Henry Hobson Richardson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Henry Hobson Richardson, whose Richardson Romanesque buildings-inspired by 11th and 12th-century structures in Southern France, Italy and Spain-is a cornerstone of Yankee architecture.
A gregarious man whose personality seemed an honest match for his striking, stately buildings; Richardson was born in 1838 and raised by a family of planters in Louisiana.
Born: September 29, 1838 Louisiana, U.S.
Died: April 27, 1886 (aged 47) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater: Harvard College, Tulane University, École des Beaux Arts
Occupation: Architect
Buildings: Trinity Church, Boston
Design: Richardsonian Romanesque
Career:
An early mathematical prodigy, he began his schooling at Harvard establishing an early place in the northeast, furthermore as connections that may help him land impressive commissions for many years.
In 1860, Richardson would go then on to be the second American to review at the esteemed École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, an excellent thanks to studying the classics while escaping the war.
Forced to return before completing his studies-family financial backing had waned because of the national conflict-he moved to NY in 1865 and started his career.
Richardson didn’t stand out during his early years, even scuffling with money because of lack of labour, but by the first 1870s, he had completed two commissions, Trinity Church and the Buffalo asylum, that may make him a national star.
Legacy:
Henry Hobson Richardson is the 1st American architect of international renown - and the only one with an architectural style named after him.
Richardsonian Romanesque meshes different masonry materials and a bold scale. The style is as American as the man. It blends dissimilar materials into a cohesive and strong design.
He favoured granite and brownstones, blending the two materials with unique masonry arches and monumental windows, towers and buttresses and announced his buildings’ presence and permanence.
Indeed this vision has proven true - 150 years after his buildings were completed virtually all remain. They are too stately, too imposing, and too important to their communities’ identity to suffer demolition.
Boston is blessed with his singular masterpiece - the Trinity Church in Copley Square built in 1872.
Supposedly, the designer of the John Hancock Tower, Henry Cobb from I.M. Pei & Partners, decided the best design for a skyscraper standing in the presence of HH Richardson’s masterpiece is total invisibility - a mere reflecting wall for the magnificence of this historic church.
The City of Woburn is similarly blessed with another Richardson Masterpiece, the Winn Memorial Library, built in 1876. Public structures of the late 1800’s were among the most ornate and prominent buildings in America. Gentlemen such as Jonathan Winn and his family provided the funding, and a community benefited from an iconic structure that would last for centuries (we hope!).
Intriguing is Richardson’s propensity to work on humble structures as readily as grand and iconic buildings. The same detail and bold scale in his train stations in Framingham, Newton, Palmer, and Holyoke, MA is found in Trinity Church and the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail in Pittsburgh, PA.
In the short span of 20 years Richardson designed more than 50 buildings and his influence stretched for a full century.
Philosophy:
Richardson's philosophy evolved from classical Roman architecture and his distinctive interpretation of medieval arches and columns. This is illustrated in Richardsonian Romanesque. In medieval times, walls were thick for engineering, but Richardson chose these elements for their aesthetics and privacy.
Inspired but not dedicated to European architecture, his projects saw him establishing his signature style, full of heavy masonry walls, hipped roofs, curved arches, and sculptural forms.
His work was a formative influence on the movement for home-grown American architectural innovation and helped him build a practice that may work on a good array of building types across the country.
Quotes:
“There is a lot of work to do, isn’t it? And then to think that I may die here in the office at any moment. Well, there is no man in the whole world that enjoys life while it lasts as I do”
"I'll plan anything a man wants, from a cathedral to a chicken coop. That's the way I make my living.“
“Architects should not be made the convenience of contractors.”
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