Zoltan S. Kiss
Architect, B.ARCH, RCA, Potter, Painter

Zoltan S. Kiss is one of the contributors to the architecture of Simon Fraser University. He was responsible for designing and building the Academic Quadrangle according to design specifications outlined by Erickson and Massey, the architects responsible for the overall design of the university. Kiss built the Academic Quadrangle in two phases, starting the first phase in 1964 and finishing the second phase in 1967.

Zoltan S. Kiss was born in Menfocsanak, Hungary in 1924. He studied at the Technical University of Hungary in Budapest during the war, and then went to Denmark to continue his studies. He later moved to Canada and attended the University of British Columbia where he completed a degree in architecture in 1951. Kiss worked for Thompson Berwick Pratt from 1953 to 1962. In 1963 Kiss submitted an entry to the contest to design the new university that would be built on top of Burnaby Mountain. His design finished in third place. According to contest parameters, the top five winners would each be given a contract to build a section of the campus according to the winner's overall design. Kiss chose the Academic Quadrangle, and incorporated his own ideas and innovations with Erickson and Massey's concept. Kiss, upon winning third place in the competition, started his own practice. His other contributions to the architecture are Simon Fraser University President's house, student residences, the pub and Vancouver International Airport. Apart from being an architect Zoltan is recognized both as a potter and a painter.

His memoir: Without a Blueprint: Surviving in a Changing World (Sandor Press, 2005)