Arthur H. Cowie moved to Vancouver in his early 30s (1966), armed with a Fellowship to study planning at U.B.C. He had lived and studied in England, Australia and eastern Canada, but this time, in his own words, the city worked its magic. “I fell in love,” he said, and decided to stay.
Michael Geller, in a “Memorium” published in the BCSLA’s Sitelines magazine, after Art Cowie’s death in 2009, described the impact of the landscape architect and politician who, according to then Premier Gordon Campbell, “was generous with his time and passionate” about his city.
“He cared about this place we call community,” Geller wrote, quoting the words of friends and colleagues: he was, at once, “A Renaissance man. Persistent. Publicly spirited. Passionate. Visionary. Stubborn. Sweet. A great British Columbian.”
“Art was widely revered as an ideas’ person,” said Geller. His ideas were vital, his interests many and diverse and his persistence admirable.” He had established Eikos Planning Inc. (1971), forging a closely-knit team of LAs, planners and architects. The multidimensional firm (then unusual in BC), reflected his varied passions: innovative landscapes, alternative forms of affordable housing, integration of transit and park planning and design. He was an early proponent of environmental planning. The company prepared over 35 regional, community and neighbourhood plans, serving as consultant planners for Nanaimo, Oak Bay, White Rock, and many others. For a time, Cowie became Director of Planning for Delta.
Cowie spent considerable time serving his professional community (he was BCSLA President for three terms), and he valued his LA achievements: what he called his “small contributions to the city” (parks, residential developments, homes and gardens). In later years, however, he was particularly proud of his political contribution. He was elected to the Vancouver Parks Board, and brought major change to city policy, ensuring that all major park designs were contracted to private landscape architectural firms, introducing design competitions, and promoting LAs on staff.
He was elected to the BC Legislature in 1991, and in short order became known as one of “Vancouver’s most upbeat politicians.” Later he worked as a government advisor, then re-established Eikos primarily as an advisory service. He began to successfully develop small housing projects, and shared innovative ideas on his website.
Just months before his death, Cowie spoke to the BCSLA membership through Sitelines magazine, urging LAs to become politically involved. “There is a very real need for trained professionals who are able to see the “bigger” picture and rise above partisanship,” he wrote, “to ensure creative and environmentally sustainable designs are created.”
Sources
“Arthur Robert Cowie, MCIP, FCSLA,” by Michael Geller, MALBC, FCIP. Republished in Sitelines magazine (BCSLA)…. Originally published in Planning West, Planning Institute of British Columbia, Vol. 51, No. 4. Photo by Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier. Sitelines, Feb, 2010, page 4
Georgia Straight, November 23, 2009. Charlie Smith.
Landscape Architecture Canada. PEOPLE column, by Jane Redpath. April, 1981.
“A Challenge,” from Art Cowie, MBCSLA, FCSLA, MCIP. Sitelines. (April 20, 2009, page 6)
