Maxwell Kalman

Maxwell Myron Kalman (May 30, 1906 – November 27, 2009) was a Canadian architect, real estate developer, and philanthropist. He designed over 1,100 commercial, residential, and institutional projects in Quebec before and after World WarII. He was noted as the architect of Canada's first shopping centre, the Norgate shopping centre, which opened in Montreal, Quebec in 1949.

Early life and education Maxwell Kalman was the fourth child of Romanian immigrants to Montreal. His father, Ozias Kalman, worked as a general contractor.

Career

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salign=right Maxwell M. Kalman's works, collectively an extraordinarily revealing testimony to Montreal's everyday architecture of the prewar and postwar years, never made it into the architectural journals. Yet they were efficient in plan, carefully detailed, up-to-date in construction techniques, appropriate in materials, budget-conscious, and attentive to the needs and tastes of their clients. — Canadian Architect, 12 June 2006

Notable designs Kalman is noted as the architect of Canada's first shopping centre, the Norgate shopping centre, in Saint-Laurent (1949), which was created to service residents of the larger Norgate housing complex, which Kalman also designed. The L-shaped mall and outdoor parking lot featured a line of small stores anchored by several large anchor stores that would draw in business. Kalman's architectural and marketing concept was subsequently applied to the first shopping centre in Ottawa, the Westgate Shopping Centre, and other Montreal commercial centres. Other notable projects in Montreal include the art deco-inspired Workmen's Circle Centre (today the Sala Rossa), and the Shelbourne Towers apartment complex (now Appartements Belfort). A number of his residential projects in Montreal have been added to the province's Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec, including Tudor Revival properties located at 2825–2827 and 2789–2797 Willowdale Avenue.

Centennial retrospective In honor of Kalman's 100th birthday on May 30, 2006, McGill University and the University of Montreal presented a retrospective of his architectural work from the 1930s through early 1960s, together with a recorded interview with the architect. The exhibition traveled to Côte-Saint-Luc for another public viewing from January 30 to May 31, 2007.

Philanthropy Kalman fund-raised for State of Israel Bonds, the United Jewish Appeal, and Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. He also supported McGill University and the Technion School of Architecture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Weizmann Institute of Science, and Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Personal life Kalman married twice and had two sons, Lawrence and Harold; Harold D. Kalman is an architectural historian and author in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kalman died of pneumonia on November 27, 2009, in Montreal, aged 103. He was buried at the New Jewish Cemetery in Ottawa.