ABSTRACT
The McGill Architecture of Percy Erskine Nobbs
Susan W. Wagg
1979
This thesis examines the seven major commissions executed
for McGill University between 1904 and 1931 by the Canadian architect and teacher, Percy
E. Nobbs (1875-1964), a means of determining his design philosophy and creative growth.
The works are the McGill University Union, Macdonald Engineering Building, an extension to
the university library, the Osler Library, the Pathological Institute, the Pulp and Paper
Research Institute of Canada, and an extension to Royal Victoria College.
The first section describes Nobbs's Arts and
Crafts-influenced training in Edinburgh and London prior to his becoming head of the
McGill School of Architecture in 1903. The McGill commissions are then analyzed
chronologically and related to architectural trends in Britain, Canada, and the United
States. In each case, Nobbs's Arts and Crafts background is seen to be the basis for his
humane design concerns. His work is ascribed to the prevailing traditional eclectic stream
of the early twentieth century; the merits of his approach are discussed in the
conclusion. Both the architect's executed and unexecuted designs for McGill are listed in
appendices, and there is a bibliography his extensive writings.
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