Did you know?

The 210-foot tower of Duke Chapel, a majestic structure whose stained glass windows contain more than one million pieces of glass, and which dominates the neo-Gothic West Campus of Duke University, was designed by African-American architect Julian Abele (1881-1950) in the mid-1920s.

Unit 13

Stanford White

(1853-1906) An American architect whose work with C. F. McKim and William R. Meade influenced New York City architecture at the turn of the twentieth century. Still standing are his Washington Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park and the elegant Century Club. His special interests were in interior design and decorative arts.

words in context: The first Madison Square Garden in New York City was designed by Stanford White and his partners. White's building was more graceful than his life: He was shot and killed in Madison Square Garden by a jealous husband, Harry K. Thaw, over an affair White was having with Evelyn Nesbitt, Thaw's wife — an incident depicted in the film The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

(1886-1969) Commonly referred to as Mies, this German-American architect was a founder of modern architecture. He took over as director of the Bauhaus from Walter Gropius; later he moved to Chicago to teach in what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology. He pioneered internal structures that could support buildings made entirely of glass, the structural skeletons of buildings being one of his major interests.

words in context: Known for his maxims, as well as for creating the vocabulary of modern architecture, Mies van der Rohe coined the phrases, "Less is more," "God is in the details," and "Form follows function."

Le Corbusier (1887-1965) Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, this Swiss architect worked in France; his book Towards a New Architecture (1923) had a revolutionary effect on international development of modern architecture. Drawing inspiration from industrial forms, he produced radical schemes for houses and apartments.

words in context: Le Corbu, as he was often known, built a villa near Paris in 1923 and another, Villa Savoie, Poissy, in 1929. His plan for a "vertical city" was partially realized in the Unité d'Habitation, Marseilles (1942-1952). Le Corbusier also designed the Visual Arts Center at Harvard University (1961-1962).

I. M. Pei

(1917- ) A Chinese-American architect, Pei integrates structure and environment, favoring glass, stone, concrete, and steel. A champion of light, view, and public space, Pei is known for designing giant atriums — and for the design of the huge, glass Pyramids at the Louvre in Paris (1983).

words in context: Among the structures designed by I. M. Pei are the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1978), the West Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (1981), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (1996).

After studying the architects above, use their names in the sentences below.

1. Despite his tabloid personal life, will be remembered by those who admire the Washington Square Arch in New York's Greenwich Village.

2 His goal being bringing nature, people, and architecture together in a "higher unity," declared that "less is more."

3. Fallowing his principles in Towards a New Architecture designed a villa at Vaucresson, near Paris, in 1923.

4. favors glass, steel, stone, and concrete — and public space.

Test Yourself: Write the letter next to the number to match man and work.

1. Mies van der Rohe a. designed the Pyramids at the Louvre

2. Le Corbusier b. lived and died by the first Madison Square Garden

3 Stanford White c. designed the Visual Center at Harvard

4. I. M. Pei d. took over the Bauhaus from Gropius

On a separate sheet of paper, write a sentence using each of these names.