Mr. Carlos Ventin

Ontario

2013 Governors' Award

Carlos Ventin was trained as an architect in his homeland of Argentina at the University Resistencia and completed graduate studies in Climate and Architecture in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. After emigrating to Canada in 1965, and settling in London, Ontario, he joined the Board of Education as a Project Architect. He soon relocated to Simcoe to work for W.M. Smale. Smale passed away prematurely in 1970 and Carlos acquired and re-established the practice as C.A. Ventin Architects Ltd.

One of the firm’s earliest commissions was the restoration and refitting of “Lynnwood,” a Simcoe mansion that also won a Heritage Canada Foundation Award of Excellence, as the Norfolk Arts Centre. The local community was very impressed by Carlos’ work. It was his second job, repurposing the former Norfolk County buildings in downtown Simcoe as municipal offices that made him known across the province. This project was symbolic of all of his strengths and skills he had acquired over the past 4 decades.