Renowned Canadian architect, René Menkès, passed away on October 7th in Montréal, at the age of 87. A striking figure in modern, national, international and contemporary architecture, René Menkès was a respected and admired man. We owe him many masterful projects that are unquestionably part of Canada’s architectural heritage.
“I loved what I did, and I would do it again. Architecture is a rewarding profession,” said René Menkès, in a 1999 interview with Jim Donaldson.

In 1994, when he had already logged 25 years of prolific and exemplary architectural practice, René Menkès, still passionate about his profession, co-founded Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes. He brought his experience and knowledge, but above all, he instilled in the firm the importance of placing the human at the heart of every project, an essential aspect of his architectural practice. A graduate of McGill University in 1955, René Menkès moved to New York where he worked from 1956 to 1960, to acquire knowledge and experience regarding the principles of high-rise construction. The one for whom architecture had presented itself as a natural course of study focused his practice entirely on the construction of high-rise buildings as an ideal to achieve. It was not about ambition or pride, it was about challenge, daring, working tirelessly, pushing the limits of his discipline.
Influenced by some of his teachers, including Gordon Webber...