Dimitri Dimakopoulos (born 14 September 1929 – 7 November 1995) was a Greek-Canadian architect. He was best known for having been involved in the design of several notable buildings in

Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal ( French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough of Vil ...

Early life

Dimakopoulos was born in Athens, Greece, on September 14, 1929. He grew up in Athens before emigrating to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1948. He continued his education at the School of Architecture at McGill University. During this period, he earned awards from Anglin Norcross and Hobbs Glass and designed several theatres and

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

s. As the final work during his studies, Dimakopoulos designed the foundations of the

Queen Elizabeth Auditorium The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, and thAnnex it is one of four facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres on behalf o ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1954.

Career

In 1955, he participated in the creation of the Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold, Michaud & Sise architecture firm, which changed names in 1970 to become ARCOP (Architects in Co-Partnership). This firm worked with Henry N. Cobb and Ieoh Ming Pei on the design of Place Ville-Marie, a landmark

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

. The firm later worked on other major projects in Quebec and the rest of Canada, including Expo 67, Place Bonaventure in Montreal, and the National Arts Centre 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 ...

, Ontario. In 1968, he created a new firm, "Dimakopoulos & Associates". The firm designed projects in Quebec City,

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

, Winnipeg and Hong Kong. From 1991 to 1992, alongside

Lemay & Associates Lemay or LeMay may refer to: People * Curtis LeMay (1906–1990), United States Air Force general * Dorothy LeMay, American "adult" actress * Harding Lemay (1922–2018), American teleplay writer and playwright * Harold LeMay (1919–2000), America ...

, Dimakopoulos & Associates designed

1000 de La Gauchetière 1000 de la Gauchetière is a skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is named for its address at 1000 De la Gauchetière Street West in the downtown core. It is Montreal's second tallest building. It rises to the maximum height approved by t ...

, the tallest building in Montreal.

Works

* 1955 - Queen Elizabeth Auditorium, Vancouver * 1961 - Centre municipal de Laval * 1962 - Fathers of Confederation Building,

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

, Prince Edward Island * 1962 - Place Ville-Marie, Montreal * 1966 - Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts, Montreal * 1968 - Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Montreal * 1972 -

Hôtel Le Concorde Hôtel Le Concorde Québec is a skyscraper hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It contains 405 rooms over 26 floors. Le Concorde is known for its revolving restaurant, Ciel! (formerly L'Astral), which is situated on the top floor of the hote ...

, Quebec City * 1974 - Université du Québec à Montréal * 1981 - Palais de Justice, Quebec City * 1985 - Alexis Nihon Plaza, Montreal * 1986 -

La Laurentienne Building La Laurentienne Building (French: Édifice La Laurentienne) is a , 27-story skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The building was designed by Dimitri Dimakopoulos & Associates for Marathon Realty, Lavalin and the Laurentian Bank. It is located o ...

, Montreal * 1992 - Pavillon des Sciences de la Gestion (UQÀM), Montreal * 1993 -

, Montreal

Awards and distinctions

* 1975 - Inducted as a Member in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts * 1985 - Inducted as a Knight in the National Order of Quebec

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimakopoulos, Dimitri 1929 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Canadian architects Greek emigrants to Canada Architects from Athens Architects from Montreal Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Knights of the National Order of Quebec McGill School of Architecture alumni