In mid-May 2025, Windsor-based William Kachmaryk, wrote to the OAA in recognition of his 60th year as an Architect. With his permission, his note is shared here.
The Canada memorial day once held in honour of Queen Victoria, the Maid of the Thames and the Widow of Windsor, bless her royal monarch heart, coincides with my birthday: May 18. This year is one of those quarterly leap-year events where one follows the other. It is a landmark for my birth (89 years!) and a landmark year in another respect: my OAA licence registration was in 1964 and my certificate of practice (CoP) was in 1965. I filled in my qualification book in short order so in total I’ve maintained my licence to practise architecture for 60 years!
Not too many have achieved this 60-year landmark; I think of the likes of Babe Ruth hitting 60 home runs. Even if it was surpassed by others, from my perspective it is still a “landmark" ( a word closely associated with architecture). I have gotten the total picture of what it’s all about: "satisfaction."
Becoming part of a network with international connections through my contacts over the last 60 years has been wonderful. My projects undertaken include U.S. buildings, Dutch and British medium-rise banks in then-Ceylon (and now Sri Lanka), housing studies in Trinidad, and a Canadian chancery in Ukraine on request from Tebodin /Moscow for compliance with the National Building Code of Canada (NBC).
Over my six decades of OAA registration, I spent time on OAA Council (1971 to 1973, 1976 to 1979, and 2001 to 2003), and these experiences helped fully revealed the honour of being an established OAA member.
To our new members, I say take part in our Association and it will open doors that one would not expect. It will open them in ways that bring multiple surprises and various categorical rewards. I feel like the practice of architecture is conceptual Euclidean comprehension.
/wk
You can check out some of the author's past blOAAg posts on his previous sketch work, including Windsor Central Business District and Windsor Superior Court from 2023 and this collection from 2024.
