Hugh Ferriss

Hugh Ferriss

Hugh Ferriss (1889 – 1962) was an American delineator (one who creates perspective drawings of buildings) and architect. According to Daniel Okrent, Ferriss never designed a single noteworthy building, but after his death a colleague said he 'influenced my generation of architects' more than any other man. Ferriss also influenced popular culture, for example Gotham City (the setting for Batman) and Kerry Conran's "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow".

Biography

Ferriss was trained as an architect at Washington University in his native St. Louis, Missouri, but, early in his career, began to specialize in creating architectural renderings for other architects' work rather than designing buildings himself. As a delineator, his task was to create a perspective drawing of a building or project. This was done either as part of the sales process for a project, or, more commonly, to advertise or promote the project to a wider audience. Thus, his drawings frequently were destined for annual shows or advertisements. As a result of this his works were often published (rather than just given to the architect’s client) and Ferriss acquired a reputation. After he had set up as a free-lance artist he found himself much sought after.

In 1912, Ferriss arrived in New York City and was soon employed as a delineator for Cass Gilbert. Some of his earliest drawings are of Gilbert’s Woolworth Building; they reveal that Ferriss’s illustrations had not yet developed his signature dark, moody appearance. In 1915, with Gilbert’s blessing, he left the firm and set up shop as an independent architectural delineator. In 1914, Ferriss married Dorothy Laphan, an editor and artist for "Vanity Fair".

By 1920, Ferriss had begun to develop his own style, frequently presenting the building at night, lit up by spotlights, or in a fog, as if photographed with a soft focus. The shadows cast by and on the building became almost as important as the revealed surfaces. He had somehow managed to develop a style that would elicit emotional responses from the viewer. His drawings were being regularly featured by such diverse publications as Century, the Christian Science Monitor, Harper's Magazine and "Vanity Fair". His writings began to also appear in various publications. He executed the 1922 drawing for the Chicago Tribune Competition that won the event for Howells and Hood.

In 1916, New York City had passed landmark zoning laws that regulated and limited the mass of buildings according to a formula. The reason was to counteract the tendency for buildings to occupy the whole of their lot and go straight up as far as was possible. Since many architects were not sure exactly what these laws meant for their designs, in 1922 the skyscraper architect Harvey Wiley Corbett commissioned Ferriss to draw a series of four step-by-step perspectives demonstrating the architectural consequences of the zoning law. These four drawings would later be used in his 1929 book "The Metropolis of Tomorrow".

Hugh Ferriss' archive, including drawings and papers, is held by the Drawings & Archives Department of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Every year the American Society of Architectural Illustrators gives out the Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize for architectural rendering excellence. The medal features Ferriss’s original "Forth Stage" drawing, executed in bronze.

Selected Renderings

* The Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri. Harold Van Buren Magonigle, architect.
* The Four Stages
*Chicago Tribune Tower. Howells & Hood, architects.
*Players Club, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & Grylls [SH&G] , architects.
*Radiator Building, New York, New York. Raymond Hood, architect.
*Buhl Building, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & Grylls [SH&G] , architects.
*Chicago Board of Trade Building. Holabird & Root, architects.
*Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & Grylls [SH&G] , architects.
*Guardian [Union Trust] Building, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & Grylls [SH&G] , architects.
*Telephone Building, St. Louis, Missouri. Mauran, Russell & Crowell and Timlin, architects.

External links

* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/avery/da/ferriss.html The Hugh Ferriss Architectural Drawings and Papers Collection] . Includes digital images of more than 350 original drawings held by Columbia University.

References

*Balfour, Alan. "Rockefeller Center – Architecture As Theater". New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978. ISBN 0-07-003480-X.

*Hoak & Church. "Masterpieces of American Architecture" Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2002. Reprint of 1930 edition by Charles Scribner. ISBN 0-486-42231-3.

*Ferriss, Hugh. "The Metropolis of Tomorrow", with essay by Carol Willis. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1986. Reprint of 1929 edition. ISBN 0-910413-11-8.

*Ferriss, Hugh. "Power in Buildings, An Artist’s View of Contemporary Buildings". New York: Columbia University Press, 1953.

*Ferriss, Hugh. "American Capitals of Industry: A Series of Drawings by Hugh Ferriss". Harpers Magazine, July 1919.

*Holleman & Gallagher. "Smith Hinchman & Grylls, 125 Years of Architecture and Engineering, 1853–1978". Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1978. OCLC|4136542.

*Kvaran. "Architectural Sculpture of America", unpublished manuscript

*Stern, Gilmartin & Mellins. "New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars". New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1987. ISBN 0-8478-0618-9.

*Willis, Carol. "Hugh Ferriss: Metropolis". Exhibition organized by the Architectural League of New York, 1986.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hugh Ferriss — (* 12. Juli 1889 in St. Louis, Missouri; † 28. Januar 1962 in Greenwich Village, New York City) war ein US amerikanischer Architekt und Architekturzeichner, der vor allem durch seine dramatischen perspektivischen Darstellungen von Hochhausbauten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize — The Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize is awarded by the American Society of Architectural Illustrators in recognition of excellence in the graphic representation of architecture. It is the Society s highest award.Named in honor of American architect… …   Wikipedia

  • Ferriss — Hugh Ferriss (* 12. Juli 1889 in St. Louis, Missouri; † 28. Januar 1962 in Greenwich Village, New York City) war ein US amerikanischer Architekt und Architekturzeichner, der vor allem durch seine dramatischen perspektivischen Darstellungen von… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Architecture of metropolitan Detroit — One Detroit Center by John Burgee and Philip C. Johnson. The architecture of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike.[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow — Infobox Film name = Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow image size = caption = Theatrical poster director = Kerry Conran producer = Jon Avnet Sadie Frost Jude Law Marsha Oglesby writer = Kerry Conran starring = Gwyneth Paltrow Jude Law Giovanni …   Wikipedia

  • 1916 Zoning Resolution — The New York City 1916 Zoning Resolution was a measure adopted primarily to stop massive buildings such as the Equitable Building (Manhattan) from preventing light and air from reaching the streets below. It established limits in building massing …   Wikipedia

  • Bürohochhaus — Tagblatt Turm in Stuttgart Der Begriff Hochhaus bezeichnet im deutschsprachigen Raum ursprünglich alle Gebäude, die eine in der jeweiligen Landesbauordnung festgelegte Gebäudehöhe überschreiten – auch wenn sie nicht die typische Gestalt (und die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste der Biografien/Fe — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Manny Calavera — Grim Fandango Entwickler: LucasArts Verleger: LucasArts Publikation: Oktober 1998 / 2008 Plattf …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Punkthochhaus — Tagblatt Turm in Stuttgart Der Begriff Hochhaus bezeichnet im deutschsprachigen Raum ursprünglich alle Gebäude, die eine in der jeweiligen Landesbauordnung festgelegte Gebäudehöhe überschreiten – auch wenn sie nicht die typische Gestalt (und die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”