Blanche Lemco van Ginkel fonds

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Part of

• Fonds: Blanche Lemco van Ginkel fonds, 1970-1992

People

• Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (creator)
• Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (archive creator)

Title

Blanche Lemco van Ginkel fonds

Dates of creation

1970-1992

Form

• archives

Level of archival description

Fonds

Extent and Medium

• 2.28 l.m. of textual records
• 25 panels
• 22 photographic materials

Scope and Content

This fonds documents Blanche Lemco van Ginkel’s involvement in professional committees and associations, her attendance and participation at conferences, lectures, and juries, and her employment at the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture of the University of Toronto, where she was professor and later on its dean.

This fonds includes correspondence, programmes and scheduled activities, publications, schedules, information packages, notes, minutes, posters, papers, agendas, directories, clippings, studies, reports, etc., dating from 1970 to 1992.

The bulk of material is relatively to Mrs. van Ginkel’s activities with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Board, where were discussed architecture schools and their development, and with the National Capital Commission, where were addressed the architecture and urban planning of the National Capital Region, in Canada.

Reference Number

AP058

Arrangement

The nine boxes from the initial accrual (ARCON1993:0076) are organized by categories and subcategories of activity. The files are arranged chronologically.

This fonds is arranged in four series:

AP058.S1: Professional committees and associations (1970-1992)

AP058.S2: Conferences, lectures, and juries (1977-1990)

AP058.S3: Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Toronto (1977-1992)

AP058.S4: Papers, publications, and general correspondence (1944, 1977-1991)

Biographical notes

Born 14 December 1923, in London, England, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel received her Bachelor of Architecture from McGill University in 1945 and a Master of City Planning from Harvard University (1950).

Blanche Lemco van Ginkel with her husband H.P. Daniel van Ginkel founded the firm Van Ginkel Associates Ltd. in 1957. Among the commissions of the firm were the central area plan of Montréal (1957-1962), rehabilitation of the Old City of Montréal (1961-1964), circulation and urban design of Midtown Manhattan (1970-1972), master plan and design of Expo'67 and development of Pahang Tenggara, Malaysia (1969-1972).

Prior to founding the firm, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel had diverse experience in the fields of architecture, city and regional planning, and urban design in Canada, United States, England, and France, including planning assistant for the Windsor Planning Commission, in Windsor, Québec (1945); manager of the Regina City Planning Committee, in Regina, Saskatchewan (1946); contributor in the office of William Crabtree, architect (1946) in London, England, working on varied architectural projects and rehabilitation of Southampton; contributor in the office of Le Corbusier, in Paris, France, working on the design of the toit-terrasse, Unité d’Habitation, Marseille; and contributor in the office of Mayerovitch & Bernstein (1950), in Montréal, Québec, working on the design of houses, commercial and industrial buildings.

She held faculty appointments and was a visiting critic/lecturer at several universities including: The University of Pennsylvania (1951-57); Harvard University (1958, 1971); University of Montréal (1961-67, 1969-70); Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1966); McGill University (1971-77); Princeton University (1976-80); Director of the School of Architecture, University of Toronto (1977-80); Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at University of Toronto from 1980-82. She was also an active member of several professional associations and committees, among them the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Board, the National Capital Commission, the National Architectural Accrediting Board (U.S.), and Toronto Arts Week.

Blanche Lemco van Ginkel published architecture and planning work in the professional press. Her articles have been published in Canadian Art, Journal of the American Institute of Planners, Community Planning Review, Architecture Canada, Architectural Design, The Canadian Architect, etc.

Throughout her career, she received various honours and awards, including the IFHP Grand Prix for Film (1956), the Massey Medal for Architecture (1964), and the Queen's Jubilee Medal for Architecture.

Conditions governing access

• Access by appointment only.

Conditions governing reproduction

• For copyright information or permission to reproduce material from the collection, please contact the CCA (reproductions@cca.qc.ca).

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

• Gift of Blanche Lemco van Ginkel in 1993, 1996, and 1998.

Custodial history

The CCA acquired the Van Ginkel Associates fonds in 1988. Blanche Lemco van Ginkel latter donated a portion of her personal files to the CCA.

Archivist's note

• The initial accession was processed by J. Craig Babe in 1993. The data was entered in TMS by Mourade Dièye Gueye, in 1994 and later revised and standardized by Jennifer Préfontaine in November-December 2016. The additional accruals (ARCON1996:0023 and ARCON1998:0087) were processed by Jennifer Préfontaine in December 2016.

Credit line

When citing the collection as a whole, use the citation: Blanche Lemco van Ginkel fonds, Collection Centre Canadien d’Architecture/Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. When citing specific collection material, please refer to the object’s specific credit line.

Language of material

English, French

Related units of description

• The bulk of Blanch L. van Ginkel's fonds is held at the University of Toronto Archives. See also, held at the CCA, the Van Ginkel Associates fonds (AP027).