Green, Blankstein, Russell

Green, Blankstein, Russell

 Green, Blankstein, Russell (GBR), prominent architectural firm in Winnipeg, founded 1932 by L.J. Green (1899-1969) and Cecil N. Blankstein (b 1908; d 20 June 1989), who were joined 1934 by G.L. Russell (1901-77) and Ralph C. Ham (d 1940). All were graduates of the School (later Faculty) of Architecture at University of Manitoba. In the 1930s the firm's most notable work was a series of housing proposals for the city of Winnipeg that eventually bore fruit with the design of Wildwood Park (1946) subdivision. Based on the plan of Radburn, NJ, it was the first residential garden suburb on the Prairies.

 The 1950s saw GBR do buildings at U of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Post Office, Norquay office building, and Polo Park Shopping Centre. In the next decades it won competitions for Winnipeg's city hall and international airport. Over these three decades, GBR helped bring modernist architecture to Manitoba and continues today under the same name.