PORTER, John C.H. (1915-1993) was born in Saint John, N.B. and studied architecture at McGill Univ. in Montreal in 1935-41. He worked briefly for Ross & Macdonald in Montreal, then moved to Vancouver where he assisted in the office of Sharp, Thompson Berwick & Pratt in 1946-47. He was briefly in partnership with Catherine Chard (1947), and lectured at the Dept. of Architecture at the Univ. of British Columbia in 1947-52. It was during his tenure that he designed his own house in West Vancouver, a striking modernist residence straddling a rocky site, and lauded for its open plan and large single-plane roof which unified all the rooms beneath it. The house was awarded a silver Massey Medal in 1952, and was ranked as one of the most significant post-war buildings in Canada (Canadian Architect [Toronto], iv, October 1959, 76-77, illus. & descrip.). Porter wrote an essay on the design philosophy behind the creation of his residence which appeared in the British publication Decorative Art: The Studio Year Book 1955-56, xlv, 1956, 8-13, illus. & descrip. The article was accompanied by a critique and appraisal of Porter's design written by Sir Basil Spence, a leading architect in post-war Britain.
Porter later formed a partnership with Keith Davison (Davison & Porter 1952-61), and served a Local Supervising Architect in Vancouver for Public Works Canada from 1961 to 1966. He died in Vancouver in 1993 (biog. R. Liscombe, The New Spirit: Modern Architecture in Vancouver 1938-1963, 1997, 204)
(with Catherine Chard Wisnicki) VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Nathan Nemetz, Newton Wynd Street, University Endowment Lands, on the campus of Univ. of British Columbia, 1948-49 (J. Bond, University Endowment Lands Architecture 1940-1969, 1993, 21, illus. & descrip.; R. Liscombe, The New Spirit: Modern Architecture in Vancouver 1938-1963, 1997, 126-7, illus.)
(with Catherine Chard Wisnicki) VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Roy Daniells, University Endowment Lands, on the campus of Univ. of Univ. of British Columbia, 1948-49 (Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin, xiv, Sept. 1989, 70, illus. & descrip.)
WEST VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for John C.H. Porter, architect, Ottawa Avenue, 1949 (C.H.G., xxvii, Jan. 1950, 30-33, 50, illus. & descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, Sept. 1950, 308-09, illus.; xxx, January 1953, 14-15, illus. & descrip.; Architectural Record [New York], cxiii, Jan. 1953, 26, illus.; Architectural Design [London], xxvi, March 1956, 91-92, illus. & descrip.; Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin, xiv, Sept. 1989, 70, descrip.; R. Liscombe, The New Spirit: Modern Architecture in Vancouver 1938-1963, 1997, 116-18, illus.)