Showing posts with label architect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architect. Show all posts

October 20 - Happy Birthday, Sir Christopher Wren

 Posted on October 20, 2021


This is an update of my post published on October 20, 2010:





Born on this day in 1632, Sir Christopher Wren is one the most famous architects in history. He is responsible for designing more than 50 churches in London, after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral.


Wren was a polymath (learned in many subjects), noted for his knowledge or contributions to astronomy, geometry, and mathematics as well as architecture. Intellectual superstars such as Sir Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal spoke highly of his scientific work.

St. Paul's took 36 years to built and boasts one of the largest domes in the world. It was the tallest building in London from the time it was finished in 1710 until 1962!



St. Paul's was targeted during the German bombing of London during World War II (the Blitz), and although buildings all around it were destroyed, remarkably, it survived. (The cathedral was struck by two bombs that did not destroy it, and a third time-delayed bomb would have utterly destroyed it if it had not been defused and removed by the bomb disposal unit of the Royal Engineers!)


Um...Wow!
St. Paul's Cathedral survived the blitz!


St. Paul's Cathedral is well worth a visit! One thing I remember about my visit was the Whispering Gallery. This is reached after climbing many stairs up to the dome. If one person whispers against the wall at any point in the dome, the whisper can be heard by a listener with an ear held to the wall at any other point around the gallery! Actually, this is true of any dome—if you find yourself in one, try it!

Of course, Wren designed many other important buildings, including hospitals, libraries, and palace buildings.




Learn more about architecture.
ArchKIDecture is a great site to explore! 

And here are some more resources.



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October 30 - Happy Birthday, Christopher Wren

Posted October 30, 2019

On this date in 1632, a baby boy was born England. Even though he had older siblings (including several who died at a very early age), this baby was the first (and, it turns out, only) surviving son in his family; and so, as was the custom, he was given his father's name.

The baby's father, Christopher Wren the Elder, was the spiritual head of Windsor Castle and its chapel. The baby's mother, Mary Cox, was the only child of the Cox family, and she inherited all of her family's wealth.

Because of that wealth, that baby boy was able to grow up to be a highly educated man, including studying at Oxford University. Christopher Wren's fields of accomplishment include anatomy, astronomy, meteorology, physics, optics, ballistics, geometry and other fields of mathematics. Wow!


But none of that is what made Christopher Wren most famous. Instead, he is best known for architecture.

As a matter of fact, Wren is one of the most respected English architects in all of history!

Among the buildings Wren designed are buildings for two colleges and a palace front. After the Great Fire of London, in 1666, Wren was given the responsibility of rebuilding 52 churches! Of course, he didn't do all of the creative and architectural design for all those churches; other architects working under Wren's supervision did some. One that was all Wren is considered his masterpiece:

St. Paul's Cathedral!


St. Paul's is located at the highest point in London, and it has featured large in the London skyline for more than 300 years. For two and a half centuries, it was the tallest building in London, and its WWII image among all the smoke and wreckage from Nazi bombing is especially famous - it's so remarkable that it wasn't destroyed during the Blitz, like so many buildings that neighbored it! (The cathedral was hit twice, but luckily the damage was repairable.)



St. Paul's is the second largest cathedral (in area) in the United Kingdom, and its dome is one of the highest in the world. 

Prince Charles and Princess Diana got
married at St. Paul's. Her train was 25 feet
long, and her veil was 153 yards!!!
St. Paul's has been the location of many very important ceremonies - weddings, funerals, celebrations - but it's also a working church with daily services.




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April 4- Happy Birthday, Mary Colter

Posted on April 4, 2019

In the 1800s and early 1900s, men dominated the art and science of architecture. Like...super dominated. There were very, very few women in the field. 

But Mary Colter was an exception. 

Born on this date in 1869, Colter lived in several states (Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas) before she was 11 years old, when her family settled down in St. Paul, Minnesota. That town had a large minority population of Sioux Indians, and a friend of Colter's gave her some drawings of Sioux art.

At that point, Mary became interested in Native American art and culture - and she started a lifelong journey of learning more about a variety of Native American peoples' art.

Colter went to art school in California and then returned to St. Paul to teach art at the university level...

...And then she went to work for the Fred Harvey Company. 

The Harvey House restaurants were probably the first restaurant chain in the U.S. - with one at many of the rail stops in the Western United States. Colter, with her interest in and knowledge of Native American art, was asked to decorate the interior of the Indian Building at one of the Harvey hotels in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She did so well, she ended up doing a lot more work designing interiors, exteriors, buildings and furniture and more.



Colter ended up completing 21 hotels, lodges, and public spaces for the Fred Harvey Company.

La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe
When the Santa Fe Railroad bought a hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, they leased it to the Harvey Company to operate it - and they used Colter to furnish and decorate the hotel. She cared about authenticity and hired Pueblo people to make furniture and Pueblo artists and artisans to make handcrafted chandeliers and other items used in decoration.

This hotel, La Fonda, became the most successful of the Harvey House hotels, and it also became a style setter. The blend of Puebloan and Spanish art and architecture became known as Santa Fe Style, and it became (and still is!) very popular in the Southwest region.

Colter is also famous for her works in the Grand Canyon National Park, which are now considered National Historic Landmarks. She designed the Hopi House, Bright Angel Lodge, the Desert View Watchtower, and many other buildings.


Above, Hopi House
Below, Bright Angel Lodge

The Desert View Watchtower seems to change color
in the changing light as sunrise (above) turns to day,
to sunset, and to night (three photos below).




From a restaurant in LA's Union Station (right) to china and flatware used on Chicago-LA rail service...






...from every aspect of La Posada Hotel (left), including the gardens, the furniture, and even the maids' uniforms, to guide books to be used at the Grand Canyon... 














...from an inn at the Petrified Forest National Park to a stone fireplace with stones arranged exactly like the geologic strata seen on the Grand Canyon's walls... 



...Mary Colter cared about authenticity, details, and back story. She was an amazing woman who ended up retiring to Santa Fe and donating her collection of Native American pottery and relics to Mesa Verde National Park.



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