John C. Parkin

In 1945, John C. married Jeanne Wormith of Toronto. Wormith was a 1945 graduate of the University of Toronto and also earned a Master of Arts in art history that year from Harvard University. When they met, Wormith was working at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario). The Parkins had three children (John, Geoffrey, and Jennifer) and lived in a home that John C. had designed in the Bridle Path neighbourhood of North York. He died on 22 November 1988 in Toronto.

Throughout the 1950s the firm acquired several large commissions including the Salvation Army National Headquarters, a new terminal at the Toronto Airport, and the Don Mills Shopping Centre. By 1960, John B. Parkin Associates had grown to be the largest architectural firm in Canada. In 1969, the firm moved to Los Angeles to form an American branch of the firm, which left John C. in charge of the Toronto office. In 1970, he left to form his own firm, which was called Parkin Partnership. The new firm won the 1976 competition for a new building for the National Gallery of Canada although it was unbuilt.

In January 1947, both Parkins officially formed their partnership, called John B. Parkin Associates. The elder Parkin acted as head of the organization, and the younger acted as design chief. In March 1947, John B.’s younger brother, Edmund T. Parkin, joined the firm as a partner. A landscape architect by trade, his responsibility was handling contracts. The new firm modeled its business approach from that of the firm of the architect Albert Kahn, with clear divisions of tasks by department. The firm’s first offices were located at 96 Bloor Street West, a building that was shared with the firm Mathers and Haldenby. After the firm outgrew this space, it moved to 648 Church Street, a converted house. In 1951, it moved again, this time to an office building on 717 Church Street. In 1955, the firm finally settled at an originally-designed office in the new neighbourhood of Don Mills, at 1500 Don Mills Road.

In 1939, Parkin entered the University of Manitoba and graduated in 1944. Upon graduation, he left for Toronto with fellow graduate Harry Seidler. Parkin took a job with the firm Marani and Morris, and Seidler with William Somerville. Shortly after arriving, Parkin met John B. Parkin. In October 1944, John C. left Marani and Morris to work with John B. The two Parkins decided to form a partnership but realized that the younger partner required additional design training. John C. had been offered several scholarships to Harvard. In January 1946, he left Toronto for Harvard University and graduated a year later.

John Cresswell Parkin CC OOnt RCA (24 March 1922 – 22 November 1988) was a Canadian architect. From 1947 to 1969, he was the design chief for the Toronto firm John B. Parkin Associates with partner John B. Parkin (no relation). At the time, it was the largest architectural firm in the Canada. In 1970, he formed his own firm, where he worked until his retirement in 1987. He is credited as one of the leaders in developing the mid-century modern style in Canada.

John C. Parkin was born on 24 March 1922 in Sheffield to parents who were both Parkins and werw distantly related. His father was a chartered accountant with Parkin and Co., which had been established in the 1880s.