Christina Poznanska Perks, OAA, FRAIC (born 1935) is a Canadian architect known for her contributions to the public sector by managing the design and construction of Canadian Embassies. Throughout her career she has been an advocate for women's rights in the architecture industry. In celebration of the first woman president (Ellis Galea Kirkland) of the OAA Perks responded with "...Ms. Kirkland has moved from the usual reported role of woman as victim to an active shaper of the future environment. Hurrah!" She currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Early life and education

Born Krystyna Poznanska near

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-cen ...

, Perks left her home and moved to Montreal, Quebec in 1939. After graduating from

Montreal High School The High School of Montreal was an English-language high school founded in 1843, serving Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the area eventually known as the Golden Square Mile. It was less formally known as Montreal High School and from 1853 to 1870 was ...

in 1951, she began completing her bachelor's degree in architecture (B.Arch) at McGill University, finishing in 1957. While completing her degree, Perks spent her summer holidays working at architecture firms doing work such as drafting.

Career

By 1958, Perks, at age 23, had become a licensed architect. She then moved with her husband and two-year-old son to his home in Bermuda where she subsequently started her own practice since the only firm on the island did not hire 'girls'. Contrary to beliefs that construction was more suited for men, her architecture practice "flourished" and she completed a variety of projects. "I was grateful for not having been hired for some menial tasks as, clearly, my career in Bermuda was so much more satisfying than it would have been as an employee," she wrote later. After moving back to Montreal, Perks worked with the office of George F. Eber as Project Architect on two buildings, the Sermons From Science Pavilion and the

Alcan Aquarium The Montreal Aquarium, also known as the Alcan Aquarium (french: Aquarium de Montréal, Aquarium d'Alcan), was a public aquarium on St. Helen's Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was built in 1966 for Expo 67 and shut down in 1991. It reopened a ...

for the Expo 67. She then moved to

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 ...

and served on several senior-level government positions at Public Works Canada. Positions consisted of Director of Facilities Development for External Affairs, Senior Policy Adviser and Senior Project Manager. During her time there (1966–1970), she established the official Planning Section of the department of which she was principal. Starting a private practice in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 1972, Perks developed and planned large commercial projects before returning to Ottawa in 1975 to work for the Foreign Affairs Department once more. As Director of Facilities Development and later as Embassy Project Deputy Director, Perks was crucial in overseeing the design of Canadian embassies across the world. Some of her notable projects include the embassies in Tokyo, London, Beijing, Paris, Mexico City, Lagos, Riyadh, Washington, Moscow, and Belgrade. Her work has been described as the management of physical planning, design, and construction of buildings to support Canada's overseas operations. This includes the process of procuring embassy projects as well as the selection of Canadian architecture firms to provide a design proposal. After retiring from her work in the public sector, Perks continued to remain active in the design industry and founded a small architectural practice in Toronto with partner Sheila Penny named Perks+Penny (1992–1994). They received several commissions from Canada Post and private families. Around the same time, Perks also started acting as Registrar for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and continued to do so until 1997.

Notable projects

* Lestor B. Pearson Building in Ottawa, with WZHM Architects (1973). *

Embassy of Canada This is a list of diplomatic missions of Canada. Canada has an extensive diplomatic network maintained by Global Affairs Canada. Overview As a Commonwealth country, Canada's diplomatic missions in the capitals of other Commonwealth countries are ...

, Washington, D.C., with Arthur Erickson (1989) * Embassy of Canada, Beijing, with

Macy DuBois Gazell Macy DuBois M. Arch, P. Eng, PP- F RAIC, PP- RCA, FAIA (hon) (20 December 1929 – 9 November 2007) was an American-born Canadian architect who designed several landmark Toronto buildings. Early life Born in Baltimore, Maryland, DuBois ...

(1989) *

, Tokyo, with Raymond Moriyama (1991) *

, Mexico City, with Étienne Gaboury (1982) *

, Paris, with

Jean-Paul Viguier Jean-Paul Viguier (born 4 May 1946) is a French architect. He is considered one of the world's leading architects and one of the few French ones to work extensively outside of Europe. Early works Graduated from the École nationale supérieur ...

(1970)

Memberships

*Alberta Association of Architects (AAA), 1971–1975 * Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), 1969, Life Member * Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), Fellow 1978 * Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Associate * Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ), 1958–1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perks, Christina 1935 births High School of Montreal alumni Living people Canadian architects Polish emigrants to Canada Canadian women architects McGill University alumni