PARNASS, Harry
March 19, 1935 - January 1, 2021
Harry David Parnass, 85, died of cancer at home in Highland Beach FL on January 1, 2021. He was an innovative and acclaimed architect, fashion designer, educator and entrepreneur.
Born in Germany, Harry emigrated with his parents Morris and Lina to New York in 1936. He spent his childhood years in Los Angeles pursuing a career as an actor and pianist. He returned to New York in 1948 on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah, later graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1952.
Harry matriculated at Mcgill and Sir George Williams College in Montreal. Immersion in the 1950s art and coffee house scene with fraternity brother Leonard Cohen kindled a passion for creativity and design that later led to graduate degrees in architecture at Columbia and urban design at Harvard.
As Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the Université de Montreal (1965-1991), Harry inspired a generation of students to strive for meaningful improvements to the built environment for the betterment of society. He also taught design studios at Mcgill and at the Technion Institute in Israel.
Harry's influential treatise "Metro Education" with Michel Lincourt on network and process-based urban design for education led to the foundation of General Urban Systems design consultancy and numerous commissions from the Canadian government, the United Nations, France and Israel. He also developed projects to revitalize waterfront areas of major cities across Canada. A visionary in planning and design, Harry created a prototype for an environmentally conscious arctic city, long before these considerations were mainstream. He also received numerous awards including the IBM International Design Fellowship as well as the American Institute of Architects Wade Fellowship.
After designing retail stores and a clothing line for Le Château, in 1977 Harry cofounded Parachute with Nicola Pelly. The brand's avant-garde clothing presented in his starkly minimalist stores quickly became an international fashion phenomenon with a celebrity clientele.
From 1993 Harry served as Founding President of the Institut de Design Montréal, a tripartite government-supported organization to promote design research and development. In 2003 Harry became Founding President of Sauvé Scholars, a non-profit foundation based at Mcgill dedicated to nurturing leadership amongst post-graduates.
Harry spoke of his life as "a work in progress" or "en charette", being built while constantly on the go. A passionate world traveler, he was happiest by the sea and sharing adventures with his family.
Harry is survived by his wife Wei Su, as well as his children Jordan and Alexandra (Sacha) with Linda Hilliard Parnass (deceased), Talia and Arik with Nicola Pelly. He is also survived by grandchildren Micah, Shiloh, Benjamin and Saul.