Survey_of_Architecture

Survey of Architecture During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s there was an anxiety regarding the industrial revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement focused on original ideas and handcraftsmanship and sought to create environments in which beauty and fine workmanship governed. The Arts and Crafts movement did not promote a particular style, but it did advocate reform as part of its philosophy. Two architects that have inspired me in this form of expression are Joseph Lyman Silsbee and George Washington Maher. Their work evolved with the Arts and Crafts movement and their influence on craftsmanship was profound. Joseph L. Silsbee had a gift for designing buildings in a variety of styles. He was born in 1848 in Salem Massachusetts and he was influenced greatly by H.H. Richardson’s Romanesque style. He graduated from Exeter and Harvard and later studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After college Joseph travelled throughout Europe and studied architecture and the styles that were becoming popular. At age 26, Joseph returned to the United States and located in Syracuse New York. He practiced architecture on his own and later was appointed the Professor of Architecture at the new College of Fine Arts on the Syracuse University campus. While living in Syracuse he had two major designs to his credit. The Syracuse Savings Bank which was his first formal commission and the White Memorial Building, these were both excellent commercial examples of Victorian Gothic Style. The Syracuse Savings Bank was made of tan limestone and chocolate-brown sandstone; it displayed a complexity of details such as flowers and leaves. It was composed of pointed arches, foliate ornamentation and other Venetian Gothic inspired elements.  The High Victorian Style was still new to America but it was the style of choice in England. This was the first building in Syracuse to have an elevator and was the tallest building in the city at this time. In 1882 Joseph opened an office with James H. Marlin in Buffalo; this is where the largest concentration of his domestic designs can be found. Silsbee had designed the Falcon clubhouse in Grand Island and the Gentlemen’s Driving Club in Hamlin Park; neither of these builds exists anymore. Joseph’s first two house commissions were; the Noyes/Naylon House and the Bemis House. The Bemis house had soaring brick chimneys and terra cotta ornamentation on the top of the gable. It had a roman arched entrance with keystone voussoir surround and slate roof. This area has the greatest concentration of Silsbee’s residential work, a collection of Queen Anne and Shingle style homes. In 1886 Silsbee founded yet another new office, this time in Chicago where he partnered with Edward A. Kent. For the World’s Fair of Chicago, Silsbee designed the Moving Sidewalk, the ancestor to moving platforms and escalators of today. Silsbee’s designs and drawing ability made a great impression on the young Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright later worked for the Silsbee office in Chicago, as well as other outstanding architects like; George Grant Elmsie, Irving Gill and George Maher. Joseph Silsman was an architect that was able to perfect the accurate interpretations of Gothic Revival, Richardsonian Revival, Queen Anne, Shingle and Colonial Revival styles. His style and ability was adaptable to many variations and he was able to bring a new light to these old adaptations. The Arts and Crafts Movement was about spiritual connectivity with one's surroundings both natural and manmade, it made sense that the perfect home would compliment the environment and provide a space to cultivate inner peace away from the urban factories where many people worked. George Washington Maher was born in West Virginia in 1864. During his teens he apprenticed with prominent Chicago architects Augustus Bauer and Henry Hill. At this time, Chicago was becoming a center for innovative and creative architecture. It was still trying to rebuild after the Great Fire of 1871. Maher joined the office of Joseph Lyman Silsbee as a draftsman in 1887, where he worked with fellow draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright. George Washington Maher designed a handful of homes in what is now the Hutchinson Street Landmark district in Buena Park. Mr. Maher believed that a house should express the personality of the occupants rather than that of the architect, and that all dwellings, large or small, expensive or otherwise, should be backgrounds for the people who live within them. George W. Maher believed in “Motif Rhythm Theory”, where there is a unity throughout the building, from the exterior and carried through the interior. This involved using a decorative element, often a local flower, a geometric shape, or a combination of the two which would be used repeatedly throughout the design to “bind the design together”. His work showed considerable freedom and originality and his interior spaces were noted for their open and flowing spaces. Mr. Maher was an influential contributor to the Prairie School Movement and the American Arts and Crafts designs. Both of these architects, along with many others, were pioneers in the Arts and Crafts movement. Their ideas and their ability to draw from classic architectural elements to produce a new and creative style, helped to bring forth innovation in architecture. Both the Shingle Style and the American Arts and Crafts Movement favor the styles, forms, and details of the Middle Ages. Common design principles include asymmetry, irregularity, verticality, and simplicity. However, neither strives for a literal interpretation but seeks to capture the essence of the past while reforming design of the present. Source: Maher, George W. "Houses Designed by George W. Maher" House Beautiful Vol 14 No 6(November 1908) 131-132. National Register of Historic Places: www.cr.nps.gov/nr/ www.greatbuildings.com