Lögberg-Heimskringla - 24.01.1997, Blaðsíða 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 24, januar 1997 • 7
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Paul Melsted Clemens —
The First Icelandic Architect?
With the emigration of Ice-
landers to the Western
Hemisphere, in particular to
Manitoba and Winnipeg, a sorrowful
chapter in Iceland’s history began. Many
a worthy man Ieft his native land never
to retum, except in writings. An estimated
20% of the nation scraped up enough
money to cover the fare. In 1886 the
family of Paul M. Clemens sold every-
thing and moved West across the ocean.
However, this family’s destination was
not Winnipeg, as it was for most others,
but the city of Chicago. There they settled
and lived for some time.
Paul M. Clemens was bom in Reykja-
vík on August 4th, 1870. He studied
architecture in Chicago and after finishing
his education he began work at a drafting
studio in the State of Illinois. Little is
known about his life and work until the
year 1900. We do know that during his
years of schooling he had other interests
besides architecture. He became in-
terested in the teachings of Henry George,
an economist, to which he adhered
throughout his life. He was also an active
participant in an association called the
“Single Tax Reform Club.” He wrote
articles on this subject, published under
a pen name, for papers and magazines
both in the U.S.A. and Canada. The
reason for the pen name was that Henry
George’s teachings were considered
radical in the land of opportunities.
Therefore men like Paul, who depended
on the private sector for their work,
thought it safer to express their views in
this manner. As mentioned before, we
know little about Paul M. Clemens until
1900. That year he took a three-week
holiday from the job at the drafting studio
in the Chicago area and went to visit his
parents, among others, who had then
moved to Winnipeg, then, and still the
capital of Icelanders in North America.
These three weeks became just over
20 years, as a short time later he had his
own drafting business and plenty of work
for Icelandic enterpreneurs in Winnipeg.
The work of these Icelandic builders in
Winnipeg around the tum of the century
is a chapter by itself, and we will discuss
that in a later article. However, these were
some unique and interesting characters
who established themselves as builders
in the new land.
Some of these men became well-
known in Iceland, where stories about
them and their wealth were passedaround
like fairy tales. They were involved in
building a variety of stmctures all the way
from single-family homes to train stations
and other specialized buildings, although
their main work was in the area of single-
family homes. Before going any further,
for the sake of architects interested in
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Left: Paul Clemens, seated, middle row,
far right.
Below: Residence on Wolseley Avenue for
Thomas Wilson by Paul M. Clemens
geneology we should explain Paul M.
Clemens’ geneology.
Upon arrival in the Westem Hemi-
sphere, the family chose to use the
Clemens name as a family name. The
name was an excellent anglicized version
of one of Paul’s forefathers, Runólfur
Klemensson. This Runólfur was for some
time a manager of the “Innréttingar” in
Reykjavík. In Iceland Paul was baptized
and given the name Páll Melsteð Jónsson,
and here we end his genealogy.
It would be too lengthy to trace Paul’s
entire life and career in one article unless
it were serialized. Much of his work is of
course closely connected to that of
Icelandic enterpreneurs in Winnipeg and
the city’s construetion history. He
designed single-family, as well as multi-
family, buildings for these men, many of
whom are among the architectural jewels
of Winnipeg from that time.
Contracting out was common at the
tum of the century and Paul frequently
entered in the competition. He was also
an advocate of high rises and made plans
for some in downtown Winnipeg. How-
ever, none were built, as zoning and
building regulations in the city at the time
did not allow for buildings more than six
stories high. His interest in such buildings
is understandable, particularly in light of
the fact that he studied architecture in
Chicago at the time of champions such
as D. Adler and L. Sullivan. Among
Paul’s works are many churches, schools
and industrial buildings. Some of these
buildings still stand as a monument to
their creator. Paul’s churches varied in
style and building material. He made a
sketch of a frame church in Gimli and an
addition to a church in Aurora, Illinois at
the corner of Main and Root Street.
Besides the afore-mentioned, Paul
entered a competition for the design of
the Manitoba Legislative Building, which
at the time was the second largest
Legislative Building in North America.
He received second prize in a competition
for the Edmonton City Hospital.
Paul’s mind was in many ways
always connected to Iceland. He rarely
wrote a letter without mentioning the “old
country” in one way or another. There he
relied on memories, as he was 16 years
old when his family moved West. Like
many of his countrymen in the West, Paul
took interest in Iceland’s progress.
Unfortunately many people today do not
realize how great the expatriates’
contribution was to development and
progress in Iceland. We can mention, for
example, that they contributed hand-
somely to the establishment of the
Eimskip Co., in Iceland. After nearly
every disaster at sea or land in Iceland,
Westem-Icelanders collected money to
support the people affected in the “old
country.” Paul did his part in supporting
and contributing to the development of
Iceland. The political discussion on
Continued on page 6