Charles Edward "Ned" Pratt (15 July 1911 – 24 February 1996) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

oarsman Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

and

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 ...

. Pratt competed in the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

in Los Angeles where he won a bronze medal in double sculls. In 1939 he joined the Vancouver architectural firm Sharp and Thompson, where he remained for the duration of his career. During his career he played an important role in bringing modern architecture to the Canadian west coast.

Early life and Olympics

Pratt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1921, at the age of 10. He attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

from 1930-1933 and participated in the

Men's Double Sculls in Los Angeles, with Noël de Mille. The pair won a bronze medal for Canada. In 1980, his Double Sculls partnership was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.

Career

Pratt studied architecture at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, graduating in 1938.Rossiter, Sean, "Vancouver's Towering Talent", ''The Georgia Straight'', January 4, 1996, p. 11. In 1939, Pratt joined the firm Sharp and Thompson, became a principal in 1945, and transformed the firm Sharp and Thompson, Berwick and Pratt and Partners into the largest and most active architectural firm in western Canada. The primary architectural approach of the firm, and of Vancouver as a whole, was to imitate the traditional

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...

of 19th-century Europe, but Pratt became an influential proponent of the relatively new clean-lined International Style of 20th-century architecture. In 1949, he incorporated an architectural manifesto for future West Coast homes into a high-profile exhibition at the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

entitled "Design for Living." His design of his own 1951 home in West Vancouver adhered to his manifesto and was one of the first post-and-beam structures to use floor-to-ceiling windows, a form he popularized on the West Coast.Cernetig, Miro, "Ned Pratt", ''The Globe and Mail'', April 4, 1996, p. A22 In 1952, his Tilden Drive Yourself Office, whose floor-to-ceiling sheer glass and exposed steel framework were radical for downtown Vancouver at the time, won a Massey Silver Medal. Pratt designed the 1954 Dal Grauer Substation, which became the first modernist building in the Vancouver's West End, and, in collaboration with artist B.C. Binning, devised a Mondrian-inspired grid of colours behind its transparent glazed facade for the benefit of passers-by. He then gained national fame as the partner-in-charge of the British Columbia Electric Company head office in downtown Vancouver, which upon its completion in 1957 was the second high-rise built in Vancouver, and the first since 1931. For this project, he again collaborated with Binning, who devised a porcelain mosaic exterior wall whose colours referenced the natural beauty and climate of Vancouver (green for the forest, blue for the surrounding ocean, black for the mountains and frequent dark skies). Pratt helped shape the careers of renowned architects

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 ...

, Fred Hollingsworth and

Barry Vance Downs Barry Vance Downs (June 19, 1930 – July 19, 2022) was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He was known for his contributions to West Coast Modern architecture and for his works that blended buildings with their surrounding natural landsc ...

and steered them and others towards a more rationalist and pragmatic design approach. He was highly active in the national design and beyond, serving alongside

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...

Ernesto Nathan Rogers Ernesto Nathan Rogers (March 16, 1909 – November 7, 1969) was an Italian architect, writer and educator. Biography Born in Trieste, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he graduated from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy in 1932. He is the cous ...

Eric Arthur Eric Ross Arthur, (1 July 1898 – 1 November 1982) was a Canadian architect, writer and educator. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand and educated in England, he served in World War I with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He emigrated to Canada in ...

, Sir

William Holford William Graham Holford, Baron Holford, (22 March 1907 – 17 October 1975) was a British architect and town planner. Biography Holford was educated at Diocesan College, Cape Town and returned to Johannesburg. From 1925–30 he studied archite ...

and

Gordon Stephenson Gordon Stephenson (6 June 1908 – 30 March 1997) was a British-born town planner and architect. He is best known for his role in shaping the modern growth and development of Perth, Western Australia. Biography Gordon Stephenson was born in 1 ...

as a juror on the 1958

Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...

international design competition, and championing the eventual winner, architect

Viljo Revell Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, ...

. In 1968, Pratt was appointed to a federal housing task force of six people led by Transport Minister

Paul Hellyer Paul Theodore Hellyer (August 6, 1923 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian engineer, politician, writer, and commentator. He was the List of current members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada#St. Laurent, longest serving member of the Quee ...

. The task force organized 25 public hearings in cities and towns across the country, beginning in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, to researching and report on inner-city traffic congestion, urban transit options, housing shortages. The committee was asked to come up with recommendations for financing costs, urban planning, and building techniques to improve the housing situation across Canada.Vancouver Province, August 31st, 1968, p. 18

Personal life

Pratt moved from Vancouver to Toronto in 1933 to study engineering at the

, but his classmate and future partner

Robert Berwick The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

convinced him to switch to architecture. He married Catherine Gordon Lang in 1937, and the couple had two children: Peter Whitney Pratt and Antoinette Lang Pratt. He later lived with Dorothy Jane (DJ) Boyce until his death in a traffic accident on February 24, 1996. DJ was critically injured but survived. During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force from 1942-45.

Works

* 1946: Pratt House, West Vancouver, * 1947: Saba House, Vancouver * 1948: Ridgeview Elementary School, West Vancouver * 1949: Craighead House, Vancouver * 1949: Vancouver Vocational Institute * 1950: Tilden Drive-Yourself Office, Vancouver (Massey Silver Medal; demolished 1972) * 1951: Pratt House, West Vancouver * 1952: War Memorial Gymnasium, University of British Columbia, Vancouver * 1954: Dal Grauer Substation, Vancouver * 1955: B.C. Electric Building, Victoria * 1957: B.C. Electric Building, Vancouver * 1961: Thea Koerner House (Graduate Student Centre), University of British Columbia, Vancouver

References

External links