George E. Bemi
Encyclopedia
George E. Bemi is a Canadian architect
who practiced in Ottawa
, Canada
from 1955-2005. During his prolific career, he contributed over 300 buildings to the National Capital area, including significant projects such as St. Basil’s Church, the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library
, the downtown YM-YWCA, and the Ottawa Police Headquarters. His buildings are primarily designed in a Modernist or Brutalist
style of architecture, characterized by massive concrete forms, asymmetrical volumes, curtain wall
, honest materiality, and a play between solids and voids.
neighborhood in the north end of Winnipeg
, Canada. At the age of fifteen, he dropped out of school and took up odd jobs to help support his family. On the outbreak of WWII
, he enlisted in the Navy at only seventeen and served as a stoker
for two years. Although after returning from the war he had no plans to become an architect, he was rejected from the fire–fighting department because he was still too young to be accepted into the pension plan. He then approached the Department of Veteran affairs, an organization developed to help veterans re-integrate into society. Since, he had previously shown promise at drawing in school so it was suggested he become a draftsman.
The Department of Veteran Affairs offered a month-for-month education
program in which war veterans were entitled to one month of free education for every month served in the war. Grants were provided for those who wished to continue onto university
afterwards. Through this program, Bemi completed an accelerated high school diploma at the Ford Plant, one of the temporary schools set up to educate war veterans. He subsequently went on to study architecture at the University of Manitoba
, graduating in 1951.
boom and immediately established a contracting business, Associated Architectural Services. The service completed construction drawings for architecture firms that were not able to handle the sudden influx of projects. He then went on to work for Defense Construction Limited, a government organization formed in 1951 with the mandate to expedite construction of military projects due to the Korean War
. From there, he obtained a position with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a government organization established in 1946 to deal with post-war housing shortages. CMHC transferred Bemi to Ottawa where he continued to practice for the remainder of his career.
In 1955, he joined the Montreal
firm of Greenspoon, Freelander, and Dunn, as the architect in charge of their Ottawa division. Two years later, when the firm asked him to relocate to Montreal for the Jeanne-Mance
slum clearance project, he declined and established his own firm of Bemi & Associates. He continued his own architecture practice until 2005, designing over 400 buildings and garnering several professional awards. In 2000, he was inducted into the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
’s College of Fellows for his contributions to architecture in the National Capital region.
.
window was preserved from the Carnegie Library and incorporated into the foyer
of the new library. At the time of its completion in 1973, Canadian Architect wrote of the project: “In the middle of this urban desert, George Bemi’s Ottawa Public Library sits as an unexpected and welcome relief”. The white, precast concrete
stands in contrast to the surrounding glass office towers and preserves the identity of the library. Due to its compact nature it became the first building in North America
to lease its air rights, a controversial legal problem at the time. It is once again the subject of debate over its size. Critics of the library say it is too small, outdated, and inaccessible to function as the main library branch. While proponents of the building claim that it is Ottawa’s best surviving example of Brutalist architecture.
of Bemi, Pye, and Richards Architects Associated and was opened by Pierre Elliot Trudeau
in 1983. It was a tight design problem, bounded by a bridge to the South, Daly Street to the North, and the Rideau Centre
to the East. Situated on the former railway lands, the project was part of a revitalization initiative for the downtown core. The building itself was Brutalist style architecture, consisting of intersecting terraces of textured concrete. It was lauded for its integration into the site and the inclusion of public artworks, containing a mural
by the Canadian artist David Gerry Partridge. The Ottawa Congress Centre was demolished between 2008–2009 and a new Convention Centre, designed by Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (BBB Architects), is scheduled to open in 2011.
wings were prefabricated, detachable units that could be added to the hub as the school’s population increased. At the time, the Ottawa School Board
was expanding rapidly and many students were being taught in temporary, portable structures. The design was awarded the American Association of School Administrators
’ Educational Design Award for its innovative attempt to create flexible, portable classrooms that are simultaneously comfortable and aesthetic.
Champlain Towers (1959) O.A.A Design Award
St. Basil’s Church (1960)
Colonel By Towers (1960)
Firestone House (1960)
St. Bartholomew’s Church (1962)
Post Office in Carlton Place (1963)
Rhodes Real-Estate Building (1963)
Constitutional Hall 1963)
Sampan Restaurant (1964 ) O.A.A. Design Award
Virus Research Laboratory (1964)
The Ottawa YM-YWCA (1965)
Bell Canada Building Vanier (1972)
Rideau Valley Middle School (1973)
Headquarters for the CBC (Lanark Street) (1974)
Tartan Housing Project (1975)
Terry Fox Elementary School (1979)
Base Maintenance Building (1979)
Ottawa Congress Centre (1982)
Ottawa Police Services building (1983)
Hintinburg Community Center (1984)
West Carleton Secondary School (1986)
Sir Leonard Tilley Building (1987)
The Grace Hospital Addition (1987)
Bell Canada Regional Headquarter on Rideau Street (1990)
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who practiced in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
from 1955-2005. During his prolific career, he contributed over 300 buildings to the National Capital area, including significant projects such as St. Basil’s Church, the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library
Ottawa Public Library
The Ottawa Public Library is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and is the largest bilingual library in North America...
, the downtown YM-YWCA, and the Ottawa Police Headquarters. His buildings are primarily designed in a Modernist or Brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
style of architecture, characterized by massive concrete forms, asymmetrical volumes, curtain wall
Curtain wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
, honest materiality, and a play between solids and voids.
Early life
Born into a low income family in 1926, Bemi grew up in a working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
neighborhood in the north end of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Canada. At the age of fifteen, he dropped out of school and took up odd jobs to help support his family. On the outbreak of WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he enlisted in the Navy at only seventeen and served as a stoker
Stoker
A stoker is "one who stokes".Stoker may also refer to:* A fireplace poker* Mechanical stoker - a coal-feeding device on a steam locomotive...
for two years. Although after returning from the war he had no plans to become an architect, he was rejected from the fire–fighting department because he was still too young to be accepted into the pension plan. He then approached the Department of Veteran affairs, an organization developed to help veterans re-integrate into society. Since, he had previously shown promise at drawing in school so it was suggested he become a draftsman.
The Department of Veteran Affairs offered a month-for-month education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
program in which war veterans were entitled to one month of free education for every month served in the war. Grants were provided for those who wished to continue onto university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
afterwards. Through this program, Bemi completed an accelerated high school diploma at the Ford Plant, one of the temporary schools set up to educate war veterans. He subsequently went on to study architecture at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
, graduating in 1951.
Career
Bemi emerged from university during the post-war constructionConstruction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
boom and immediately established a contracting business, Associated Architectural Services. The service completed construction drawings for architecture firms that were not able to handle the sudden influx of projects. He then went on to work for Defense Construction Limited, a government organization formed in 1951 with the mandate to expedite construction of military projects due to the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. From there, he obtained a position with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a government organization established in 1946 to deal with post-war housing shortages. CMHC transferred Bemi to Ottawa where he continued to practice for the remainder of his career.
In 1955, he joined the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
firm of Greenspoon, Freelander, and Dunn, as the architect in charge of their Ottawa division. Two years later, when the firm asked him to relocate to Montreal for the Jeanne-Mance
Jeanne-Mance (provincial electoral district)
Jeanne-Mance was a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. The district located in the Montreal region was formed in 1966 from parts of Montreal-Jeanne-Mance which existed from 1939 to 1966. It became part of Jeanne-Mance—Viger in 2003...
slum clearance project, he declined and established his own firm of Bemi & Associates. He continued his own architecture practice until 2005, designing over 400 buildings and garnering several professional awards. In 2000, he was inducted into the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada , founded in 1907, is a Canadian association representing over 3,600 architects, and faculty and graduates of Canadian Schools of Architecture.RAIC is the voice for architecture and its practice in Canada...
’s College of Fellows for his contributions to architecture in the National Capital region.
Architectural Works
George E. Bemi’s earlier works were primarily Modernist buildings, but as his firm matured it evolved a Brutalist style of architecture. Projects such as Sampan Restaurant and Champlain Towers, which both won Ontario Architecture Association awards, exhibit strong modernist qualities: an exposed structure, a minimal and refined palette of materials, a lack of ornamentation, and a grid system. Later works reflect more expressive characteristics of the Brutalist style. The firm’s more important government commissions, including the Ottawa Congress Centre and the Ottawa Downtown Library, were part of this later body of work. These projects established Bemi & Associates as one of the leading architecture firms practicing in the National Capital region at the time.St. Basil’s Church 1960
In 1959, Bemi & Associates hired Tim Murray and from 1960-2 the firm became Bemi, Murray & Associates. In 1960, the firm completed its first major recognized work, St. Basil’s Roman Catholic Church. The intimate, circular design fit seating for 700 people within 70 feet of the alter. Due to the close nature of the church, an acoustical study was done to limit echoing. As a result of the study’s recommendations, the unique form of the church emerged. The design consisted of undulating walls topped by a thin-shelled concrete dome, sunken so that its centre point lay below grade. The most innovative aspect of the design was that the priest faced the congregation, six years before this was approved by the Second Vatican CouncilSecond Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
.
Ottawa Public Library Main Branch
The Ottawa Downtown Library is a concrete, sculptural, Brutalist building and was the firm Bemi & Associates’ most notable project. The building replaced the neo-classic Carnegie Library that was demolished due to unstable soil conditions. A 10-foot high stained glassStained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window was preserved from the Carnegie Library and incorporated into the foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
of the new library. At the time of its completion in 1973, Canadian Architect wrote of the project: “In the middle of this urban desert, George Bemi’s Ottawa Public Library sits as an unexpected and welcome relief”. The white, precast concrete
Precast concrete
By producing precast concrete in a controlled environment , the precast concrete is afforded the opportunity to properly cure and be closely monitored by plant employees. Utilizing a Precast Concrete system offers many potential advantages over site casting of concrete...
stands in contrast to the surrounding glass office towers and preserves the identity of the library. Due to its compact nature it became the first building in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to lease its air rights, a controversial legal problem at the time. It is once again the subject of debate over its size. Critics of the library say it is too small, outdated, and inaccessible to function as the main library branch. While proponents of the building claim that it is Ottawa’s best surviving example of Brutalist architecture.
Ottawa Congress Centre
The Ottawa Congress Centre was designed by a consortiumConsortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
of Bemi, Pye, and Richards Architects Associated and was opened by Pierre Elliot Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
in 1983. It was a tight design problem, bounded by a bridge to the South, Daly Street to the North, and the Rideau Centre
Rideau Centre
Rideau Centre is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street , the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie King Bridge, and Nicholas Street....
to the East. Situated on the former railway lands, the project was part of a revitalization initiative for the downtown core. The building itself was Brutalist style architecture, consisting of intersecting terraces of textured concrete. It was lauded for its integration into the site and the inclusion of public artworks, containing a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
by the Canadian artist David Gerry Partridge. The Ottawa Congress Centre was demolished between 2008–2009 and a new Convention Centre, designed by Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (BBB Architects), is scheduled to open in 2011.
Terry Fox Elementary School
Designed in 1979, the Terry Fox Elementary School was an exploration in plug-in, plug-out architecture. The main hub of the school was fixed, while the classroomClassroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
wings were prefabricated, detachable units that could be added to the hub as the school’s population increased. At the time, the Ottawa School Board
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board refers to both the institution responsible for the operation of all English public schools in the city of Ottawa, Ontario and its governing body. Like most school boards, the OCDSB is administered by a group of elected trustees and one director selected...
was expanding rapidly and many students were being taught in temporary, portable structures. The design was awarded the American Association of School Administrators
American Association of School Administrators
The American Association of School Administrators , founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 14,000 educational leaders across the United States. AASA’s members are chief executive officers and senior-level administrators from school districts in every region of the country,...
’ Educational Design Award for its innovative attempt to create flexible, portable classrooms that are simultaneously comfortable and aesthetic.
Other Notable Projects
(Listed chronologically)Champlain Towers (1959) O.A.A Design Award
St. Basil’s Church (1960)
Colonel By Towers (1960)
Firestone House (1960)
St. Bartholomew’s Church (1962)
Post Office in Carlton Place (1963)
Rhodes Real-Estate Building (1963)
Constitutional Hall 1963)
Sampan Restaurant (1964 ) O.A.A. Design Award
Virus Research Laboratory (1964)
The Ottawa YM-YWCA (1965)
Bell Canada Building Vanier (1972)
Rideau Valley Middle School (1973)
Headquarters for the CBC (Lanark Street) (1974)
Tartan Housing Project (1975)
Terry Fox Elementary School (1979)
Base Maintenance Building (1979)
Ottawa Congress Centre (1982)
Ottawa Police Services building (1983)
Hintinburg Community Center (1984)
West Carleton Secondary School (1986)
Sir Leonard Tilley Building (1987)
The Grace Hospital Addition (1987)
Bell Canada Regional Headquarter on Rideau Street (1990)