Cass Gilbert - Architect of Skyscrapers and Capitols

American architect Cass Gilbert (born November 24, 1859 in Zanesville, Ohio) is nationally known for his grand neoclassical design of the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. Yet it was Lower Manhattan in New York City on 9/11/01 that drew attention to his iconic Woolworth Building, a 1913 skyscraper that survived the nearby terrorist attacks. These two buildings alone—the US Supreme Court and the Woolworth Building—make Cass Gilbert an important part of American architectural history. Although Cass Gilberts name is rarely mentioned today, he exercised enormous influence on the development of architecture in the United States. Completing his formal education in 1879 at Bostons Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Gilbert was trained to know historic and traditional architectural forms. He apprenticed under Stanford White and the high-profile firm of McKim, Mead and White, yet Gilberts own architecture is his legacy. His genius was in merging modern interiors and technologies of the day with historic exterior architectural styles. His Gothic Revival Woolworth Building was the worlds tallest building in 1913, and it had an indoor swimming pool. Combining modern technologies with historic ideas, Gilbert designed many public buildings, including the state capitols of Minnesota, West Virginia, and Arkansas, spreading neoclassic design into the heartland of America. He was a consulting architect for the iconic George Washington Bridge, still used by New Jersey commuters to cross the Hudson River into New York City. Cass Gilberts success as a designer was due largely to his skill as a businessman and his ability to negotiate and compromise. Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert, edited by Margaret Heilbrun, captures the spirit of a man who spent a lifetime trying to balance these qualities. Essays by four scholars analyze Gilberts major projects, his sketches and watercolors and his contributions as a city planner. Along the way, readers are given an inside look at Gilberts creative processes—and his conflicts and compromises. For example: Originally, Gilbert planned to place womens toilets only on every third floor of the Broadway Chambers Building.Discord erupted when Gilbert refused to use local stone for the Minnesota State Capitol.Gilberts vision for the George Washington Bridge included fountains, sculptures, and granite towers.Gilbert believed that colored terra-cotta was essential in the design of modern skyscrapers.   Gilbert died May 17, 1934 in Brockenhurst, England, yet his architecture continues to be part of the American skyline. The most comprehensive records of Cass Gilberts work are housed at the New-York Historical Society. Some 63,000 drawings, sketches, blueprints and watercolor renderings plus hundreds of letters, specifications, ledgers and personal files document the firms New York practice. In linear footage, the Societys Gilbert collection is about as high as his celebrated Woolworth Building. Selected Projects by Cass Gilbert 1900: Broadway Chambers Building, New York City1902: Essex County Courthouse, Newark, New Jersey1904: Festival Hall and Art Building, St. Louis, Missouri1905: Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul, Minnesota1907: US Custom House, New York City1913: F.W. Woolworth Company Building, New York City1915: Arkansas State Capitol Building (completed project), Little Rock, Arkansas1917: Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, Ohio1921: Detroit Public Library, Michigan1926: Plans for George Washington Bridge, New York1928: New York Life Insurance Building1932: West Virginia State Capitol, Charleston, West Virginia1935: U.S. Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. Quotes by Cass Gilbert In conducting business (especially for the office) never forget that the greatest danger arises from cocksure pride.Beware of over-confidence; especially in matters of structure.It is only the young and callow and ignorant that admire rashness. Think before you speak. Know your subject. Cass Gilbert in History Although today a new appreciation for architecture based on historic themes has reawakened interest in the work of Cass Gilbert, this was not always the case. By the 1950s, Gilberts name had slipped into obscurity. Modernism, which idealized sleek, unadorned forms without ornamentation, became fashionable and Gilberts buildings were often dismissed or even ridiculed. British architect and critic Dennis Sharp (1933-2010) had this to say: The fairly pedestrian designs created by Gilberts firm did not prevent it from gaining popularity. The majority of buildings the firm designed were gothicized skyscrapers, the most famous of which was the Woolworth Building. Works designed by the firm during the early 1930s were competent Classical buildings which lack the originality of such contemporary Modernists as Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.~ Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8230-2539-X. NA40.I45. p65. Sources Photo of Woolworth Building on 9/11/01 by Michael Rieger/FEMA News Photo 3949/National Archives; Courtyard of the Cathedral Cloister Monreale Watercolor by Cass Gilbert from Arttoday.com, published with permissionQuotations from Maxims for My Office Organization