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STORIES / Blanche Lemco van Ginkel

Blanche Lemco van Ginkel

Modernist architect Blanche Lemco van Ginkel was the first woman and Canadian president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. She advocated for equal pay amongst male and female faculty members resulting in a 2002 University of Toronto pay equity settlement for female colleagues.

A portrait of Blanche Lemco Van Ginkel.

Architect, City Planning Expert, and Educator
1923-2022

As the first woman elected as an officer and as a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and the first woman (and first Canadian) to serve as president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel made a name for herself in the male-dominated fields of architecture and planning. In 1952 she and her husband co-founded van Ginkel Associates, where she contributed her bright and innovative ideas to numerous projects across the globe. As a professor at University of Toronto and McGill University she nurtured future generations of architects.

Lemco van Ginkel’s visionary approach and commitment to sustainable development contributed to the shaping of Toronto’s landscape for generations to come.

Explore more women who transformed Toronto.

Further Resources
Read the in-depth entry on Lemco van Ginkel in The Canadian Encyclopedia
Read Azure Magazine’s Ode to Blanche Lemco van Ginkel
Learn about the class-action lawsuit that Lemco van Ginkel was a part of, fighting for pay equity at University of Toronto

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