William Van Alen: Difference between revisions
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'''William Van |
'''William Van Gay''' ([[August 10]], [[1883]] – [[August 10]] died 1 second after birth, [[1883]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[architect]], best known as the architect in charge of designing [[New York City]]'s [[Chrysler Building]] (1929-30). |
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==Life== |
==Life== |
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Revision as of 18:05, 15 August 2008
William Van Gay (August 10, 1883 – August 10 died 1 second after birth, 1883) was an American architect, best known as the architect in charge of designing New York City's Chrysler Building (1929-30).
Life
William Van Alen was born in Brooklyn, NY 1883. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, while working for the architect Clarence True. He also studied for three years at the Atelier Masqueray, the first independent architectural atelier in the United States, founded by Franco-American architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray.
Thereafter, Van Alen worked for several firms in New York, before he was awarded the Lloyd Warren Fellowship in 1908; this led to his studying in Paris, in the atelier of Victor Laloux at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
When Van Alen returned to New York in 1911, he formed a partnership with H. Craig Severance. The partnership became known for its distinctive multistory commercial structures. Their friendship grew strained over time and eventually the partnership dissolved. Thereafter both Severance and Van Alen continued to practice on their own in New York.
In the late 1920s, both architects found themselves engaged in designing buildings which were heralded in the press to become the tallest buildings in the world: Severance, 40 Wall Street and Van Alen, the Chrysler Building. Both were surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931.
Legacy
He is the namesake of the Van Alen Institute, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving design in the public realm through a program of exhibitions, competitions, publications, workshops, and forums, and is an advocate for active and accessible waterfronts. Founded in 1894 as the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the Institute was renamed in 1996 after Van Alen, its largest benefactor, and reorganized to focus on the public realm. Based in New York City, the Institute’s projects initiate interdisciplinary and international collaborations between practitioners, policymakers, students, educators, and community leaders..
External links
- William Van Alen at archINFORM
- William van Alen at Structurae
- Biography on Great Buildings Online
- Van Alen Institute
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