462 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 80 PART 3 MAY 2022
Despite his successes with
courthouses and other building
projects in the province,
Hooper’s architectural practice
declined upon an economic
downturn in 1913. In
1914 or 1915, he moved that
practice from British Columbia
to New York. However, he had
financial struggles there too
and, in 1927, returned to Vancouver,
poorly off. He died on
New Year’s Day in 1935.
The kind of neoclassical
style that Hooper contributed
to British Columbia’s courthouses remains, to many, the epitome of public
building design. An executive order that U.S. President Trump signed in late
2020 (when originally drafted, referred to as the “Make Federal Buildings
Beautiful Again” order, but when issued simply titled “Promoting Beautiful
Federal Civic Architecture”) encouraged use of classical and certain other
traditional styles in federal buildings, including courthouses. The executive
order noted that “President George Washington and Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important buildings in
Washington, D.C., on the classical architecture of ancient Athens and
Rome” and “sought to use classical architecture to visually connect our contemporary
Republic with the antecedents of democracy in classical antiquity,
reminding citizens not only of their rights but also their
responsibilities in maintaining and perpetuating its institutions”.22
Although we have no reason to believe he opposes neoclassical design (if
he did, he would likely be quite unhappy in the neoclassical White House),
President Biden rescinded Trump’s executive order; predictably enough,
Trump’s order had been very controversial. In doing so, Biden potentially
averted a constitutional challenge in the courts whose design was part of its
subject matter.23
ENDNOTES
1. This piece is based on sources including David L.
Stubby, “From the Court House to the White House,
Palladio Had Influence”, The New York Times (26
August 1973) 125; Edward Mills, The Early Court
Houses of British Columbia, vols I and II (Parks
Canada, Manuscript Report Number 288, November
1977); EA Lucas, “The New Court House”
(1951) 9 Advocate 155; “Hooper, Thomas (1859-
1935)”, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in
Canada 1800 – 1950, online: <dictionaryofarchi
tectsincanada.org/node/1524>; Murray B Blok,
“Vancouver Courthouses: A Pictorial History Part I:
1867–1911” (2010) 68 Advocate 197; Murray B
Blok, “Vancouver Courthouses: A Pictorial History
Thomas Hooper’s Robson Annex under construction (photographed circa 1911)
– City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 1219-3
/1524
/1524