Etienne Gaboury graduated in 1953 from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts in Latin Philosophy. After which he decided to apply to the School of Architecture at the university. Having won several design awards and prizes during his studies, Gaboury graduated with a B.A. in 1958, and was subsequently awarded a Government of France bursary to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he completed his studies in 1959.
Upon his return to Manitoba, he was hired as a design architect by Libling Michener Architects in Winnipeg. He worked for the firm for two years before departing to open his own office, accompanied by his brother Adrien who joined him as a draftsman and manager. In a very short time, Gaboury established a reputation as a prairie architect with a strong regionalist approach to design, in his own words, “a philosophy sensitive to the environment: sun, moon, wind, extreme cold, heat. Functionalist principles were vital, but spirituality and emotional content were paramount, thus decreeing that all aspects of functionalism were to be considered: the spiritual and emotional as well as the physical. Gaboury states “Architecture must house both the body and the soul.”
In 1998, Gaboury merged his firm into a new partnership with Guy Préfontaine and David Perry to become Gaboury Préfontaine Perry Architects. Under this new imprimatur, Gaboury’s most recent projects have included the Norway House School, the St. Boniface University College Student Centre, the Provencher Bridge and the Esplanade Riel. The Canadian embassy in Mexico, the technical college in Abidjan, the Nelson House school in northern Manitoba, as well as several buildings in Winnipeg: the Mint; Saint Boniface Cathedral; Église du Précieux-Sang; and the Provencher Bridge; are amongst his most important works.
