Martin Cohos, Calgary architect who designed Bankers Hall and Eau Claire Market, dead at 89

Martin Cohos, an influential architect and community leader who helped to shape Calgary's skyline, is dead at the age of 89. 

Cohos's family confirmed he passed away on Jan. 9 while on a cruise from New Zealand to Australia. 

Tamara Cohos, Martin's youngest child, said she was told her father died the way he lived every day, with a smile on his face.

"I'll remember his humour, his positive, never-wavering attitude … I will remember his ethos of hard work and giving back and always, always participating in your community," she told CBC News. 

A pioneering figure in Alberta's architectural field, Martin was the force behind myriad iconic buildings in Calgary, including Bankers Hall, Shaw Court (now Rogers Court), Eau Claire Market and Western Canadian Place. He left his mark outside the province, too, designing the headquarters of CSIS in Ottawa. 

Inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence (AOE) in 2011, Martin helped found the first integrated architectural firm in the province, bringing architects, engineers and designers together under one roof

That company, Dialog, is now in its 65th year of operations, and has offices across the country and in San Francisco.  

According to the AOE members page, a trademark of Martin's approach to architecture was a "desire to design spaces that have a strong sense of humanity and allow people to sense the joy that went into a building's creation," adding that he wanted those who used the buildings he built to feel safe, welcome and part of a community.

Tamara said being an architect was just something that was in her father's DNA. 

Growing up, she remembers an ongoing commentary from her father as they would drive around the city, expressing his thoughts on the buildings they passed. 

"Was it good? Was it bad? What would he have done differently.… Though none of us [kids] went into the business, we all really view the world in a particular way because it was always a discussion in our household."

As a colleague, Jim Goodwin, who worked with Martin from the mid 1970s until his retirement in 1996, said that despite his confidence and visionary perspective, Cohos was above all a team player. 

"He was very dominant in the room … [but] he didn't stand up and say, you know, I'm the designer, I'm the architect. We're going to do it this way. He was always very supportive."

Goodwin added that Cohos was a problem solver who didn't back down from a challenge. 

"I would think a large number of the clients recall him as a very strong person that made sure we got the job done." 

Tamara said her father's strong work ethic in part stemmed from growing up in a first generation immigrant family in Montreal. 

Cohos was born on March 23, 1935. His parents were both Romanian immigrants, and he grew up in a traditional Jewish Orthodox home.

He graduated from McGill University in 1958 with a bachelor of architecture, and soon moved to Calgary, where Tamara said he fell in love with the mountains. 

He applied the same trailblazing attitude of his professional career to his passion for the outdoors, said Tamara. 

In the 1970s, he took his first trek to Nepal through the Himalaya mountain range, going on to complete 10 subsequent such trips. 

"I think it just gave him a clarity of mind.… He became such close friends with the Sherpas that he worked with in Nepal that he eventually started organizing his own treks and taking groups of friends," said Tamara. 

"He was always very goal oriented, whether it was something small or something big."

When Martin wasn't in the mountains or in Canmore (the place he loved to be the most, said Tamara) his retirement years were spent working alongside several community groups, including the Calgary Planning Commission, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the United Way and the Jewish Community Foundation. 

Martin also served as an advisor to the Banff Centre, the Glenbow Museum, Pier 21 in Halifax, and the Salvation Army Summer Camp.

"That's what he would say, that that second part of his life, working with the community, he was more proud of that than what he had accomplished within his professional career," said Tamara. 

She said she'll never forget her father's storytelling ability and the values he instilled in her to work hard and to always be curious about the world around her. 

And to be reminded of his presence, she doesn't need to look far. 

"I look at the skyline from my house. I can see downtown Calgary and I mean, that's his legacy."