At the 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June, the Association honoured its newest Members of Long Standing—individuals who have reached the milestone of 50 years of membership with the OAA as part of Ontario’s architecture profession. Among the recipients this year was James C. Strasman.

An accomplished architect, Strasman has won the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Gold Medal, and is a founding principal for Strasman Architects and a Fellow of the RAIC. For more than 50 years, he has been recognized by both his clients and peers for his collaborative approach, innovative design, and award-winning projects.

Strasman graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1962 with his degree in architecture. After leaving school, he and his wife, May, drove across Canada in their 1954 Willys Aero to Montreal. They stayed in Montreal for two years, fascinated by the exciting architectural landscape and the activity of the new subway system construction and the planning for the upcoming Expo‘67.

While working with Victor Prus, Strasman was part of the design for two new subway stations—Metro Mont Royale and Metro Bonaventure—as well as getting involved with early master-planning and the stadium design for Expo‘67. In 1964, the Strasmans left Montreal and sailed for Europe. In Wolfsberg, Germany, they bought a little red Volkswagen 1500 Station Wagon, crossed the Alps, and ended up in the beautiful small town of Lugano, Switzerland. While there, Strasman worked with Guido Borella designing an orphanage and an Alpine Chapel in the village of Carì.

On returning to Canada in 1965, he joined Erickson Massey in Vancouver, working on projects such as the MacMillan Bloedel Building and the B.C. Pavilion for the Expo‘70 in Osaka, Japan. By 1969, the Strasmans had relocated to Toronto, where he opened the local office of Arthur Erickson Architects as the principal in charge of design. While leading the Toronto office, he also led the design of the new Bank of Canada building in Ottawa, and both the Eglinton West and Yorkdale Subway stations on the new Spadina Subway Line.

Strasman Architects was founded in 1976. The firm’s very first commission—the Wandich Cottage—won many awards, including the RAIC Gold Medal, and international acclaim. Building on that success, Strasman Architects continued to grow and over more than 40 years has established an enviable reputation as a leading design firm in the fields of transit, industrial, commercial, and residential design, as well as master planning.

After 50 years of practice as an OAA member, Jim is still very much an active part of his practice and the architectural community in Ontario. With his partners at SAI—Shawn and Liz Strasman, his son and daughter-in-law, and Richard Shaw—he continues to design unique and creative projects that are focused on being buildable, affordable, and sustainable. Now that he has reached this milestone, rather than slow down, he’s planning which goals he will accomplish in the next 50 years!