
After leaving Hunt and the posh palaces he built for Alva Vanberbilt and others, David Garrard Lowe shifts his attention to the man who gave him his greatest writing glory, Stanford White. Both Hunt and White would change forever the look and style of New York City, Buffalo, Newport, and many other Northeastern cities. The late 1800's architecture was very English and some would say dull, with rows of brownstones and too much intrusion of nature. Hunt and others wished to suppress the disorderly influence of trees, mud, and hills and use architecture to bring order to the wilds of Manhattan. Hunt was no fan of the Central Park and Olmestead. Hunt, White, and others in the Beax Arts movement strove to change the muddy browns and neutrals into whites, yellows, and pinks. They imported styles from the Grand Canal in Venice, Versailles, the Arc de Triumph, and many other influences from Europe.
Unlike Hunt, who studied at the Ecole in Paris, White came from a poor family who could not afford to send him to college or Europe. Not sure if this is the cause of his enormous mustache. He used pictures of great buildings to inspire his designs. He was a skilled draughtsman and this made him invaluable and successful. At 19, he was running the Boston office of Gambrill and Richardson, his most famous work being the Trinity Church in Copley Square.
During my days living in Boston, I loved walking the streets around Beacon Hill, through Boston Commons and the Public Gardens, onto Commonwealth Ave. or Newbury and ending up in Copley Square. I enjoy McKim's Public Library, Trinity Church, and the old feel of Boston but I'm probably in the minority for loving I.M. Pei's Hancock building. I love how the windows reflect the old (Trinity) into the new with a blend of the sky and surroundings. It is a lovely reflection of the inclusiveness of our ideal Boston where all live in stylish harmony. Unfortunately wealth has always been very powerful in Boston, and elsewhere, but in the early 1800s this power and wealth was prominently displayed by churches and individuals most rigorously in architecture. I enjoy looking at it but enjoy the new just as much, for its attempt to bring in a bit of the commoner into the planning and appreciation of lines. While I've lived in many cities where it is clear, through architecture, who the haves and have-nots are, I would claim that Boston still clings to segregation the strongest, both along economic lines and racial/religious lines. New York is a close second but mass transit and the huge population requires NYCers to mingle much more than Bostonians. Does architecture influence this segregation? Possibly.

What was also interesting was what Lowe ignored, whcih I would have highlighted given my love of movies. White was a notorious lady's man, as fictionalized in the film The Girl On The Red Velvet Swing. Norman Mailer played Stanford White in Ragtime. He had numerous affairs the most famous with Evelyn Nesbit, the "Eternal Question". Lowe defended White's reputation claiming that he was not estranged from his wife, even though he lived in the City and she out on a large estate on Long Island. Lowe briefly closed the lecture ending with a synopsis of the Murder of the Century. Harry K. Thaw walked up to Stanford White during a song in the show Mamzelle Champagne playing at Madison Garden; shot him tree times in the head. End of lecture.

Huh? I was left wondering motive? Who was this Thaw character? It seemed Lowe either didn't care to go into the murderer's details too much or he assumed we all know the story. I had to look up on the internet that Thaw was Evelyn Nesbit's husband. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, the first use of this plea in U.S. courts. He seems to have been a spoiled, rich mamma's boy with some rather violent and masochistic tendencies. Lowe obviously admires and reveres Stanford White; he limited discussion about his personal life and focused on his architecture and style.
Personally, I find the overly ornate decorative style of White, Hunt, and Beaux Arts too excessive and opulent. I'd never want to live with a staircase that seems to be from the set of Dynasty. I'd be too tempted to slap someone down it. And I just can't imagine sitting in one of White's living rooms, enjoying a pint of Häagen-Dazs watching TV. Comfy couches and stylish fabrics can make a home look great and inviting - not like some museum floor where you're scared to sit down on the chairs. I have one more lecture on Beaux Arts. Perhaps I'll change my mind. For right now, however, I think the mansions and interiors look great for movie sets and special events. For living, I'll take my little studio apartment over lavish marble fireplaces and ballrooms. Then again, if I had a car, at least I'd have some place to park it.
4 comments:
I'm not a big movie guy but I love these architectural/humanities posts. If you are taking votes, I vote for more of these.
Yes... OF COURSE architecture influences segregation - or the opposite. Architecture can also influence INTEGRATION. Design touches everything whether we like to admit it or not. Unlike you, I could QUITE EASILY live in a beaux arts manor. But I'd never build one.
I'd be curious to find out your reactions to an architect I've become interested in lately: Adam Kalkin. I don't have the scratch just now, but I'm thinking VERY HARD about builing a house like this one http://tinyurl.com/tv56p - here's his page: http://tinyurl.com/svavs
I wish I could drop in on the met. Jealousy is no good... but I am. Have you read Thomas Hoving's "making the mummies dance"?
Glad you like the architecture rants. I have another lecture tomorrow and next month is Art Deco - more posting to come.
Adam Kalkin - being a public health student, I just love a website that opens with "architecture and hygiene". I happen to work on port air pollution issues and seeing the China Shipping containers brings a certain visceral response. Love the concept of using industrial items (shipping containers) for an innovative 'other' use. Loved, loeved, loved the modern and simplistically dramatic homes created and shown on the website. Fun. I'll explore more.
Haven't read anything except a New Yorker here and there. Too many films, not enough discipline to sit and read. I'll put it on a reading list that will likely be ignored until hospitalized or bed-ridden.
Make time to read it. It's an easy one. Hoving was the (often controversial and always flambouyant) Met director who "grew" the met and (arguably) made it what it is today. A light and fun read about fasinating stuff - Putting the banners on the Met facade, NYC Society, City Living, Art Hoaxes, Architecture, Famous People and art art art art art.
Read it. You'll be done in a week. Make it part of your NYC experience. If you read it later, you'll regret not having read it sooner.
As for Kalkin... I'm very close to doing this.
This better not be advice like "Read Under the Tuscan Sun before going to Italy" sort of thing. I'd have to smack you if that turns out to be the case.
And build a multi-module container home - not the $99K box version - I'm not as impressed with that rendering.
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