Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1958-2014 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
11 sketchbooks, 28 journals, 58 photographs, and other materials.
58 photographs:
14 photographs (5 b&w and 9 col. prints)
44 negatives (20 b&w and 24 col.)
Other materials:
3 architectural drawings on 5 sheets : 2 prints and 1 watercolour
2 proposals (containing 6 architectural drawings : watercolours)
2 publications
1 medal
1 certificate
1 CD-R (121 digital files; jpg ; 100 MB)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Roger Ian Kemble was born on 4 July 1929 in Hull, Yorkshire, England. He was educated at St. Peter’s, York, England’s oldest public school. Kemble migrated to British Columbia in 1951 and studied at the Architectural Institute of British Columbia from 1952 to 1956 and at the Jan Zach Atelier in Victoria from 1954 to 1957 where he studied design, painting, and sculpture. He received a master degree in urban design from the University of British Columbia School of Urban and Regional Planning in 1986. Kemble was a resident of Vancouver from 1958 to 1997 and then lived in Mexico City from 1997 to 1998 where he was guest lecturer at the Universidad Nacional. Following his two years in Mexico he moved to Nanaimo, B.C. Kemble established his own firm, Roger Kemble, Architect, in 1960. Among the leading early postmodern architects in Canada, Kemble’s creative approach to design in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in a series of colourful, plywood-box residences in the Vancouver area. The design was a sharp departure from the then popular post and beam style of residential design. Notable projects include his MacDonald Residence (1964), West Residence (1964), 16” Telescope Housing Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (1967), Milne Residence (1967), Gray Residence (1970), Culhane Residence (1974), and Smith Villa (1982). In 1989 he published The Canadian City: St. John's to Victoria: A Critical Commentary, University of Ottawa Press, which brings together his sketches, studies, and reflections on the state of urban design in Canada. Kemble travelled across Canada visiting sixteen cities as part of the research for the book and his master of urban design degree. Kemble was known as an enfant terrible in the Vancouver architecture scene and was recognized for his critical views of current architecture in his writings and public speaking. He was a regular contributor to The Canadian Architect magazine.
Kemble received one Massey Medal for Architecture in 1967 for his Telescope Housing Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Little Saanich Mountain, Victoria, B.C. He was also a finalist for the Massey Medals in 1964 for his Stuart MacDonald Residence David West Residence, both projects in West Vancouver. He also received a National Canadian Housing Design Council award in 1964 and the Canadian Architecture Yearbook award of excellence in 1981.
Kemble was a direct descendent of the famous English family of acting Kemble's. His uncle, Charles Kemble, was the last of the acting Kemble's to pass away in the early 1970's.
Roger Kemble passed away on 24 July 2023.
Repository
Archival history
The materials were held at the residence of Roger Kemble, transferred to the residence of his daughter, Juliet Kemble, and then transferred to the Canadian Architectural Archives on March 2, 2023 and March 24, 2025.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Accession 2023.08 was donated to the Canadian Architectural Archives by Juliet Kemble and Amanda Rotherham on March 2, 2023. Accession 2025.12 was donated to the Canadian Architectural Archives by Juliet Kemble and Amanda Rotherham on March 24, 2025.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Consists of eleven sketchbooks created by Roger Kemble between 1964 and 1997. The sketchbooks primarily contain Kemble’s sketches and paintings but also include notes, thoughts, poems, ideas, concepts, and inspirations. The sketches largely relate to Kemble’s architectural practice but also include portraits, studies, and various other sketches. The fonds also includes twenty-eight journals from 1992 to 2007. The contents of the journals are daily personal journal entries interspersed with sketches that document or accompany the text. Also included are photographs of the Smith Villa and the Imperial Oil Service Station, two client proposals created by Kemble, a Massey Medal for Architecture that Kemble received in 1967, copies of his books The Canadian City and The View from Chapel Street, and a CD-R containing 121 digital copies of photographs from the 1960s to 1990s. The digital photographs consist of 92 views of Kemble’s architectural projects and his studio, plus 29 family photographs.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Series 3 Journals is closed. Journals 1992-1994 and 1999-2007 are closed for 40 years from the date of their creation, followed by restricted access for an additional 20 years. Journals 1995-1998 are closed for 50 years from the date of their creation, followed by restricted access for an additional 30 years. Requests for access must be directed to the archivist.
Conditions governing reproduction
The University of Calgary fulfills requests for materials in our collections in accordance with Canadian copyright laws. The University of Calgary does not hold the copyright for materials in the Roger Kemble fonds. The University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources may provide materials for individual study and research purposes under fair dealing and library exceptions in the Canadian Copyright Act. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use the content must be obtained for any works under copyright protection. Patrons are responsible for ensuring they use copyright-protected works in accordance with applicable laws.
Language of material
English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Includes archival material from accession 2023.08 and 2025.12