Maurice Desnoyers (1927 – 12 December 2022) was a French-Canadian architect and winner of the OAQ Medal of Merit and the Massey Medal. His projects include the

Autostade The Autostade (the English name Automotive Stadium was rarely used) was a Canadian football stadium in the Victoriatown neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec that stood at the north-west corner of the Cité du Havre sector of the Expo 67 site. It wa ...

, Musée de la civilization de Québec, and portions of the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

, among many others.

Early life

Desnoyers was born in 1927 in

Saint-Hyacinthe Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérég ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, sixth in a family of 11 children. His father was a baker. He attended

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and studied engineering and architecture, graduating in 1954.

Architecture career

In the 1950s he began his architecture career in Europe and worked as an associate on the UNESCO building in Paris. In 1957, he and André J. Mercure formed the firm Desnoyers Mercure & Associés. They renovated the Prince-Arthur Gardens in 1973, for which they earned the

Massey Medal The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) awards the Massey Medal annually to recognize outstanding personal achievement in the exploration, development or description of the geography of Canada. The award was established in 1959, by the Ma ...

in 1975. Other projects included converting the warehouses of Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph into condominiums, the former

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

aluminum smelter into a contemporary art center, and a restoration of the

Library of Parliament The Library of Parliament (french: Bibliothèque du Parlement) is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa ...

in Ottawa. In the 1970s, he designed the unique mining town of

Fermont, Quebec Fermont () is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway (Newfoundland and Labrador Route 500). It is the seat of the Regional Cou ...

on behalf of

Québec Cartier Mining Company Québec Cartier Mining Company was one of the leading producers of iron ore products in North America, now part of ArcelorMittal. The company was founded in the late 1950s by multiple Canadian and American investors, based in Quebec, Canada. The ...

. A single building ("Le Mur" or "The Wall") holds a majority of the town's life and serves as a massive windbreak for the rest of the town, which is battered by winter winds during the long Canadian season. Desnoyers frequently worked with

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible desi ...

, another noted Canadian architect.

Later life and death

Desnoyers retired in 2010. He died on 12 December 2022, at the age of 95.Décès de l'architecte maskoutain Maurice Desnoyers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desnoyers, Maurice 1927 births 2022 deaths Canadian architects People from Saint-Hyacinthe French Quebecers