Moriyama, Raymond Raphael Junichi, 1929-2023

Raymond Moriyama was born on October 11th, 1929 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He spent part of his teenage years interned as a Japanese Canadian in the British Columbia interior. After the War, his family moved to Hamilton, Ontario where he attended high school. He received his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Toronto School of Architecture (1954) and his Masters of Architecture at McGill University (1957 - Architecture and Planning). Moriyama worked for the City of Toronto Planning Board (1955-1956) then the architectural firm of Fleury, Arthur and Barclay (1957-1958). He left to set up his own practice in Yorkville, Raymond Moriyama, Architects and Planners, later relocating the firm to the renowned 32 Davenport Road site in 1966. For a period around 1958, Moriyama was associated with Murray Watts. In 1970, he went into partnership with Ted Teshima.

Moriyama attracted important residential and business clients while developing his practice, but was mainly known for institutional commissions. His early well-known projects include Edwards Gardens shelter, 1958; the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, 1963; Brock University, 1969; and the Scarborough Town Centre, 1973. Moriyama received the Massey Medal for architecture in 1961 and 1975 and was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal in 1997, in recognition of his achievement and contribution to the profession. In 1982, Moriyama won the Governor General's Medal for Architecture for his design of a Japanese Ceremonial Bell and for the Metro Toronto Reference Library. He received this honour again in 1987 for his design of Science North (Sudbury, Ontario).

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