Barry Downs (architect)

Downs was born on June 19, 1930, in Vancouver, British Columbia. His mother was a homemaker while his father was a sales executive. He grew up in the West Point Grey neighborhood of the city and graduated from Lord Byng Secondary School. During his time at the school, he was introduced to Art Phillips, who would later go on to become a mayor of the city of Vancouver and also be one of Downs's clients. During his time at the university, he was influenced by the architectural and design themes of minimalism advanced by architects such as the German-American Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. == Career ==

Downs returned to Vancouver after getting his degree in 1954. He started out as an apprentice at Thompson Berwick and Pratt and Partners, a prominent architecture and design firm in the city. Downs received the Order of Canada in 2014 for his contributions to architecture. The citation specifically called his contributions to the West Coast Modernist style of architecture and his works that blended buildings and their surrounding natural landscape. He was also a member of the City of Vancouver's civic design and heritage panel. == Personal life ==

Downs married Mary Stewart (1931–2021) in 1955. The couple had met a few years earlier in Bowen Island, an island off the coast of Vancouver. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. Downs died on July 19, 2022, aged 92. == Select works ==

Sources: • North Vancouver Civic Center, North Vancouver, British Columbia • Britannia Communia Community Services Center, Vancouver, British Columbia • Lester Pearson College, Pedder Bay, British Columbia (collaboration with Ronald Thom) • Vancouver Library Square, Vancouver, British Columbia (collaboration with Moshe Safdie) • Campbell River Museum, Campbell River, British Columbia • Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia • Yaletown Roundhouse, Vancouver, British Columbia File:Vancouver (BC, Canada), Canada Place -- 2022 -- 1906.jpg|Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia File:Vancouver Library Square July 2004.jpg|Vancouver Library Square, Vancouver, British Columbia (collaboration with Moshe Safdie) File:YaletownRoundhouseExterior.JPG|Yaletown Roundhouse, Vancouver, British Columbia == References ==