Background
Catherine Mary Wisnicki was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1919.
Catherine Mary Wisnicki was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1919.
She graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1939. She then went on to obtain her Bachelor of Architecture, becoming the first woman to graduate from architecture at McGill in 1943.
She was the first woman to graduate from the McGill University school of architecture. She taught at the University of British Columbia school of architecture. Early in her career, Wisnicki worked with A.J.C. Paine and Lawson & Betts.
She also participated in the planning of Arvida, Québec, for the Aluminum Company of Canada (now Alcan).
Right after World World War II, she undertook a study of prefabricated housing for the Canadian Wooden Aircraft Company in Toronto. As an outcome of the research, she co-authored a major article on the subject of "prefab" houses with city planner East.G. Faludi in 1945.
In 1945, Wisnicki registered with the Ontario Association of Architects, becoming their fourth woman member. In 1946, they moved to Vancouver, where she became the second female member to register with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.
In 1963, Wisnicki began teaching part-time at the University of British Columbia"s school of architecture.
She joined the faculty full-time in 1969. Wisnicki is a trailblazing woman in a field dominated by mentor Along with Porter and others, Wisnicki was among a group that brought Modernist ideas to the West Coast in the postwar period.
She contributed to the regional style known as West Coast Modernism or British Columbia Modernism, characterized by a clear expression of structure (often with large wood or concrete members), and generous connections between indoor and outdoor spaces.
She was the first woman to graduate from McGill University"s school of architecture, the fourth female member of the Ontario Association of Architects, and the second female member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.