Darrel Babuk was born on the prairies of western Canada. The son of a Canadian Pacific Railway Station Agent, he spent his childhood living in train stations in many different places throughout the prairies. His parentage was very Canadian; an eclectic mix of railway, clergy and military; one uncle was a Chaplain responsible for all Canadian Armed Forces personnel based in Europe, another was a decorated WW2 veteran of the Calgary Highlanders who was a colourful member of the Monarchist League of Canada.
Mr. Babuk studied architecture at Montana State University attaining both Professional and Master’s degrees. While a student and despite being Canadian, he was elected nationally to be the Vice President of the American Institute of Architecture students. Taking a year away from studies to live and work at the Institute in Washington, DC, he logged more than 80,000 miles visiting architecture students throughout the US to develop supporting programs. He represented US student viewpoints and presented papers to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Since then, Mr. Babuk has lived in various Canadian cities and Chicago; working in architectural practices in varying capacities in all of those cities. He is the Founding Principal of Babuk & Associates in Oak Park, Illinois. He is a Licensed Architect in Illinois and Montana; he has been presented with an Award of Merit by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for his work researching and promoting Canadian architecture in the United States.
Fluent in English and conversational in French, one project of Mr. Babuk’s architectural internship was the Canadian Diplomatic Complex in Algiers.
Mr. Babuk is a well known speaker on issues concerning Chicago’s architecture and railway heritage, as he is also about Canada’s architectural heritage. He has been featured in many Chicago media sources speaking to these topics, and is frequently called upon by out-of-town media for various on-air commentary that could only be described by a Canadian ex-Pat living in Chicago. In his off hours, he tinkers with old British cars, having been the proud owner of a 1977 Mini Clubman Estate and currently Chairman of the Scottish Motor Club.
For more information, to contact Darrel Babuk, to enquire about architecture, or to request that he speak at a function, contact him at info(at)babuk.com