Clifford Wiens

Clifford Wiens was born on 27 April 1916, to a Mennonite family that lived on a farm outside of Glen Ker, Saskatchewan.[11][12][9] From an early age, Wiens had an intense interest in design and construction.[11][12] As a child in the 1930s, he was renowned by all those that knew him for building small detailed cities in the mud after a rainy day.[10] He would help his father construct chicken coops, barbed wire fences, waterwheels and houses for the various farm cats.[12][10] He would even build working contraptions of his own design from various abandoned pieces of farming equipment.[12][10] Upon being asked later in life, Wiens stated that building the cat houses was not play; "that was their place, not mine. I was an architect and I did not know it".[10]

His innovative tendencies came from both these construction projects, and his father.[10] His father strongly encouraged self-reliance and often gave Wiens projects that required innovative ways to complete.[11][12] For instance, Wiens and one of his two brothers would need to drive holes into the ground for fence posts around their property. Instead of simply digging a starter hole and forcing the post down, Wiens would utilize a crowbar to start the hole and then drive the post down.[10] This allowed for the pole to be driven into the ground more effectively be removing that rigid outermost layer of the dirt.

Living on the prairies also offered Wiens an opportunity to develop a strong connection to nature and art during his childhood.[12][9] Wiens would make his own paint brushes from horse and ox hair to paint whenever he had the opportunity to.[7] He pursued this interest largely in solitude and later in his life during his retirement.[13] His artwork would commonly depict the surrounding landscape of whatever region he was living within and the farm on which he was raised on.[9][13]

Clifford Wien's education started in a one-room school located in the downtown area of Glen Ker.[11][9] Due to his Mennonite heritage, Wien's first languages were low and high German.[10] He would eventually learn English by the age of 7.[10]

After graduating high school, Wiens would further his education with an undergraduate degree in agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in 1943 in Saskatoon.[12] He attended the university under a wheat pool sponsorship program for young farmers and machine tooling, granted by the Moose Jaw Technical School.[11][12][9] Eventually, Wiens would decide to leave the agriculture program to pursue one of his passions of painting.[9] He would study painting at the Banff Centre for Continuing Education, now known as the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.[11][12][9] He would study under the tutelage of A.Y. Jackson, a founder of the Group of Seven.[11][12][9] His time studying with Jackson would be relatively short however, as Wiens decided that the lack of job prospects in the field of painting was very daunting.[10]

Wiens would then choose to follow his passion of designing and construction, by continuing his education at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1949.[11][12][9] He was accepted into the school on a full scholarship and began studies in Industrial Design with the intention of eventually designing farm equipment.[12][9] He would ultimately switch to architecture after his first year, however, as the architecture curriculum at the Rhode Island School of Design was heavily influenced by the idea of modernism from the Bauhaus.[12] The concepts that the Bauhaus preached would finally snag Clifford Wiens into a career he would hold most of his remaining working years.[12] Wiens would graduate in 1954 with a full degree in architecture.[14][9]

After finishing his degree, Wiens returned to Saskatchewan to practice. In particular, he travelled to Regina due to the growing positive climate for progressive politics and artistic ideas.[15] This coincided with Regina experiencing a boom in both the agriculture and extractive industries that Wiens wanted to work within.[10]

To start his career, Wiens apprenticed with Stock and Ramsey Architects as an intern designer.[9] He would work with them until 1955 when he would be hired by Joseph Pettick as an intern architect.[9] This is where he would work on his first notable project, contributing modestly to the design, development, and construction documentation for the Saskatchewan Power Corporation Headquarters.[10] More importantly, while he worked with Pettick, he developed close relationships with the Regina Five, who are some of Canada's most critically acclaimed and advanced painters of this time period.[15]

By 1957, Wiens had completed his required apprenticeship time and was finally ready to start practicing as a fully accredited architect.[16][17] He would start his own firm called Clifford Wiens Architect Ltd.[16][17] This firm would practice in Regina over the next forty years, and complete more than one hundred projects.[16] With this firm in place, Wiens would begin his work on his first major project that he had the lead position on, the St. Joseph's Church, in Whitewood.[8] This project began in 1958 and was completed in 1959.[8] It was a simple triangular design for both aesthetic reasons, but more so because the slanted roof that reaches the ground would help it protect itself from the congregation of prairie winds that it would face.[8]

Clifford Wiens worked with Clifford Wiens Architects Ltd. from 1957 to 1969 and complete a series of notable projects after the St. Joseph's Church in Whitewood.[16][8] Some examples of these are the John Nugent Studio (1960), the Round Auditorium, Connaught School and other school auditoria (1960–1961), the Mennonite Brethren Church (1961), and the Heating and Cooling Plant at the University of Regina (1967).[15][8][9][18] These projects were among the main reasons that the firm was so successful. Clifford Wiens Architects Ltd. was published as an exemplar of the remarkable flowering of Canadian Architecture in the wake of Expo 67 because of these projects.[16][10]

In 1970 Clifford Wiens Architects Ltd would go on to change its name to Wiens and Associates Ltd. due to its increase in size.[10] Wiens and Associates Ltd. would continue to work on a series of noteworthy projects, except now they had the opportunity to expand their operation outside of Regina.[10] Some of these were the Nakusp Hot Springs Resort in Nakusp, British Columbia (1974), and the R.C. Dahl Centre in Swift Current (1974).[8][19] Wiens and Associates Ltd. would be a temporary name however, as in 1979 Wiens would partner with architect Ross Johnstone and rename the firm Wiens Johnstone Architects Ltd.[16][10]

Through this partnership, the firm would work on more prominent large scale projects. Some examples of this are the CBC Studios in Regina (1983), Prince Albert City Hall in Prince Albert (1984), and the Administration Building for the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon (1987).[15][8][9] This partnership would eventually end in 1987 and it was remarked by Leslie Jen in the Canadian Architect that "The province languished for almost two solid decades, architecturally and otherwise." as an indirect result.[15][16]

Wiens settled into a part time role as a visiting professor and lecturer at several post-secondary institutions across both Canada and the United States during the middle to later years of his career.[16][9] His lectures took place at the Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Manitoba, Calgary, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the North Dakota State University.[16][9] He visited these Universities throughout his career, but served as a professor at the University of Manitoba in 1968, University of Calgary in 1977, and the University of British Columbia in 1985.[16][20]

Wiens would continue to practice architecture after the annulment, but it was under Clifford Wiens Architect Ltd. until his retirement in 1994.[15][16][17]

During Wiens's second stint with Clifford Wiens Architect Ltd. his only major project would be the Auxiliary Building at the Augustana University College (1986).[10] This building provides a space for large art studios, faculty offices and classrooms to the university as it is still utilized to this day.[10]

Clifford Wiens was well known as an indefatigable worker as he practiced design and acted as a consultant for over sixty years.[21][9] He would have continued work as well if he had not been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994.[10] Once Wiens was diagnosed, he closed his practice and moved the Arizona briefly.[21][16] This trip would last two years, before he would return to Canada and settle to live in Vancouver with his wife.[21][16] He would continue working as a consultant, mainly for residential buildings during the early years of his retirement.[10] His main focus during this time however, became poetry and philosophy, as Clifford Wiens would write a number of books on both topics.[10] Some of these include Poetry en Prose (2015), Joke, Joke, Jokes, Joke Collection Book (2015), Patricia et al (2016), and All in Verse - Continued Thinking (2018).[10]

During his career, Wiens was described as a 'Poet Architect' by many, with Abraham Rogatnick coining the term for him.[7][10] Wiens took this as the compliment it was, as he had always tried to make his buildings poetic, stating "Very early in my life, I was given to writing limericks but I did not start writing more seriously until the end of my architectural career".[7] His buildings would make poetry out of their novel structural techniques and through the evident chain of communication between client, architect and user.[22] In the roof space of his studio on Albert Street in Regina, was a 1/4 inch plate of steel, shaped as a concave arch hanging from a frame of steel pipes was one example of this as its structure was innovative for its time, and the work behind the scenes between all interested parties was immense.[10]

Wiens would also take to writing in his later years, publishing over 17 works.[22] These would range from his life during the Great Depression, to his poetry about the loss of his wife during his retirement.[23]

Wiens believed in a few simple principles. He has stated that the basic tenets of good design and construction have no changed much over time: that architecture is all about pleasing the eye, mind, and body.[24][10] While aesthetics are important, the architect should still construct something that will work.[9][7] He also heavily emphasized the importance of respecting the needs, wants, and resources of the client.[10] He stated, "To do otherwise is to lose credibility and consequently the opportunity to serve again, for without the client the privilege of shaping space does not exist." in the documentary Architect Clifford Wiens Industrial Chic.[25] He strongly believed that the client needs to be the boss of any project.

Wiens was a revolutionary architect during the post World War II era in Canada, and thus had a key role to play in developing an architectural style for Mid-Western Canada.[24][7] His style of choice was Modernism. He believed it to be a strong building block to allow future generations to expand upon it, while not forgetting the past principles of architecture.[10] In the documentary on one of his projects, Architect Clifford Wiens Industrial Chic, Wiens states that Modernism is not isolated from the principles of classical architecture: "The way the building works, the way the building is situated, and the way it expresses the essence of modern materials," is what makes a building a part of the modernist movement.[7][25] These concepts are shared with all buildings that were constructed with a more classical design.[25]

Wiens was also a firm believer that an architect's job is to improve what they touch.[23][9] Wiens would constantly be trying to take his various designs for both buildings and agricultural projects and enhance them wherever possible.[23] A saying he would often use was "When architects do things well, it left the world a little bit improved,".[9]

Wiens was only married once in his life, and that was to Patricia Elizabeth Leigh.[26][7] She graduated in the Fine arts at the University of Manitoba in 1952.[27] Like Wiens, she loved nature, and its connection to the human spirit.[27] She was particularly fond of pottery, and would teach it for her career.[27] Mrs. Wiens was considered an intellectual and creative partner to Clifford Wiens.[26] She acquired a fine arts degree from the University of Manitoba, and worked as an assistant on the Saskatchewan Arts Board.[26] They were married in 1956 and remained married until her death in 2018.[26] During their sixty-two years of marriage, they had six children and twelve grandchildren.[26][28] Due to both Clifford and Patricia Wiens being particularly passionate about nature and art, all of their children pursued careers in creative professions, such as cuisine, jewelry, and design.[26][28] For example, Clifford Wiens's second child Robin Poitras, is a co-founder of the New Dance Horizons in Regina.[10] She has received the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Government Lifetime Achievement in the Arts award for her performances with New Dance Horizons.[10]