Ernest Cormier OC (December 5, 1885 – January 1, 1980) was a Canadian engineer and architect. He spent much of his career in the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

area, designing notable examples of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

architecture, including the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

original main building, the Supreme Court of Canada Building 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 ...

, and the

Cormier House Cormier House (french: Maison Ernest-Cormier) is an Art Deco residence located at 1418 Pine Avenue West in the Golden Square Mile area of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Ownership It was built by architect Ernest Cormier in 1930–31 as his own resi ...

(his home in Montreal's

Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré'' , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, Neighbourhood , image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = ''Rave ...

Life and career

Cormier was born in Montreal, the son of a medical doctor, and he studied civil engineering at the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in Montreal. After graduation in 1906, he worked in the research department of the

Dominion Bridge Company Dominion Bridge Company Limited was a Canadian steel bridge constructor originally based in Lachine, Quebec. From the core business of steel bridge component fabrication, the company diversified into related areas such as the fabrication of holdin ...

in Montreal. In 1909, he studied at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, in the atelier of

Jean-Louis Pascal Jean-Louis Pascal (4 June 1837 – 17 May 1920) was an academic French architect. Life Born in Paris, Pascal was taught at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts by Émile Gilbert and Charles-Auguste Questel. He won the Grand Pri ...

. In 1914, he was the recipient of the Henry Jarvis Scholarship, awarded by the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

. Through its British ''Prix de Rome'', Cormier spent two years in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he studied the ancient works. Following his return to Paris in January 1917, he was employed by the engineering firm of Considère, Pelnard et Caquot, specialists in concrete, and he graduated as an architect of the French Government (DPLG). He was a professor at the École Polytechnique in Montreal from 1921 to 1954. After his death in 1980, he was interred in

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal.

Major works

Université de Montréal – Roger Gaudry Building

Cormier's major work is the central building of the

(now known as the Roger Gaudry Building) on the north slope of

Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the hi ...

. This huge example of the Art Deco style was built between World War I and the middle of World War II, and it has been kept in a nearly pristine shape over the decades. It is a composition of simple forms of planes and surfaces in successive relief, emphasizing vertical lines. The light buff vitrified brick has trimmings of Missisquoi marble. The only major destruction of his designs took place within the interior spaces. These changes occurred in the 1970s, when the great multi-storey hall of the central library was filled up with several smaller, single-storey rooms for the faculty of medicine and its library.

Université Laval – Casault pavilion

Another important example of Cormier's work can be found on another Quebec university campus, the Casault pavilion of

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

(named after the first rector of the university), familiarly known by students as the 'Louis-Jacques'. The design was originally started by the Benedictine architect monk

Dom Bellot Paul Louis Denis Bellot (7 June 1876 in Paris – 5 July 1944 in Montreal) was a French monk and modern architect. Biography He became an architect in 1900 having studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1902 he became a monk of the Benedic ...

but completed by Cormier after Dom Bellot's death. Plans were laid out in 1948 but only completed in 1960, it is a massive cathedral-like building, originally designed as Quebec City's ''Grand Séminaire'', which is particularly spectacular viewed from a distance along the impressive mall that runs along the east–west axis of the campus grounds. Despite an unfortunate renovation scheme in the 1970s, which gutted the chapel, filled in the magnificent enclosed courtyard and transformed the interior into an undecipherable labyrinth, the building has become the most recognized landmark of the second-oldest university in North America and home to Laval's faculties of Music and Communications, as well as to Quebec's National Archives (in the former church).

Rhode Island churches

Cormier also designed two important Roman Catholic Churches for the

Diocese of Providence The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence ( la, Dioecesis Providentiensis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872 and originally comprised the entire state of Rhode ...

, Rhode Island, USA. One of them, St. John the Baptist Church of

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

, has been placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. His other work as Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur, 666 Broad Street in

Central Falls Central Falls is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,583 at the 2020 census. With an area of only , it is the smallest and most densely populated city in the smallest state, and the 27th most densely ...

Cormier House

Cormier's own home, on Montreal's

Pine Avenue Pine Avenue (french: avenue des Pins) is an east–west street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This street serves as the dividing line between the downtown Ville-Marie borough and borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, and also serves as the northern ...

, is one of the finest examples of an Art Deco dwelling in the world. Former Canadian prime minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

purchased the building in 1979, and he lived there following his retirement until his death in 2000.

Supreme Court of Canada Building

Cormier is also responsible for the classic

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

-style Supreme Court of Canada Building (1939–40) in

Other commissions

He was a design consultant for the United Nations building in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Cormier designed

St. Michael's College School St. Michael's College School, (also known as St. Michael's, St. Mike's, and SMCS), is an independent, Catholic school for young men in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Basilian Fathers, it is the largest school of its kind in Canada ...

(1950) and Carr Hall at St. Michael's College (

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 ...

, 1954).

Style and legacy

In addition to showing great balance between the disciplines of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

in most of his buildings, Cormier also had great skills as a painter and illustrator. He left many renderings of his works, done in the planning stages. In 1974, Cormier was inducted into the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Jules Léger Joseph Jules Léger (April 4, 1913November 22, 1980) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 21st since Canadian Confederation. Léger was born and educated in Quebec and France prior to starting a ca ...

, and he received numerous honours and awards. The

Édifice Ernest-Cormier Édifice Ernest-Cormier was the second courthouse in Montreal to bear the name Palais de justice de Montréal. It was built between 1922 and 1926, and designed by architects , Charles Jewett Saxe and Ernest Cormier. It was the first major commissi ...

(which he co-designed), the

Quebec Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of Quebec (sometimes referred to as Quebec Court of Appeal or QCA) (in French: ''la Cour d'appel du Québec'') is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada. It hears cases in Quebec City and Montreal. History The Court wa ...

building in

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

, is named in his honour. In 2018, Cormier was named a National Historic Person, and the Ernest Cormier House and the Roger Gaudry Building (at the Université de Montréal) were designated National Historic Sites.Government of Canada Announces New National Historic Designations
Parks Canada news release, January 12, 2018

Exhibitions

''Trois architectes, trois quartiers : Ludger Lemieux (St. Henri), Ernest Cormier (Cité universitaire), Ernest Isbell Barott (St. Antoine)''
Montreal,

Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between r ...

, May 20, 1983 to August 19, 1983.
''Ernest Cormier and the Université de Montréal''
Montreal,

, May 2, 1990 to October 21, 1990.
''Sighting the Université de Montréal: Photographs by Gabor Szilasi''
Montreal,

, May 2, 1990 to October 28, 1990.
''Montréal Métropole, 1880–1930''
Montreal,

, March 18, 1998 to May 24, 1998.