Abstract

This thesis examines the careers of Elizabeth M. Lord (born Crawford, 1918-1994) and Elizabeth M. Pilcher (later Causwell, 1920-1991?), two women architects who worked in Winnipeg, Manitoba during the post-war period. Lord received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Manitoba in 1939 and, in 1944, became the first woman to register with the Manitoba Association of Architects. For the majority of her career, Lord ran her own architectural practice in Winnipeg, taking on small-scale, often domestic, projects. Pilcher received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Sydney in 1945. She went on to complete studies at Harvard University and the Edinburgh College of Art. In December 1958, Pilcher arrived in Winnipeg to accept a position with the prominent architectural firm Green Blankstein Russell as chief of their planning department. Given the differences between Lord and Pilcher, the thesis asks: what can be learned about Winnipeg’s built environment during the post-war period by looking at the lives and work of these two women architects? Grounded in empirical evidence, the thesis uses biography as a method to build a picture of Lord and Pilcher’s contributions to post-war construction in Winnipeg. The thesis positions Lord and Pilcher within the history of women architects in Canada and within the climate of the architectural profession in Winnipeg. Fundamentally recuperative in nature, the thesis takes a feminist approach to the history of Winnipeg’s built environment and demonstrates how Lord and Pilcher were active agents who created a lasting mark on the built landscape of their city.