VENNE, Emile (1896 - 1975), an architect and a member of the family dynasty of Montreal architects who were active for three generations. His father was Joseph Venne (1858-1925), and his brother was Adrien Venne (1893-1977), an architect in Montreal, and his son Jacques Venne (1923- ) followed in his father's footsteps. Born in Montreal on 10 July 1896, Emile Venne began his professional career as a draftsman for Northern Electric Co. in Montreal in 1915. After his graduation from the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1918, he worked as a designer and draftsman for Howard Smith Paper Mills at Beauharnois, Que. in 1919, then joined the Quebec City office of Tanguay & Chenevert in 1919-22 as an associate architect. Returning to Montreal, he briefly worked in the office of his father Joseph Venne (in 1922), then left Canada and moved to Paris, France where he studied architecture and archeology at the Ecole du Louvre, and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and received his diploma from the French Government in 1922.
After returning to Montreal, he was a partner with his brother Adrien in the firm of Venne & Venne from 1925 to 1931, and also served as Professor of Architecture at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. He was appointed Director at that School in 1937 and held this post until 1959. He was a frequent contributor to the editorial pages of the R.A.I.C. Journal, and was nominated as a Fellow of the R.A.I.C. in 1949. Venne later resigned as a member of the P.Q.A.A. in February 1960. He died at Saint Basile le Grand, Quebec in 1975 (biog. and port in The National Reference Book, Vol. ix, 1951, 693-94; inf. Province of Quebec Architect's Association; biog. in ARQ - La Revue d'Architecture [Montreal], No. 116, August 2001 p. 18) .
(works in the Montreal region)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, The Albani Apartments, Graham Boulevard near Canora Avenue, for Louis Desjardins, 1937 (C.R., vol. 50, 27 Jan. 1937, 31)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, apartment house on Graham Boulevard near Canora Avenue, possibly the Elizabeth Apartments, or the Carillon Apartments, 1938-39 (C.R., li, 17 Aug. 1938, 34)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, a small apartment block with 13 units, Graham Boulevard, for Louis Desjardins, 1939 (Gazette [Montreal], 7 Jan. 1939, 5)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, large apartment block for Louis Desjardins, Graham Boulevard, 1939 (C.R., lii, 31 May 1939, 31)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, apartment block for Louis Desjardins, Graham Boulevard near Athlone Avenue, 1940 (Gazette [Montreal], 11 April 1940, 21)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, a three storey apartment block with 12 units, Graham Boulevard near Athlone Avenue, 1941 (C.R., liv, 16 April 1941, 34; 23 April 1941, 36, descrip.)
TOWN OF MOUNT ROYAL, duplex residence for Louis Desjardins, Hudson Avenue near Athlone Avenue, 1941 (Gazette [Montreal], 15 Sept. 1941, 21; inf. Scott Edwards)
SELECTED ESSAYS
“The Modern Trend in Domestic Architecture”, in the RAIC Journal, xii, July 1935, 108-13
“Creative Architecture”, in the RAIC Journal, xiv, May 1937, 79-80
“The Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montreal”, in the RAIC Journal, xviii, Feb. 1941, 17-19, illus.
“The Teaching of Architecture”, in the RAIC Journal, xxii, April 1945, 81
“On Architectural Design – The Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Montreal”, in the RAIC Journal, xxvi, May 1949, 154-56
“The Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Montreal”, in the RAIC Journal, xxvii, April 1950, 119