McKim, Mead & White

Studio di architettura statunitense

McKim, Mead & White è stata un'importante società di architettura statunitense che prosperò a cavallo tra il XIX e il ventesimo secolo. I soci fondatori dell'azienda erano Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), William Rutherford Mead (1846–1928) e Stanford White (1853–1906). Assunsero molti altri architetti, partner, collaboratori, progettisti e designers, che vennero alla ribalta durante o dopo la loro permanenza in azienda.

La Pennsylvania Station a New York nel 1911

Panoramica

modifica

Gli edifici di New York progettati dallo studio comprendono l'ex Stazione Pennsylvania a Manhattan, il Brooklyn Museum e il campus principale della Columbia University. Altrove nello Stato di New York e nel New England, l'azienda ha progettato college, biblioteche, scuole e altri edifici come la Boston Public Library e la Rhode Island State House a Providence. A Washington l'azienda rinnovò le ali occidentali e orientali della Casa Bianca e progettò il Roosevelt Hall (National War College) a Fort Lesley J. McNair e il National Museum of American History. Negli Stati Uniti, la ditta ha progettato edifici in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington e Wisconsin. Altri esempi sono in Canada, Cuba e Italia.

McKim e Mead unirono le loro forze nel 1872. Furono raggiunti nel 1879 da White che, come McKim, aveva lavorato per l'architetto Henry Hobson Richardson. Il loro lavoro applicò i principi dell'architettura Beaux-Arts, adottando il vocabolario stilistico classico greco e romano filtrato attraverso l'École des Beaux-Arts parigina e il relativo movimento City Beautiful dopo il 1893 circa. La loro visione era di ripulire la confusione visiva delle città americane e conferire un senso di ordine e formalità durante la cosiddetta Gilded Age degli Stati Uniti.[1]

Secondo uno studioso, "Scorrendo il mondo di McKim, Mead & White vi era un senso dell'esplorazione dei piaceri della vita. Un cerchio di intrattenimento bisessuale e omosessuale può essere rintracciato all'interno dell'ufficio. Il cerchio comprendeva Stanford White, [Augustus] Saint Gaudens, Joseph M. Wells, Frank Millet, Whitney Warren, Thomas Hastings e probabilmente [William R.] Mead e molti altri".[2]

La società mantenne il suo nome per molto tempo dopo la morte dei soci fondatori White (1906), McKim (1909) e Mead (1928).[3]

Tra i lavori finali dello studio con il nome McKim, Mead & White ci fu il National Museum of American History di Washington. Progettato principalmente dal socio James Kellum Smith, fu inaugurato nel 1964.[4]

Smith morì nel 1961 e la ditta fu presto ribattezzata Steinmann, Cain and White. Nel 1971 divenne Walker O. Cain and Associates.[5]

Opere selezionate

modifica

New York City

modifica
Edificio Posizione Anno Caratteristiche Immagine
Villard Houses 451 Madison Avenue, Manhattan 1884  
Harvard Club of New York Manhattan 1894  
169 West 83° Street Manhattan 1885 Architettura neoromanica di David H.King
Goelet Building 900 Broadway alla East 20th Street, Manhattan 1897  
Former New York Life Insurance Company Building Manhattan 1894–98 Palazzo in stile rinascimentale in marmo bianco. La MMW rilevò l'incarico alla morte di Stephen D. Hatch nel 1894.[6]  
Madison Square Garden II Madison Square, Manhattan 1890 secondo di quattro edifici conosciuti con questo nome; raso al suolo nel 1925  
Century Club New York City 1891  
Cable Building 611 Broadway, New York City 1893  
West End Collegiate Church West End Avenue, Manhattan 1892 Verifica attribuzione  
Washington Arch Washington Square Park, New York City 1892  
Metropolitan Club 1 East 60th St, NYC, New York 1893  
Prospect Park Brooklyn, New York 1895–1900 Varie caratteristiche tra cui Parade Place su Lookout Hill, il Peristilio, gli infissi in granito di Park Circle, Lullwater Bridge, il Maryland Monument del 1895 su Lookout Hill  
Campus di Morningside Heights Columbia University 1893–1900 Progetto generale ed i singoli edifici tra cui il Low Memorial Library, la Philosophy Hall, la John Jay Hall, l'Avery Hall, l'Hamilton Hall  
Campus della University Heights, New York University Bronx 1891–1900 Compresa l'Hall of Fame for Great Americans 1900, ora sito del Bronx Community College  
Harmonie Club 4 East 60th Street, Manhattan 1905  
Edificio del New York Herald Manhattan 1895 raso al suolo nel 1921  
Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn 1895  
University Club of New York New York City 1899
Morgan Library & Museum New York City 1903 ingrandito nel 1928
Sezioni della New York Public Library New York City 1902-1914 progettate 11 sezioni tra cui l'Hamilton Grange Branch 1905-1906, 115° Street Branch 1907-1908  
IRT Powerhouse New York City 1904  
Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument Brooklyn, New York 1908  
Knickerbocker Trust Building 60 Broadway, Manhattan 1909 now razed
The Manhattan Municipal Building 1 Centre Street, Manhattan 1909–1915  
Stazione di Pennsylvania Manhattan 1910 sopra una parte di edificio raso al suolo nel 1963  
998 Fifth Avenue Manhattan 1912
Bellevue Hospital Center Manhattan 1912  
James Farley Post Office Manhattan 1913 spesso considerato il gemello architettonico della Pennsylvania Station di New York
Racquet and Tennis Club Manhattan 1916–1918  
Hotel Pennsylvania Manhattan 1919  
Town Hall 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan 1921  
110 Livingston Street Brooklyn 1926 ex Elks Lodge, ex sede del Dipartimento dell'Educazione di New York City  
Savoy-Plaza Hotel Manhattan 1927 raso al suolo nel 1965  
Liggett Hall Governors Island, New York 1929
DeKalb Hall e Information Science Center Brooklyn 1955
North Hall presso il Pratt Institute Brooklyn 1957

New England e Stato di New York

modifica
Edificio Posizione Anno Caratteristiche Immagine
Newport Casino Newport (Rhode Island) 1880  
John Howard Whittemore House Naugatuck (Connecticut) 1880s [7]
Isaac Bell House Newport (Rhode Island) 1881–1883  
Cyrus McCormick summer estate, shingle-style Richfield Springs, New York 1882 razed 1957
Emdalar Castle - Tickner Estate South Kingstown, Rhode Island 1883 Restored to its original condition in 2014.  
Narragansett Pier Casino Narragansett, Rhode Island 1883  
Salem School (Naugatuck, Connecticut) Naugatuck (Connecticut) 1884 [7]  
Wolf's Head Society, "Old Hall" New Haven (Connecticut), Yale University 1884  
Charles J. Osborn Residence Mamaroneck, New York 1885 Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club since 1952[8]
"Four Chimneys" Mansion New Rochelle ?
John F. Andrew Mansion, 32 Hereford Street Boston, Massachusetts 1886
William G. Low House Bristol (Rhode Island) 1887 epitome of Shingle Style architecture; razed 1962  
Algonquin Club Boston 1888
Johnston Gate, Harvard University Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1889  
Fayerweather Hall, Amherst College Amherst (Massachusetts) 1890
Walker Art Building, Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine 1894
Whittemore Memorial Library Naugatuck (Connecticut) 1894 [7]
Adams Power Plant Transformer House Niagara Falls New York 1895  
Boston Public Library Boston 1895  
Dudley Pickman House, 303 Commonwealth Avenue (Bay Bay) Boston 1895
Reid Hall, Manhattanville College Purchase (New York) 1895
Rhode Island State House Providence (Rhode Island) 1895–1904  
Garden City Hotel Garden City (New York) 1895 burned 1899
House for Frederick Vanderbilt, "Hyde Park" Hyde Park 1895–1898  
Woodlea Briarcliff Manor (New York) 1895 now Sleepy Hollow Country Club  
James L. Breese House "The Orchard" Southampton (New York) 1897-1906
Rosecliff Newport (Rhode Island) 1898–1902
Harbor Hill Long Island, New York 1899–1902 razed 1947
Symphony Hall Boston, Massachusetts 1900  
Hill-Stead Museum Farmington (Connecticut) 1901 estate of Alfred Atmore Pope, designed with Theodate Pope Riddle  
Astor Courts Rhinebeck (New York) 1902–1904 estate of John Jacob Astor
Rockefeller Hall, Brown University Providence (Rhode Island) 1904 now Faunce House  
Naugatuck High School Naugatuck (Connecticut) 1904 Hillside Middle School since 1959  
Waterbury Union Station 389 Meadow Street, Waterbury (Connecticut) 1909 Stile neorinascimentale con torre dell'orologio ispirata alla Torre del Mangia di Siena, Italia[9]
Plymouth Rock portico Plymouth (Massachusetts) 1920  
Foster Hall, University at Buffalo South Campus Buffalo, New York 1921
Harvard Business School Boston, Massachusetts 1925
Ira Allen Chapel, University of Vermont Burlington (Vermont) 1925  
Olin Memorial Library, Wesleyan University Middletown (Connecticut) 1925
Memorial Chapel, Union College Schenectady, New York 1925
Lincoln Alliance Building Rochester (New York) 1926
Rochester Savings Bank Rochester (New York) 1927  
George Eastman House Museum National Historic Site Rochester (New York) c.1903 Mr. Eastman hired McKim, Mead & White to design the interior of his Georgian Colonial Revival Mansion which was nearly an exact, large scale duplicate of the Robert Root House that was built by the firm in Buffalo, New York c.1894 [10]
Burlington City Hall Burlington (Vermont) 1928  
Levermore Hall, Blodgett Hall, and Woodruff Hall, Adelphi University Garden City (New York) 1929
Schenectady City Hall Schenectady (New York) 1931–1933  
The Little Red Schoolhouse, Amherst College Amherst (Massachusetts) 1937
Housatonic Railroad Station[11] U.S. Route 7, Stockbridge (Massachusetts) 1893 English Gothic Revival style, stone
New York Central Railroad Station Ardsley Avenue and Hudson Road, Ardsley-on-Hudson 1895 Shingle Style with Tudor and Romanesque Revival elements[11]
Park Lane Apartments Mount Vernon, New York 1929
The Cedars/Lord's Castle Remodel Piermont (New York) 1892 "The original gable ends were stepped, the pointy "Gothick" windows were Edwardianized, the wooden porches reconstructed in stone, the tower on the west capped with a conical roof, the forest of delicate chimney pots combined and bulked up, and the reconfigured interior given heavy doses of classical columns, balusters, dadoes, fireplaces and moldings." [12][13]

New Jersey

modifica
Edificio Posizione Anno Caratteristiche Immagine
Florham Campus Archiviato il 1º febbraio 2014 in Internet Archive. Fairleigh Dickinson University 1897 originally "Florham", the estate of Hamilton Twombly and Florence Vanderbilt, one of many Vanderbilt houses
Orange Public Library Orange (New Jersey) 1901
St. Peter's Episcopal Church Morristown (New Jersey) 1889-1913 English-medieval style parish church.  
FitzRandolph Gate Princeton (New Jersey) 1905 The official entrance of Princeton University  
University Cottage Club Princeton University, Princeton (New Jersey) 1906 One of the Eating clubs at Princeton University  
Pennsylvania Station Raymond Plaza West at Market Street, Newark, New Jersey 1935 Art déco style[11]  

Washington, D.C.

modifica
Edificio Posizione Anno Caratteristiche Immagine
White House, West Wing and East Wing 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. 1903 Renovation  
Roosevelt Hall, National War College Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 1903–1907  
National Museum of American History Washington, D.C. 1964  
Patterson Mansion 15 Dupont Circle NW 1903
St. John's Church, Lafayette Square 1525 H St NW, Washington, DC 20005 1919 Renovation  
Pedestal, Jeanne d'Arc[14] Meridian Hill Park 1922 Measures about 10 feet long and 6 feet high

Altri luoghi negli Stati Uniti

modifica
Edificio Posizione Anno Caratteristiche Immagine
First Methodist Episcopal Church, Lovely Lane United Methodist Church Baltimora 1884  
Cramond Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania 1886  
McKelvy House (formerly "Oakhurst"), Lafayette College, College Hill Easton (Pennsylvania) 1888 [15]
New York Life Insurance Building Kansas City, Missouri 1890  
Open Gates, George Sealy Mansion Galveston, Texas 1891  
Germantown Cricket Club Filadelfia, Pennsylvania 1891  
The Agricultural Building at the World Columbian Exposition Chicago, Illinois 1893
 
Agricultural Building — Official Views Of The World's Columbian Exposition — 18
Old Cabell Hall, Cocke Hall, and Rouss Hall, University of Virginia Charlottesville 1898 approx
Savoyard Centre Detroit, Michigan 1900 originally State Savings Bank; National Register of Historic Places 1982  
Protection of the Flag Monument Athens, Pennsylvania 1900–1902
English Building, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Champaign, Illinois 1905
Carr's Hill, or University of Virginia President's House Charlottesville, Virginia 1906  
Omaha National Bank Building Omaha, Nebraska 1906 originally the New York Life Building, 1889)[16]  
Girard Bank Filadelfia, Pennsylvania 1908  
Fayette National Bank Building Lexington, Kentucky 1914  
Minneapolis Institute of Arts Minneapolis, Minnesota 1915  
Peabody Demonstration School Nashville, Tennessee 1915 now University School of Nashville
National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Library and Museum Niles, Ohio 1915  
Butler Institute of American Art Youngstown, Ohio 1919 listed on National Register of Historic Places  
Cohen Memorial Hall (Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery), Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee 1928 approx
Milwaukee County Courthouse Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1931  
Chittenden Hall, University of Vermont Burlington (Vermont) 1947
Dietrich Hall, now Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 1952
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, Carolina del Nord 1929 Expansion of campus
 
Louis Round Wilson Library, UNC Chapel Hill

Altre nazioni

modifica
Edificio Posizione Anno Caratteristiche Immagine
Bank of Montréal Head Office Montreal 1901–1905 additions  
Bank of Montreal Building Winnipeg, Manitoba 1913
American Academy in Rome Main Building Roma, Italia 1914  
Hotel Nacional de Cuba L'Avana, Cuba 1930  

Architetti importanti di McKim, Mead e White

modifica
  1. ^ Mosette Broderick, Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age, 2010.
  2. ^ Mosette Broderick, Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age, Knopf, 2010, p. VII.
  3. ^ "[Mead's] widow receives all the estate of about $250,000"], New York Times (November 27, 1928); "Mrs. Olga Kilenyi Mead, widow,… bequeathed her entire estate to the trustees of Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts" in New York Times (April 23, 1936). The money was used to build the Mead Art Building, which was designed by James Kellum Smith of McKim, Mead and White.
  4. ^ Mission & History, in National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. URL consultato il 14 febbraio 2018.
  5. ^ Patricia McGraw Anderson, The Architecture of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1988. URL consultato il 5 luglio 2019 (archiviato dall'url originale il 9 settembre 2015). http://library.bowdoin.edu/arch/images/lunagallery/libraryluna.shtml Archiviato il 18 ottobre 2014 in Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Nancy Goeschel, Former New York Life Insurance Building (PDF), su New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 10 febbraio 1987. URL consultato il 30 agosto 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Blackwell, D. and The Naugatuck Historical Society 1996 "Images of Naugatuck". Arcadia Publishing
  8. ^ Charles J. Osborn Residence
  9. ^ Janet Greenstein Potter, Great American Railroad Stations, 1996.
  10. ^ Copia archiviata, su eastmanhouse.org. URL consultato il 10 settembre 2019 (archiviato dall'url originale il 31 luglio 2010).
  11. ^ a b c Janet Greenstein Potter, Great American Railroad Stations, New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996, pp. 94, 154, 164, ISBN 978-0-471-14389-5.
  12. ^ (EN) Piermont Historical Society, su piermonthistorysociety.org. URL consultato il 29 ottobre 2017.
  13. ^ (EN) Big Old Houses: I Love This House, in New York Social Diary, 8 gennaio 2013. URL consultato il 29 ottobre 2017.
  14. ^ (EN) Art and Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, 1922.
  15. ^ "McKelvy House" on the Council of Independent Colleges Historic Campus Architecture Project website
  16. ^ Bluffton University Digital Imagine Project

Bibliografia

modifica
  • Baker, Paul R. Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White. New York: Free Press, 1989. ISBN 0-02-901781-5
  • Broderick, Mosette. Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age New York: Knopf, 2010. ISBN 0-394-53662-2
  • McKim, Mead & White. A Monograph of the Work of McKim, Mead & White, 1879-1915. New York: Architectural Book Publishing Co., 1915-1920, 4 volumes. Reprinted as The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White in Photographs, Plans and Elevations, with an introduction by Richard Guy Wilson (New York: Dover Publications, 1990). ISBN 0486265560
  • Roth, Leland M. The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White, 1870-1920: A Building List (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities). Garland Publishing (September 1, 1978). 978-0824098506
  • Roth, Leland M. McKim, Mead and White, Architects. Harper & Row; First edition (October 1985). 978-0064301367
  • Savorra, Massimiliano. McKim, Mead & White, moderni rinascimentali, in L. Mozzoni, S. Santini (a cura di), I grandi protagonisti. Napoli: Liguori, 2013, pp. 73-131 – ISBN 978-88-207-6182-0

Altri progetti

modifica

Collegamenti esterni

modifica
Controllo di autoritàVIAF (EN121010936 · ISNI (EN0000 0001 2149 2655 · ULAN (EN500122312 · LCCN (ENn82109012 · GND (DE5199909-2 · BNF (FRcb123829984 (data) · J9U (ENHE987007422985005171