Architect left ‘indelible’ mark on downtown
The American architect who designed the Art Gallery of Alberta, a landmark swirl of steel, patinated zinc and glass on the northeast corner of Churchill Square in Edmonton, has died.
Randall Stout died July 11 from renal cell cancer, said Sabina Lira, spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based Randall Stout Architects Inc. The 56-year-old leaves behind a wife and three children.
Lira said the AGA was the “last iconic project” that Stout was able to see through completion and attend the opening of. The $88-million project opened in 2010 and replaced the Edmonton Art Gallery, built in 1968.
“We’re now carrying on forward with his current projects and continuing his legacy,” Lira said.
Catherine Crowston, executive director of the AGA, said Stout created a building that has become a symbol of Edmonton.
“He wanted to make sure he built a building that would be something that people in Edmonton would want to have in their city,” she said. “He made an indelible mark on the downtown urban landscape of Edmonton.”
In 2012, Randall Stout Architects was awarded the American Architecture Award for the AGA’s design.
Stout, a Tennessee native, won the commission to build the gallery in 2005, following a competition that drew submissions from more than two dozen architects.
Stout had spent seven years working with famed American architect Frank Gehry and later started his own firm that specialized in galleries and museums and art schools. In a 2010 Edmonton Journal interview, Stout said he thought about the northern lights, the long winter nights, the river valley, and the rigid grid of the city streets when he designed the AGA.
He drew inspiration from numerous walks through downtown and along the river, where he was struck by the natural curl and flow of the North Saskatchewan and its opposition to the linear layout of downtown.
A massive swoop of aluminum and stainless steel, known as the “Borealis,” curls through the building inside and out. The design, however, was not without controversy.
“I think that comes with the territory,” Stout told the Journal. “Whenever you do really cutting-edge architecture, a lot of people don’t get it, or don’t want to give it a chance.”
Crowston described Stout as a kind and gentle person who listened carefully to what his client wanted.
“He was really conscious and caring, not just of what the building looked like, but how it functioned,” Crowston said.
Allan Scott, for mer chairman of the AGA board, worked closely with Stout during the design, construction and opening of the 85,000-square-foot building.
“He was a real fine southern gentleman and a real team player,” Scott said. “He spent a lot of time here in Edmonton trying to understand the city and understand the site and understand our functional requirements, and at the same time he created an inspirational and iconic building for the city.”