KENT, Herbert Harold (1900-1972), an architect, church pastor, and a remarkably perceptive, articulate and knowledgeable architectural critic who wrote many articles under the pen name of “Sinaiticus”. Born in Derby, England on 17 April 1900, he was brought to Canada by his family in 1913, and attended day classes (in 1913-16) and evening classes (in 1916-18) at the Toronto Technical School, studying under the talented Toronto architect Charles S. Cobb, who was then a lecturer at the School. Cobb must have recognized considerable potential in Kent’s work, and hired him as a student and apprentice in his Toronto office (1918-22). In 1923 Kent spent a full year working as assistant to John M. Lyle, and that same year he published his first article in the American press, on the subject of skyscraper design, with a commentary on the winning designs for the international competition for the Tribune Tower in Chicago (Architectural Record [New York], liii, April 1923, 378-9). Signed by Kent himself, the article praised the progressive design submitted by Eliel Saarinen which had placed second to the more traditional First Prize scheme by Hood & Howells.
The following year Kent moved to New York City where he worked in the offices of some the leading architects in America including Raymond M. Hood (in 1924), for James Gamble Rogers (in 1925), and for McKim, Mead, & White (1926-27). With an impeccable pedigree gained from his New York experience, one would have anticipated a promising career after his return to Toronto in 1927, but instead of opening his own office, he accepted a minor position of Supervisor of the Building Programme at the Canadian National Exhibition, and supervised the work of Chapman & Oxley and Douglas Kertland and other architects who had designed new pavilions on the Exhibition grounds. In 1928 Kent was credited with preparing his own plans for a large CNE pavilion called The Temple of Fashion, containing an auditorium of 1,500 seats (The Globe [Toronto], 13 July 1928, 14, illus.; C.R., xlii, 25 July 1928, 791), but the project was never executed. He left his post with the CNE in late 1929, then briefly worked for a succession of firms including Horwood & White.
His interest in religious preaching absorbed most of his time from 1933 onward, and he all but abandoned the profession of architecture, and the field of architectural journalism. He served as pastor of West Toronto Baptist Church from 1933 to 1954, and as pastor of Emmanuel Christian Congregational Church from 1954 to 1972. During this period he wrote three books of prosaic religious philosophy, including ‘An Architect Preaches’ (1944), ‘The House of Christmas’ (1964), and ‘Job Our Contemporary’ (1967). Kent died in Toronto on 6 January 1972 (obituary Globe & Mail [Toronto], 8 January 1972, 10; obit. and port Toronto Star, 8 Jan. 1972, 87; inf. from Ontario Assoc. of Architects). A full page photographic portrait of H.H. Kent appears opposite the title page of his 1944 book entitled ‘An Architect Preaches‘, which contains the text of 24 sermons on various religious topics.
SELECTED ARTICLES BY “SINAITICUS”
ROBERT SIMPSON STORE, TORONTO, major addition by Chapman & Oxley, Architects, 1929. An extensive critique and appraisal by Kent in Construction [Toronto], xxii, March 1929, 72-77, 82-86, illus.
ROYAL YORK HOTEL, TORONTO, designed by Sproatt & Rolph and by Ross & MacDonald, Architects, 1928-29. An extensive critique and appraisal by Kent in Construction [Toronto], xxii, July 1929, 208-22, 227-36, illus.
TORONTO GENERAL HOSPITAL, Private Patient’s Building, by Darling & Pearson, 1929-30. An extensive critique and appraisal by Kent in Construction [Toronto], xxiii, May 1930, 147-60, illus.
DRUMMOND BUILDING, MONTREAL, designed by Nobbs & Hyde, Architects, 1929-30. An extensive critique and appraisal by Kent in Construction [Toronto], xxiii, Sept. 1930, 303-06, illus.
EATON’S COLLEGE STREET STORE, TORONTO, designed by Ross & MacDonald and by Sproatt & Rolph, Architects, 1929-30. An extensive critique and appraisal by Kent in Construction [Toronto], xxiii, Nov. 1930, 351-52, illus.
THE ARCHITECT’S BUILDING, MONTREAL, designed by Ross & MacDonald, Architects, 1930-31. An extensive critique and appraisal by Kent in Construction [Toronto], xxiv, June 1931, 180-84, illus.