TURCOTTE, Joseph Oscar (1882-1956), a Canadian government architect responsible for several large exhibition pavilions intended to display and promote Canada as a travel and immigration destination in North America. Born in Quebec City, Que. in 1882, he was educated there and attended Laval University. He later moved to Paris, France to attend the Sorbonne, and to study architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1919 he was listed in Ottawa as a clerk in the Exhibition Branch of the Canadian Dept. of Immigration & Colonization. By 1924, he had obtained the appointment of Chief of the Design and Decorative Div. of the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission, responsible for the design of extensive, free-standing pavilions at major international exhibitions in England, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, and in Argentina.
Funded by the Canadian Government, these pavilions were lavish buildings intended to impress, and contained more than 30 different displays by the Canadian railways, steamship lines, and by leading Canadian industrial companies and civic groups. His design for the Antwerp building contained a 500 foot-long frieze designed by Turcotte which lined the interior of the pavilion. In 1931 he organized the design of the largest prefabricated building ever assembled by the Canadian Government and built in Buenos Aires, Argentina. All of the 35,000 components were made in London and shipped by steamer to South America and erected in record time, under the supervision of Turcotte, for the British Trade Exposition there. Turcotte retired in New Zealand in 1941, but returned to Ottawa in 1945. He died in Ottawa, Ont. on 8 June 1956 (obituary Ottawa Evening Journal, 8 June 1956, 2). A detailed biography of Turcotte, with a photographic portrait, was widely published in many Canadian newspapers in July 1931, including the Weekly Advance [Kemptville], 23 July 1931, 2, and the Canadian Statesman [Bowmanville], 23 July 1931, 4.
LONDON, ENGLAND, The Canadian Government Pavilion, at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, "...in the Neo-Grec style", 1924; demol. (Brantford Expositor, 28 April 1923, 21, detailed descrip.; and 19 July 1924, 24, illus.; Architect’s Journal [London], lix, 28 May 1924, 898, illus.)
DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND, The Canadian Government Pavilion, at the New Zealand & South Seas Exhibition, on display from November 1925 to April 1926; demol. (Ottawa Journal, 10 July 1925, 5, descrip.; Canadian Engineer [Montreal], 21 July 1925, 160; Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 4 Aug. 1925, 5, descrip.)
OTTAWA, ONT., World’s Poultry Congress, Lansdowne Park, interior exhibits and displays, 1927; demol. (Ottawa Journal 11 July 1927, 4)
ANTWERP, BELGIUM, The Canadian Government Pavilion, at the International Exhibition, 1930; demol. (Toronto Daily Star, 6 Sept. 1929, 24, illus. & descrip.; Charlottetown Guardian, 5 Feb. 1930, 1 and 3, descrip.)
LONDON, ENGLAND, The Canadian Pavilion at the World’s Poultry Congress, at Crystal Palace Park, 1930; demol. (Canadian Statesman [Bowmanville], 23 July 1931, 4, biog. and list of works by Turcotte)
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, The Canadian Government Pavilion at the British Trade Exposition, Palermo Park, 1931; demol. (Canadian Statesman [Bowmanville], 23 July 1931, 4, descrip., with biog. and list of works by Turcotte)
REGINA, SASK., The World's Grain Exhibition & Conference Building, interior decoration and displays throughout the Pavilion, with exterior designed by Storey & Van Egmond, 1931; built 1931-32, but Exhibition postponed for one year until July 1933; Centre wing and west wing burned 1955; east wing burned 2009 (Strathmore Standard [Strathmore, Alta.], 11 Feb. 1931, 1, illus. & descrip.; Blairmore Enterprise [Blairmore, Alta.], 23 July 1931, 4, with biog., portrait and list of works by Turcotte)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, The Canadian Government Pavilion, at the New Zealand Centenary Exhibition, 1939-40; demol. (Ottawa Journal, 11 Nov. 1939, 22, descrip.)