John Cresswell Parkin (24 March 1922 – 22 November 1988) was a British-Canadian architect who practised from 1944 to 1987 and worked predominantly 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 ...

. In 1947, Parkin co-founded the firm John B. Parkin Associates with partner John Burnett Parkin, who was unrelated. John Cresswell served until 1970 as the firm's head designer. From 1970 until his retirement in 1987, Parkin operated his own firm, Parkin Partnership. Parkin is credited as one of the leaders in the development of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

in Canada during the post-war period.

Biography

John C. Parkin was born on 24 March 1922 in

Sheffield, Yorkshire Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

to Thomas Cresswell Parkin II (1886–1967) and Marie Louise Parkin (1892–1971). His parents were distantly related. Thomas was a chartered accountant with Parkin and Co., which had been established in the 1880s. In 1939, Parkin entered the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Harry Seidler Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the B ...

. Parkin took a job with the firm Marani and Morris, and Seidler with William Somerville. Shortly after arriving, Parkin met John B. Parkin. In October 1944, John C. left Marani and Morris to work with John B. The two Parkins decided to form a partnership but realized that the younger partner required additional design training. John C. had been offered several scholarships to Harvard. In January 1946, he left Toronto for

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and graduated a year later. In January 1947, both Parkins officially formed their partnership, called John B. Parkin Associates. The elder Parkin acted as head of the organization, and the younger acted as design chief. In March 1947, John B.'s younger brother, Edmund T. Parkin, joined the firm as a partner. A landscape architect by trade, his responsibility was handling contracts. The new firm modeled its business approach from that of the firm of the architect Albert Kahn, with clear divisions of tasks by department. The firm's first offices were located at 96 Bloor Street West, a building that was shared with the firm Mathers and Haldenby. After the firm outgrew this space, it moved to 648 Church Street, a converted house. In 1951, it moved again, this time to an office building on 717 Church Street. In 1955, the firm finally settled at an originally-designed office in the new neighbourhood of

Don Mills Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting " new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper. In 1998, North York, including the Don Mills c ...

, at 1500 Don Mills Road. Throughout the 1950s the firm acquired several large commissions including the Salvation Army National Headquarters, a new terminal at the Toronto Airport, and the Don Mills Shopping Centre. By 1960, John B. Parkin Associates had grown to be the largest architectural firm in Canada. On 1 January 1969, the firm merged with Smith Carter Searle Associates and became Parkin Architects Planners. In 1970, he left to form his own firm, which was called Parkin Partnership. The new firm won the 1976 competition for a new building for the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

although it was unbuilt. On 26 June 1948, John C. married Margaret Jeanne Wormith (1922–) of Toronto. Wormith was a 1945 graduate of the University of Toronto and also earned a Master of Arts in art history that year from Harvard University. When they met, Wormith was working at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

). The Parkins had three children (John, Geoffrey, and Jennifer) and lived in a home that John C. had designed in the

Bridle Path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

neighbourhood of

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

. He died on 22 November 1988 in Toronto. His records are held at the

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 ...

, in

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 ...

, as th
John C. Parkin fonds
and at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

's Canadian Architectural Archives as th
John B. Parkin/NORR fonds

Works

References

*Armstrong, Christoper. ''Making Toronto Modern: Architecture and Design 1895-1975''. Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2014. *Fraser, Linda; Michael McMordie; Geoffrey Simmins. ''John C. Parkin, Archives, and Photography: Reflections on the Practice and Presentation of Modern Architecture''. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2013.

External links

Finding aid for the John B. Parkin/NORR fonds
Canadian Architectural Archives,

Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid for the John C. Parkin fonds

, Montreal {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkin, John 1922 births 1988 deaths Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Companions of the Order of Canada British emigrants to Canada People from Toronto Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Members of the Order of Ontario 20th-century Canadian architects Canadian expatriates in the United States Architects from Sheffield