VANIER, Joseph Emile (1858-1934), civil engineer and architect of Montreal, was born at Terrebonne, Que. on 20 January 1858. He attended the Jacques Cartier Normal School in Montreal and studied civil engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique in that city. He held the distinction of being the first engineer to graduate from this institution in 1877, an honour that was later to lead to the major architectural commission for the new Ecole building in 1903. His reputation as a innovative civil and hydraulic engineer tended to overshadow his talents as an architect, and he designed few buildings during his career. His best known engineering enterprises were for the Beaudry Water Works system in Los Angeles, where he lived in 1877 and 1878, as well as the development of sewerage and water works systems in the towns of Valleyfield, Aylmer, Huntingdon, St. Lambert, Maisonneuve, St. Louis, Beauharnois and St. Paul, all in the province of Quebec. Vanier also designed and superintended the erection of railway lines, bridges, and gas or electric power plants for several municipalities in Quebec.
In 1888 that he began to advertise himself as an architect in Montreal, but it was not until a decade later that he received his first major architectural commission for St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, Rachel Street (1898-1903), a classically inspired work which drew upon Italian Renaissance precedents. He won this commission in an architectural competition against 15 other competitors, and this achievement drew international press attention (Architect & Contract Reporter [London], lix, 10 June 1898, 376). He served as Professor of Geodetics and Hydrography at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal from 1880 until 1896, and was later asked to design the new home for the Ecole for which he presented a monumental Beaux-Arts design that was completed in 1904. His last known architectural proposal was a stiff and awkward scheme for the Canadian Battlefields Memorial Competition in 1921; his design was not premiated (Const., xiv, June 1921, 168, illus.).
He was one of the founding members of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1907, and earned the respect of his professional colleagues in the architectural community in Montreal who elected him as President of the Province of Quebec Association of Architects in 1921. In 1927 he was awarded a Doctorate in Science from the University of Montreal for his contribution to the engineering profession in Canada. He worked briefly as president of Laurin & Leitch Engineering Co. and died in Montreal on 11 October 1934. His son George moved to Paris, France where he was educated at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and later honoured by the French government for his work in the reconstruction of many French towns badly damaged during World War I (R.A.I.C. Journal, iii, Nov.-Dec. 1926, 248). Vanier died in Montreal on 11 October 1934 (obituary in the Montreal Daily Star, 12 October 1934, 30, obit. La Presse [Montreal], 12 Oct. 1934, 12; obit. Journal of the Engineering Institute of Canada, xvii, Nov. 1934, 500; biography in Montreal, The Metropolis of Canada, Illustrated, 1894; B. Sulte, A History of Quebec, 1908, ii, 816-18; Biographies Canadiennes Francaises, i, 1920, 166). A photographic portrait of Vanier can be found in J.A. Cooper, Men of Canada, 1901-02. A detailed biography of Joseph E. Vanier has recently been published in The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. 16, 1931-40 (available online).
MONTREAL & AREA
FULLUM STREET, at Ste. Catherine Street East, commercial building for Henry Gauthier, 1891 (dwgs. at ANQ, Montreal, 1143)
FULLUM STREET, near Ste. Catherine Street East, row of four houses for Bastien & Valiquette, 1898 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 40, 1898)
ST. JEAN BAPTISTE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND PRESBYTERY, Rachel Street East at Drolet Street, 1898-1900; burned 1911; rebuilt by Casimir Saint-Jean (Montreal Daily Star, 4 May 1898, 9, illus. & descrip.; and 15 May 1899, 3; E.J. Auclair, Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montreal, 1924, 75-79, descrip.; C.A.B., xvii, Feb. 1904, 44, descrip.; Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 250-55, illus.)
ST. CUNEGONDE, Town Hall, Albert Street, 1901-02 (La Presse [Montreal], 8 Feb. 1901, 8, illus. & descrip.; Montreal Daily Star, 10 Feb. 1902, 5, descrip., but not built; C.R., xiii, 19 Feb. 1902, 2). This elaborate proposal by Vanier was shelved, and the commission was later given to Cajetan Dufort and Alphonse Piche (inf. Yves, Guillet, St. Lambert)
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE, St. Denis Street at Ste. Catherine Street East, designed 1901; built 1902-03 (Montreal Daily Star, 13 July 1901, 21; Canadian Engineer, x, Jan 1903, 13-14, illus. & descrip.; Montreal Daily Star, 30 March 1903, 12, illus. & descrip.; C.A.B., xvi, March 1903, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, iii, Jan.-Feb. 1926, 10, illus.; Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 184-87, illus.)
FRONTENAC APARTMENTS, Henri Julien Ave. near St. Louis Square, 1903 (Montreal, Les Appartements, 1991, 206-09, illus.)
ST. LOUIS DE MILE END, Town Hall & Fire Station, St. Laurent Boulevard at Laurier Avenue, 1904 (La Presse [Montreal], 28 Nov. 1903, 5, illus.; C.R., xiv, 23 Dec. 1903, 2, t.c.; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 122-23, illus.; Canada, Town Halls of Canada, 1987, 272, illus.)
BEAVER HALL HILL, offices for J. Emile Vanier Architect, at No. 5 Beaver Hall Hill, 1904 (Montreal Daily Star, 4 March 1904, 11)
ST. LAURENT BOULEVARD, at Beaubien, Fire Hall, 1904 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 24, 1904, 59)
ST. HUBERT STREET, row of five houses for Joseph Levy, 1908 (C.R., xxii, 2 Dec. 1908, 27)
COTE ST. PAUL, Town Hall, Angers Street at De l'Eglise Avenue, 1910 (La Presse [Montreal], 23 Sept. 1911, 5, illus. & descrip.; Montreal, Les Edifices Publics, 1981, 104-05, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
MONTREAL, QUE., St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, Rachel Street East, 1898. A total of 15 architects submitted designs for this major ecclesiastical commission. The winner was J. Emille Vanier (Montreal Daily Star, 4 May 1898, 9, illus. & descrip.)
FRANCE & BELGIUM, Canadian Battlefields Memorial, 1921. J. Emile Vanier was one of over 100 Canadian artists and architects who submitted designs in the two stage competition for a series of eight memorials to be built in France and Belgium. His plans were among the 17 finalists carried through to the second stage of judging (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 25 April 1921, 3, list of finalists). The First Premium was eventually awarded to F.C. Clemesha of Regina, and to the Canadian sculptor Walter Allward of Toronto.