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Gerald Forseth has earned national recognition in architectural design and urban planning particularly in the renovation, restoration and housing fields ranging in scale from complex kitchen additions to large urban developments.
Born in the Peace River Country, Gerald Forseth received his Architecture degree in 1970 from the University of Toronto and subsequently worked with A. J. Diamond and Barton Myers--Canadian architects with international reputations for sensitively blending old and new. In 1976 he formed Gerald L. Forseth Architecture in Calgary and incorporated the firm in 1980.
Gerald Forseth has developed talents and experience in all aspects of design and technical capability. The firm is consciously kept small to allow his direct involvement with both clients and contractors toward maximizing quality. He is experienced and qualified to perform the duties involved with interior and exterior design, specification writing, contract documents production, contract administration and on-site supervision of the contract. As a part time teacher regularly involved in the Architecture Program at the University of Calgary and in the Interior Design Program at Mount Royal College, he keeps abreast of and often hires, emerging talents that contribute fresh thinking to the problems at hand.
A pioneer in the belief that our general building stock in Calgary is retainable, reusable and renovatable, Gerald Forseth has been responsible for many innovative projects that help to maintain a continuity of buildings for future occupants and the general public.
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For example, recently the firm won a national Canadian Wood Council Award for the Van Snellenberg corporate office an d residence in West Vancouver, BC; and two City of Calgary Heritage Awards for the renovation 1 restoration to the sandstone Ashdown Building (1891) and Tribune Building (1892) on Stephen Avenue in Calgary. Recent published articles include the altered residential lofts on Stephen Avenue in Avenue Magazine and the Van Snellenberg project in Western Living Magazine.
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University of Toronto, B.Arch 1970
Recipient of Alberta Gas Trunkline Scholarship 1966
The thesis project was the redevelopment of Eau Claire Calgary solving site planning, housing typology and integration with proposed traffic changes due to t h e introduction of the downtown penetrator. The thesis challenged the wisdom of the penetrator and relocated its volumes to 4th -and 5th Avenues and 1lth and 12th Avenues. It organized housing into high density, low-rise clusters oriented to the neglected river bank. It located medium rise office towers at 3rd Avenue and introduced some commercial and retail into lower floors of developments close to river. The thesis mentor was Ray Affleck, Montreal, a great Canadian architect and the author of the Calgary Downtown Plan in the late 1960's.
Memberships:
Fellow, The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC)
Member, The Alberta Association of Architects (MAAA)
Member, The Archaeological Society of Alberta
Member, The Calgary Allied Arts Foundation
Born:
Grande Prairie, AB 1947
Experience:
R.L. Wilkin Architect Edmonton, Alberta 1971 - 72
Diamond & Myers Architects in Association with R.L. Wilkin Architect 1972-73
- most important involvements were contract administration for the construction of the award- winning Housing Union Building (HUB) at U of A campus--a project for housing and mixed use considered to be one of the most influential built in N. America in the 1970's;
- preliminary planning and design for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton
Cohos Evamy and Partners Calgary 1973-75
- most important involvements were project leadership and design for Fort Calgary Site Development and [initial] Interpretive Centre;
- development control for new buildings in downtown and industrial area of the New Town of Fort McMurray
Donnell and Forseth Architects Partnership Calgary 1975 -76
Selected Awards:
Renovation / Restoration
- 1995 City of Calgary Heritage Award Ashdown Block 1892
- 1994 City of Calgary Heritage Award Dominion Bank Building 1910
- 1988 American Institute of Architects Award - SandstoneCourthouse, Calgary
- 1988 AAA Award, Special Citation Sandstone Courthouse 1 Court of Appeals
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- 1994 Canadian Wood Council National Award, Van Snellenberg Res, W. Vancouver BC
- 1992 AAA Award of Merit, 4 Square House and Subdivision, Calgary
- 1988 AAA Award Mountain Retreat at Canmore
- 1985 AAA Award Urban House 3, Calgary
- 1981 Governor General Finalist Award, Urban House 3
- 1981 AAA Award - Westwinds Seniors Apartments, Bellevue AB
Selected Professional Activities
- RAIC Director and Chairman of several committees, 1986 to1990
- Architecture Advisor to Canada Council 1990-94
- AAA President 1985 - 86
- AAA Councillor 1978 - 1985
- AAA Chairman of most committees
- Banff Session Chairman for several years, including for the 'production' that traveled to the RAIC conference i n 1986 coinciding with Expo 86 and its theme Transportation
- SCAAA Chairman 1976 - 1978
- Liaison member of national architectural organizations like CCAC, Certification Board, Syllabus, National Committee of Councils, College of Fellows
Selected Community Activities:
Arts
- Past Chairman, Calgary Region Arts Foundation
- Past Director, Calgary Visual Arts Board
- Chairman of Architecture Programme - Olympic Arches 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics
- Chairman, Calgary Sculpture Advisory Committee; and
- Public Art Committee of CAAF
- Chairman various committees of Calgary Allied Arts Foundation, CAAF
- Chairman, Visual Committee Esther Honens International Piano Competition
Government
- Director, MeDougall Centre Advisory Committee
- Chairman, Lougheed Historic Residence Advisory Committee
Teaching:
1994 to present, "The History of Canadian Architecture", and "Architecture 1918 - 1960 International Modernism", Department of Interior Design, Mount Royal College
Since 1985, have assisted design studios in architecture at the levels of Studio 1 - VI [final] while employed at the University of Calgary as a Sessional Lecturer
Special studio leadership project:
- Co-leader of special studio October 1989 in Los Angeles involving the office of Barton Myers Associates, and sponsored by Community Redevelopment Agency involving 6 students from University of Calgary
- an analysis and redevelopment plan for Hollywood Boulevard and the community of Hollywood, areas that have become sadly neglected and seedy, with a high proportion of empty lot parking areas and local crime; yet containing a large quantity of registered historic buildings and theatres, a large tourist population, views to the Hollywood hills and to downtown Los Angeles, and an infrastructure capable of offering solutions to accommodating parking, redefining local neighborhood needs and objectives, and suitable existing and new housing typology. The 10-day studio culminated in a well- received presentation to representatives of Los Angeles Planning Department and to various Hollywood Community Associations composed of concerned citizens, architects and planners.
Other studio leadership projects:
- Eau Claire site - Project for the headquarters of the AAA Foundation
- Chinatown [Greyhound site] - appropriate projects respecting history of land and buildings, responding to Bow River, and promoting multi-use, collaboration in design method, and fine-textured communities .
- Olympic Plaza - Downtown campus for the arts utilizing land adjacent to and including the historic Dominion Bank Building
- Empty site adjacent to historic Bank of Nova Scotia building on Stephen Avenue - an infill project involving sensitivity to existing urban structuring like the +15 system and the Stephen Avenue Mall , but respecting the high profile and historic character of adjacent buildings
Design Competitions:
Winner while employed at Cohos Evamy Architects, of Fort Calgary Interpretive Centre and Site Development Competition sponsored by the Southern Chapter of the Alberta Association of Architects
Competitor in Calgary City Hall Competition with A.J. Diamond Architect Competitor in Kitchener City Hall Competition
Competitor and cited in Coulton CA Senior Citizens Housing Competition
Architectural Research:
1990-91 grant from Alberta Municipal Affairs "Shelter for the Hard-to-House --An Innovative Approach"
Collaborations /Joint Ventures:
- Associate Architect [design] w/ A.J. Diamond Architects, Burns Building
- Joint venture w/ Hutchinson Architects, Old YWCA renovations
- Joint venture w/ Hutchinson Architects, Yates Memorial Theatre, Lethbridge
- Association w/ Barton Myers Associates, Los Angeles, Urban Design Studio Community of Hollywood
- Joint venture w/ A. J. Diamond Architects, Calgary City Hall competition
- Joint venture w/ W. Johnstone Architect, Kitchener City Hall competition
- Association w/ Norman Hotson Architect/Planner Vancouver, Chinatown Design Workshops
- Association w/ Graham Hughes graphics designer and signage industry representatives to develop the Stephen Avenue Mall signage guidelines
Workshops:
Conducted the successful Chinatown Design Workshops that ended years of neglect and that found a strategy to implement rejuvenation philosophies that promoted a strong and friendly community of people, spaces and buildings. Chinatown today may, arguably, be the best community found in Calgary
Architect volunteer activity:
Development plan reviewer for designated proposed construction projects in Hillhurst/Sunnyside Community since 1980
Selected Invited Guest Lecture Activities
- University of Manchester England
- University of London England
- RAIC Conferences in Calgary, St Johns, Montreal and Toronto
- Schools of Architecture at Waterloo, Toronto, British Columbia, Calgary
- Architecture Public Lecture Series in Edmonton
- CAUSA Architecture Lecture Series in Calgary
- SAIT
- Alberta College of Art
- Mount Royal College
Gerald Forseth - Editor
Alberta Editor: Prairie Architecture Magazine 1996
Alberta Editor: Western Forum Magazine 1892 - 86
Gerald Forseth - Author
Book Review
Canadian Architect, "Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space" Edited by Michael Sorkin, The Noonday Press 92
Canadian Architect, "Architecture in European Memory and Intervention: Since 1968" by Alexander Tzonis &Lione Lefaivre, Rizzoli Press
Frontspiece
"Specific Blurring -- An Architectural Viewpoint" Derek Besant, - Sites, Canada House Cultural Centre Gallery, February - April 1987
Articles
"Architects Advocacy and Action", RAIC Festival of Architecture Programme, Calgary 1995
"Design on the Prairies", Prairie Architecture Magazine, February 1996
"Private, Public Spaces", Metropolitan Mutations, RAIC Journal #1, published by Little Brown Canada
"Entrances - Architecture Calgary" Calgary Herald 1979
Books and Publications
"History of Architecture in Alberta" (in progress 1996)
"Architectural Guidelines for Kootenay National Park, Canada", published by Parks Canada
Selected Publications and Articles: (architect, firm, projects)
American Institute of Architects
- "Architecture for Justice - Old Sandstone Courthouse, Alberta Court of Appeal", 1983
Alberta Ballet House and Garden Tour
- "The Fleising Residence", 1990
Alberta Construction Magazine
- "Coping with Growth", Sep/Oct 1981
Alberta Report
- "Voices in the Architectural Wilderness" by Chris Hayes and Stephen Weatherbe, March 1983
- "Report on Chinatown", June 1983
Avenue Magazine
- "A Tribute to the Tribune Building" by Terry Bullick, March 1996
- "Eighth Avenue Renaissance" by Fran Humpheys, January 1 Feburary 1995
Calgary Magazine
- "House Proud", by Stephanie White, February 1983
- "Kitchen - Urban House Three" by Stephanie White, October 1983
Calgary Herald
- "Duality Reflected in Urban House Three" by Bettina Liverant June 1984
- "Curtain Rising on Final Act of Burns Drama", Front Row, by Patrick Tivy, September 1982
- "Renovation Combines Taste, Economy, Elegance" -- Architecture Calgary, by Stephanie White, 1981
- "Winner with Wood" by Marty Hope, 6 August 1994
- "Eclectic Addition in Knob Hill" by Barbara Anderson, 7 January 1989
- "Private Retreat Naturally Charming", by Betinna Liverant, 9 October 1986
- "Courthouse Rescue a Landmark Project" by Betinna Liverant 15 May 1986
- "Adapted to Change" by Betinna Liverant, 14 August 1986
Calgary Sun
- "City Architects Honored for Designs -- Wood Works", by Kathy McCormick, 13 Aug 1994
Canadian Architect
- "Sinclair Office and Warehouse", August 1983
- "Old Sandstone Courthouse", September 1983
Canadian Wood Council Magazine - Wood / Le Bois
- "The Van Snellenberg Residence", February 1994
Esther Honens International Piano Competition Newsletter
- "Gerald Forseth - Volunteer Profile", May 1996
Landmark Magazine (AMHC)
- "Professionals Fighting Back", by Jim Wilson, Winter Spring 1985
Outlook - The Magazine of the Edmonton Art Gallery
- "Site Seeing in Architecture - Six Alberta Architects" April / June 1995
Select Homes Magazine
- "Fleising Residence" March 1991
The War Cry - The Salvation Army
- "Hospice of Love - Agape Manor Hospice Calgary" 4 February 1995
Western Living Magazine
- "Staircases" by Anne Suche, August 1984
- "The AAA Awards" by Anne Suche, October 1985
- "The Little Cottage That Could" - Van Snellenberg Residence" by Jeff Bateman, April 1992
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