Jerome Markson, the 2022 RAIC Gold Medalist and modern social housing pioneer whose influence was felt widely across Canada, died in Toronto on Saturday, November 18, The Globe and Mail reported. He was 94 years old. 

Markson will be remembered as a progressive architect who affected the post-1970s immigration boom in Greater Toronto through humane and uplifting designs for The Smith Residence (1955), Market Square Condominiums (1980), Group Health Centre in Sault Ste. Marie (1962), and Alexandra Park Public Housing (1965), among others.

“His work epitomizes a deep caring towards those who will use and enjoy his projects as well as the communities in which they exist. Many architects will offer praise by referring to colleagues as an ‘architect’s architect’. Jerome Markson is certainly deserving of the title ‘planner’s architect’ — quite possibly a more difficult and exceptional achievement within the profession,” the jury citation for last year’s RAIC Gold Medal states concisely. 

Markson immigrated to Canada from Lithuania with his parents as a child, going on to study at the University of Toronto before he began practice at Venchiarutti & Venchiarutti in the early 1950s. He established his own firm in 1955 and was active in the Toronto area in between then and his formal retirement in 2015. 

Over time, Markson’s résumé grew to include more than 50 major architectural awards. He was also Dean and a longtime faculty member at the U of T and maintained close professional ties with fellow graduates of the school, including Irving Grossman, Henry Sears, and Raymond Moriyama, who also passed away in September. 

“Jerome has contributed at every stage of his long career to the architectural design community. He has mentored many architects who have contributed to the quality and character of the built environment.” his colleague, KPMB founder Bruce Kuwabara, remembered last year. “Through his thoughtful and determined work, he has made Toronto a better city, a more worldly, cosmopolitan place that expresses conviviality through architecture.”  

A copy of author Laura Miller's comprehensive look at the architect's six-decade career, Toronto's Inclusive Modernity: The Architecture of Jerome Markson, can be obtained here via Figure 1 Publishing.