Victoria Modern

Thought I would post some of my research findings for a new project I am currently working on in Victoria BC.

The highly inventive Trend House, Saanich, 1954, a demonstration house for the lumber industry, was tremendously influential. Modest in size (825 square feet), it was the smallest of the eleven Trend Houses, but easily the most dramatic, with an angular floor plan and soaring roof anchored by a massive central chimney. Throughout his career, Di Castri retained a singular vision of modernism, one that did not shy away from historical references or decorative elaboration.
article courtesy of Modernism In Victoria 1945-1975 by Donald Luxton and Associates.

Trend House brochure

About the Architect

Born in Victoria, John Di Castri showed an interest in the Arts from an early age, becoming a talented architect, writer, musician and skillful painter. As a young man, Di Castri admired the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and went to study with the formers most eminent pupil, Bruce Goff, at the University of Oklahoma. See below for some of my favorites Di Castri works.

Green Orange Composition 1956

Brown Green Orange Compostion 1971

Totemic Compostion 1958

Returning to Victoria and opening a practice in 1951, Di Castri became the architectural brains behind the modernist movement, displayed in some of Victoria's most well-trodden landmarks; including the addition to the Royal B.C. Museum, Centennial Square, the CNIB building, several local churches, the Trend House and University of Victoria campus buildings.

Improvisation Composition 1956

Westcoast Mysticisim II 1954

Adolescence Composition 1967

Homage to Mondrian 1952

Committed to the fulfillment of man's need for a significant environment, Di Castri injected modernism, low profile, and organic design into Victoria's architectural landscape.

images via WinchesterGalleriesLtd.com