Sandy van Ginkel

Harmen Peter Daniel ( "Sandy" ) van Ginkel, CM, ( born February 10, 1920 in Amsterdam, † July 6, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario) was a Dutch- Canadian urban planner, architect and sculptor. He was one of the first architects who applied the principles of modernism in Canada and is considered an important precursor for the much acclaimed residential project Habitat 67

Life

Sandy van Ginkel studied at the Academy in Amsterdam Elckerlyc architecture and sociology at the University of Utrecht. During the Second World War he was active in the Dutch resistance. His studies he finished during the German occupation, but refused to accept his diploma because he did not have a document issued by the National Socialists.

After graduation, he worked with Aldo van Eyck as an architect in Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands and had his own office in Amsterdam. In 1953 he met the Congrès International d' Architecture Moderne in France his future wife Blanche Lemco. 1957 both moved to Canada Montreal where both founded an architectural and planning office. He benefited from the dynamic city development, so that he could participate in many contracts and projects. Among his first jobs included the redesign of the Bowring Park in St. John's. He sat down significantly for the preservation of the Montreal old town, which was to be sacrificed in the course of urban renewal in part because of an urban motorway. In the years 1958/59, he made a study of the port area. In the early 1960s, he submitted plans to redesign the downtown Montreal and was from 1962 to 1967 participated in the planning and design of Expo 67. Moshe Safdie, the architect of the housing project, Habitat 67 for the World's Fair, called him as an important pioneer of his project.

Van Ginkel influenced his work developments in North America and Asia. It is noteworthy that he designed a minibus for transport planning in Manhattan, which was designated in his honor as Ginkelvan. He has published several articles and has lectured on various topics. In 1986 he became a professor of architecture at the University of Virginia. In 1977 he moved to Toronto and devoted himself from 1989 primarily sculpture.

For his work van Ginkel received the 2003 Order of Urbanists of Quebec for his efforts to develop the city of Montreal, while preserving the heritage. In 2007 he became Companions of the Order of Canada.