January 2009
Q: In 1960, Washington architect Robert Paul Brockett was commissioned to design a structure for one of the city's most prestigious addresses — 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. But you won't see his innovative, strikingly modern design today. Why?
A: Because his design was for a temporary structure — the inaugural reviewing stand for President John F. Kennedy. Brockett's structure was the first reviewing stand to break away from more traditional architectural styles.
December 2008
Q: Julian Abele received an architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1904, and went on to study at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon his return to Philadelphia in 1906, Abele joined the prominent firm of Horace Trumbauer & Associates, becoming the firm’s chief designer within a couple of years. Over the next four decades or so, he personally designed or oversaw the design of more than 600 projects across the United States. His significant works include the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a mansion for the Vanderbilt family on Long Island, and the main campus of Duke University. Despite this stellar career, however, Abele was not elected to membership in the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects until 1941. Why?
A: Abele was denied membership until 1941 because he was black. Practicing in an era in which there were very few African American architects, Abele achieved remarkable success thanks to his great talent and his mutually supportive relationship with Trumbauer, who served as the primary contact with clients while Abele led the design studio. Abele died in 1950.
November 2008
Q: In 1931, a man named C.W. Glover proposed building an airport in the King's Cross area of central London. How did he plan to insert such a large facility into a densely built urban area?
A: Glover proposed building the runways atop enormous bridges spanning the tallest structures of the neighborhood. There were to be four runways aligned in different directions but all crossing in the center, with a circumferential taxi-way connecting them, thus creating an enormous wheel-like pattern in plan. Needless to say, the idea was never realized.
October 2008
Q: What do Manila and the small city of Baguio, both in the Philippines, have in common with San Francisco and Chicago?
A: All of the cities listed were the subjects of grand — though largely unexecuted — urban plans by architect Daniel Burnham. Burnham went to the Philippines, then a US Territory, in 1904, and soon produced a majestic plan for Manila befitting its role as the territorial capital. His plan for Baguio City, which is located at an altitude of more than 5,000 feet and served for a time as the semi-official “summer capital,” was notable for its imposition of urban geometries onto a hilly landscape.
September 2008
Q: You are about to use a time machine to go back to ancient Rome. Before you leave, your friend the Classical scholar says, “Be sure to see the velarium.” Where would you go and in what direction would you look once you got to Rome?
A: You would head to the Colosseum and look up toward the sky. The velarium was a huge awning that would be pulled across the top of the Colosseum to shield spectators from rain or excessive sun.
July / August 2008
Q: What famous early American architect's son, who occasionally practiced architecture himself, played a major role in the establishment of the African nation of Liberia?
A: Benjamin Henry Latrobe's son, John H.B. Latrobe, was a leading supporter of the controversial American Colonization Society, whose goal was to establish a colony in Africa for freed American slaves. The group succeeded in creating the colony of Liberia in 1822, and a large region of the new settlement was named Maryland, after the state where the younger Latrobe spent most of his life. Liberia became an independent nation in 1847. John Latrobe's own son, Ferdinand, served several terms as mayor of Baltimore between 1875 and 1893.
June 2008
Q: Eero Saarinen’s father, Eliel, famously won second place in the 1922 design competition for the Chicago Tribune Tower. Ten years earlier, in 1912, he won second place in another famous international design competition. What was it?
A: In 1912, Eliel Saarinen won second place in the competition to design the new Australian capital of Canberra. The winner was Walter Burley Griffin, whose wife, Marion Mahony Griffin, collaborated on the design although she was largely uncredited at the time.
May 2008
Q: As of 2008, the Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded 30 times to architects from a total of 16 countries. Only five countries have produced more than one Pritzker Prize winner.What are those five countries?
A: The five countries that have produced multiple Pritzker Architecture Prize winners are the United States (8), the United Kingdom (4), Japan (3), Italy (2), France (2), and Brazil (2).
Building Brain Busters are a feature of the National Building Museum’s monthly e-newsletter. Subscribe at www.nbm.org.
Photograph above: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, architect Julian Abele. Wikipedia.
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