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to take architecture courses at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

by night while doing temporary jobs by day. Returning to Montreal, he enrolled at the McGill University School of Architecture in 1927 and graduated in 1931, one of the first Jewish graduates of McGill’s architecture school.

Career

During his term at McGill, he

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

at the major architectural firm of

Ross and Macdonald Ross and Macdonald was one of Canada's most notable architecture firms in the early 20th century. Based in Montreal, Quebec, the firm originally operated as a partnership between George Allen Ross and David MacFarlane (known as Ross and MacFarla ...

. Although they promised to hire him upon graduation, the company was hard hit by the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and Kalman was forced to start working on his own, beginning in residential construction and renovations. By the mid-1930s he had developed a reputation for efficiency in design space and budget, and was tapped to draw up plans for many commercial, residential, institutional, and community projects. During World WarII he converted a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

into a facility for manufacturing components for "training aircraft and merchant-marine submarine detection" for the Canadian military. After the war, Kalman partnered with

real estate developers Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...

while continuing to work for private clients. The postwar years saw him busy designing economically-priced apartments and single-family homes, as well as upscale residential dwellings, to accommodate Montreal's postwar boom. In all, he designed more than 1,100 commercial, residential, and institutional projects.

Notable designs

Kalman is noted as the architect of Canada's first

, the

, in Saint-Laurent (1949), which was created to service residents of the larger Norgate housing complex, which Kalman also designed. The L-shaped mall and outdoor parking lot featured a line of small stores anchored by several large

anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...

s that would draw in business. Kalman's architectural and marketing concept was subsequently applied to the first shopping centre in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, the Westgate Shopping Centre, and other Montreal commercial centres. The Norgate housing complex was the first project invested in by the

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...

(CMHC) under the National Housing Act. Kalman also designed the Montreal suburb of

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

for the CMHC. Other notable projects in Montreal include the

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

-inspired

Workmen's Circle The Workers Circle or Der Arbeter Ring (), formerly The Workmen's Circle, is an American Jews, Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic justice, Jewish community and education, including Yiddish studies, and Ashkenazi Jews, ...

Centre (today the Sala Rossa), the Jewish People's School (today the College Français), and the Shelbourne Towers apartment complex (now Appartements Belfort). A number of his residential projects in Montreal have been added to the province's ''

Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec The Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory ( French: ''Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec'') is an online cultural heritage knowledge dissemination tool for the province of Quebec. The directory is maintained by the province's Ministry of C ...

'', including

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

properties located at 2825–2827 and 2789–2797 Willowdale Avenue.

Centennial retrospective

In honor of Kalman's 100th birthday on May 30, 2006, McGill University and the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

presented a retrospective of his architectural work from the 1930s through early 1960s, together with a recorded interview with the architect. The exhibition traveled to Côte-Saint-Luc for another public viewing from January 30 to May 31, 2007.

Philanthropy

Kalman fund-raised for

State of Israel Bonds State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, the

United Jewish Appeal The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

, and

Congregation Shaar Hashomayim Congregation Shaar Hashomayim () is an Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi synagogue in Westmount, Quebec, Westmount, Quebec. Incorporated in 1846, it is the Oldest synagogues in Canada, oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in Canada and the largest traditional sy ...

. He also supported McGill University and the Technion School of Architecture,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

, and

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

in Israel.

Personal life

Kalman married twice and had two sons, Lawrence and Harold; Harold D. Kalman is an architectural historian and author 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. Kalman died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on November 27, 2009, in Montreal, aged 103. He was buried at the New Jewish Cemetery in Ottawa.

References

External links

Partial list of projects in Montreal, Outremont, and elsewhere
''Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800–1950''
Visual archives for Kalman, Maxwell-Myron (4 images)
Bibliothèque d'aménagement, Université de Montréal {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalman, Maxwell M. 1906 births 2009 deaths Canadian men centenarians Canadian Jews Canadian philanthropists Philanthropists from Quebec Architects from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Jewish architects McGill School of Architecture alumni Canadian people of Romanian-Jewish descent 20th-century Canadian philanthropists Jewish centenarians