Carl Frelinghuysen Gould

Carl Frelinghuysen Gould (24 November, 1873 - 4 January, 1939) also spelled Carl Freylinghausen Gould, was a leading architect in the Pacific Northwest, and founder and first chair of the architecture program at the University of Washington. As the lead designer in the firm Bebb & Gould, with his partner, Charles H. Bebb, Gould was responsible for many notable Pacific Northwest buildings, such as the Seattle Art Museum, and for the campus plan of the University of Washington.

Biography

He was born in New York to Charles Judson Gould. [cite web |url=http://www.lib.washington.edu/Specialcoll/findaids/docs/papersrecords/GouldFamily3516.xml |title=Guide to the Gould Family Papers |accessdate=2008-05-12 |quote= |publisher=University of Washington ] He graduated from Harvard in 1898, then spent five years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After his return to New York, he apprenticed with McKim, Mead and White, D. H. Burnham & Company, and George B. Post and Sons.

In 1908 Gould moved to Seattle. After working briefly for other architects, Gould initiated his own practice. His early commissions were primarily residential. Gould quickly emerged as a leader in city planning, as he campaigned for Bogue Plan (1911), which proposed a City Beautiful civic center for the city. In 1912, Gould became president of the Seattle Fine Arts Society, serving until 1916. He also began giving lectures in domestic design at the University of Washington.

In 1914, Gould partnered with Seattle architect Charles H. Bebb to form Bebb and Gould, a firm that soon won the commission to plan the University of Washington campus (1915). Thereafter Bebb and Gould completed a number of campus buildings; most important was Suzzallo Library (1922-1927). From this auspicious start, the firm emerged as leading designers of institutional and other buildings in the Pacific Northwest. Their work included residences, churches, schools, hospitals, memorials, club houses, commercial structures and other buildings. The firms work was stylistically eclectic, reflecting Gould's Beaux-Arts training and the tendencies of the period.

Gould founded the University of Washington program in architecture in 1914 and served as the first chair of the Architecture Department (1914-1926). Gould modeled the program after that of the Beaux-Arts as it had been adapted by Ameriican collegiate programs in architecture. Throughout Gould's tenure the program belonged to the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID), although Gould supplemented BAID programmes with studio assignments he and the other faculty developed themselves.

He married Dorothy Wheaton Fay in 1915. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Fay-Gould Engagement |url= |quote= Mr. and Mrs. John Purinton Fay of Seattle, Wash., announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Dorothy Wheaton Fay, to Carl Frelinghuysen Gould, son of ... |publisher=New York Times |date= |accessdate=2008-05-12 ]

Gould again served as President of the Seattle Fine Arts Society from 1926 to 1929 and was instrumental in its restructuring as the Art Institute of Seattle (predecessor to today's Seattle Art Museum). Gould served as President of the American Institute of Architects Washington State Chapter (predecessor to AIA Seattle Chapter) from 1922 to 1924. He was elected a Fellow in the AIA in 1926.

By the 1930s, Bebb's role in Bebb and Gould declined and the firm's work began to reflect the emergence of Art Deco. This new direction was reflected in the design for the Seattle Art Museum building (1931-1933); now the Seattle Asian Art Museum) in Volunteer Park. (The design of the front elevation reflects the influence of draftsman Walter Wurdeman who had joined Bebb and Gould after graduating from the University of Washington.) Work slowed thereafter, as the Depression limited opportunities, although the firm designed several more University of Washington buildings in this period, and, as campus architects after 1932, supervised designs by other architects.

He died on 4 January, 1939. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Carl F. Gould, 65, Noted Architect. Former New Yorker Drew Up Plan for the University of Washington Campus. Designed Chief Buildings. Started the Department of Architecture. Served Seattle on Planning Board. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0612F6385B177A93C7A9178AD85F4D8385F9 |quote=Carl Frelinghuysen Gould, architect and former member of the Civic Planning Commission of Seattle, died there in the Swedish Hospital ... |publisher=New York Times |date=5 January, 1939 |accessdate=2008-05-12 ]

Legacy

After Gould's unexpected death in 1939, Bebb took trusted employee John Paul Jones into the partnership and the firm was renamed Bebb and Jones.

Overall, Carl F. Gould was a key figure in architecture and the arts in Seattle in the first four decades of the twentieth century. Gould's daughter, Anne Gould Hauberg continues to play a significant role in Seattle as patron of the arts today.

In 1941 his daughter, Anne Westbrook Gould, married. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Anne W. Gould Wed To J. H. Hauberg Jr. Daughter of Late New York Architect Married in Seattle. |url=http://news.google.com/archivesearch?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS233US233&um=1&tab=wn&q=Carl+Freylinghausen+Gould |quote=Miss Anne Westbrook Gould, only daughter of Mrs. Carl Freylinghausen Gould and the late Mr. Gould, Seattle and New York architect, ... |publisher=New York Times |date= |accessdate=2008-05-12 ]

The family papers are archived at the University of Washington.

References

Further reading

* Booth, T. William, and Wilson, William H., "Bebb & Gould," in "Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects" (ed. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner), University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 1994, pages 174-179, 293

* Booth, T. William, and Wilson, William H., "Carl F. Gould: A Life in Architecture and the Arts", University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 1995

* Johnston, Norman J., "Architectural Education at the University of Washington: The Gould Years", University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Seattle 1987.

* Johnston, Norman J., "The Campus Guide: University of Washington", Princeton Architectural Press, New York 2001.

External links

* [http://www.aiaseattle.org/archive_honors_fellows_gould.htm AIA Seattle Honors Archive]