MANILA, Philippines -Who is the leading 19th-century architect who founded the American Institute of Architects and designed homes for prominent families like the Vanderbilts and the Astors?
He was born on Oct. 31, 1827 in Vermont. After his father’s early death, his mother took the family to Europe where he took an interest in architecture.
He became the first American architect to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, the principal architectural school in the world. He worked under architect HM Lefuel for nine years before returning to New York to establish an independent career. There he became a leader in his profession and in establishing the American Institute of Architects.
In New York, he attempted to transplant French rationalist design, but by the early 1870s he moved toward the popular Victorian High Gothic, as in the New York Tribune Building, which topped out a 260 feet as the tallest building in the world during that time.
In 1879 he began planning a large country house for William Kissam Vanderbilt on Long Island, beginning a long and fruitful association with a family known for their opulent mansions in the Gilded Age. Among these were the William K. Vanderbilt house, Petit Chateau in New York and Marble House in Rhode Island, the George Washington Vanderbilt House Biltmore Estate, the largest private mansion in America, in North Carolina and the Cornelius Vanderbilt House, the Breakers on Rhode Island.
He also built homes for Marshall Field in Chicago, James Pinchot’s Grey Towers in Pennsylvania, Archibald Rogers in New York, and John Jacob Astor on Fifth Avenue. Most of these were in either Chateau, Romanesque Revival, or Tudor Revival styles.
He also designed the Theological Library and Marquand Chapel in Princeton, the Scroll and Key building in Yale, and the Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard. Late in life, he became involved in the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, at which his Administration Building received the gold medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
In New York City, his handiwork can be seen on the austere pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and on the elegant 5th Avenue Facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also built churches like the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Long Island and the Cathedral of Souls at Biltmore Village.
His greatest influence was his insistence that architects be treated, paid as legitimate and respected professionals equivalent to doctors and lawyers.
He received numerous awards and honors including an honorary doctorate from Harvard University — the first architect to receive such an honor; the Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects — the first American architect to be so honored. He was also an honorary member of the Academie Française and a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in France.
Last week’s question: Who is this Dutch sculptor whose figurative installations combine a touch of ironic Old Master tableaux vivant-style composition with a strong dose of the macabre?
Answer: Folkert de Jong
Winner: Eric Nicholo Cruz
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