Alexander Jackson Davis

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Federal Hall , New York City, in association with Ithiel Town , 1833–42
Front facade of the Lyndhurst Villa, 1838 and 1864
Wadsworth Atheneum , Hartford, Connecticut , 1842

Alexander Jackson Davis (AJ Davis) (born July 24, 1803 New York City , † January 14, 1892 in West Orange ) was one of the most successful and influential American architects of his generation.

biography

Davis was the son of Cornelius Davis, a bookseller and editor of theological works, and Julia Jackson. He spent his childhood in New Jersey and attended elementary school in upstate New York. In 1818 Davis went to Alexandria , Virginia to learn the printing trade from a half-brother. From 1823 he lived mostly in New York City. He studied at the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association and the National Academy of Design , founded in 1826 , at which he was accepted as an Associate Member ( ANA ) in 1827 . Although he had dropped out of school, he became a respected lithographer and from 1826 worked as a designer for the New York architect Josiah R. Brady, an early exponent of neo-Gothic. Brady-designed St Luke's Episcopal Church from 1824 is the oldest surviving structure in Rochester, New York.

Although he had his first professional success as a draftsman in the 1820s, his friends, especially the painter John Trumbull , convinced him to switch to designing buildings. Picturesque locations, forms and contrasts remained essential for his work, even if his buildings were designed in the classical style. In 1826 he moved to the office of Ithiel Town and Martin E. Thompson, the most respected neo-Gothic architecture firm. There he had access to the best architecture library in the country and received a thorough education in pleasant surroundings.

Since 1829, Town and his partner Davis formed one of the first modern architecture firms and designed many late classical buildings, some of which were of public importance. In Washington, Davis designed the government department offices and the first patent office building (1834). He also designed the Federal Hall in New York City (1833-42).

A series of deliberations followed about other state government buildings, but none were built directly according to Davis' plans. With Town's partner James Dakin, he designed the monumental Corinthian-style "Colonnade Row" on Lafayette Street in New York, the first spacious home for the wealthy American middle class (1833). He continued the partnership with Town until his death in 1844.

In 1831 he became an associate member of the National Academy. Davis began work on Rural Residences , his only publication. It was the first sample book for picturesque residential buildings in a tamed neo-Gothic style, which could be produced by carpenters, and for the first villas in the Tuscan style with flat roofs and cantilevered roofs and picturesque corner towers. Unfortunately, the economic crisis of 1837 prevented the execution of his plans for a number of similar volumes. Davis soon formed a partnership with Andrew Jackson Downing , e.g. B. he illustrated his much-read books.

His most successful years

Blandwood Mansion from 1844 in Greensboro, North Carolina is an example of Davis' Italian-style buildings

The 1840s and 1850s were Davis' most successful decades as a country house architect. The Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown, New York , although later remodeled, is its most famous building. Many of his mansions were built in the scenic Hudson River Valley, where his style was popularly called the Hudson River Bracketed . Edith Wharton chose "Hudson River Bracketed" as the title for a novel. Davis sent his designs and specifications to clients as far as Indiana, with the stipulation that the work would be carried out by local construction companies. At least two Davis-designed houses were built in the village of Skaneateles. Davis' way of working shaped the colloquial language of builders all over the eastern United States, south to North Carolina. There he designed Blandwood , from 1846 home of North Carolina's Governor John Motley Morehead. The building is considered America's first Tuscan villa. His innovative interiors, especially his designs for fireplace surrounds and sideboards, have been widely imitated. Other influential details were shutters, bay windows and mirrored surfaces to reflect the daylight.

Shortly after founding the American Institute of Architects , Davis was offered membership. In the late 1850s, Davis worked with contractor Llewellyn S. Haskell on the construction of Llewellyn Park in West Orange , New Jersey , a suburb that was the first all-residential community in the United States.

Gothic mansion, watercolor: Faculty building on the Parade Ground, Virginia Military Institute , 1850s

Davis designed buildings for the University of Michigan in 1838 and for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1840s . With the Virginia Military Institute , built from 1848 to 1850 , he created the first completely neo-Gothic college campus. The buildings were built from bricks and then plastered to give the impression of natural stone. The completion of the draft for the barracks block was interrupted by the civil war. It was completed according to Davis' plans in the early 20th century.

The time of the civil war

With the outbreak of the civil war in 1861, interest in building declined significantly. After the war, other architectural styles that were no longer Davis' style became modern. In 1878 Davis closed the office where he had both lived and worked before. In the last 30 years of his life he built little. He spent his retirement in West Orange, drawing plans for pompous construction projects, knowing that they would probably never be realized. He also took care of the selection and sorting of his designs and fonts, as he hoped that this would also be remembered later. His compilation has been spread across four New York institutions: the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University , the New York Public Library , the New York Historical Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Another collection of von Davis' works has been assembled in the library of the Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Museum . After closing his office, he returned to his wife, Margaret Beale, whom he married in 1883, and their two children. "Wildmont", his summer home above Llewellyn Park, was converted for year-round use but burned down in 1884 before the family could move in. Davis died in a small house on the property. He was buried in the cemetery in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Davis' designs were innovative and influential; they ushered in a new era in American architecture that freed itself from the limitations of the past and opened up to new forms and styles. He brought new styles to America and developed the "American Bracketed Style". His designs broke the box-like American house shape with overhangs in all directions, bay windows and verandas that connected the house to the surrounding landscape. His interior designs were often unusual with open floor plans and flowing spaces. Inspired by classical rationalism, Davis worked in the romantic spirit of his time. His deep love for nature brought architecture and landscape into harmony, but his designs were also forward-looking. Contemporary interest in Davis was stimulated by a retrospective held at the Metropolitan Museum in 1992.

See also

So-called vault , meeting the fraternity Skull and Bones at Yale College, attributed to A. J. Davis and Henry Austin (1804-91)
Skull & Bones tomb with Davis' towers, parts of his Yale Alumni Hall (1851–53) in the background

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "D" / Davis, Alexander Jackson ANA 1827 ( Memento from January 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Monroe County (NY) Library System - Rochester Images - St. Luke's Church
  3. ^ News, Events, Classifieds and Sports from the Hudson Valley area. ( Memento of October 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Hudson Valley Times.
  4. ^ History of The American Institute of Architects. American Institute of Architects, accessed September 24, 2008 .
  5. ^ Clayton Hall, Virginia Military Institute Barracks, by Alexander Jackson Davis
  6. ^ A History of the VMI Barracks. Timeline and Online Exhibit.
  7. ↑ Alexander Jackson Davis , Find A Grave . Retrieved August 22, 2007.

Web links

further reading

  • Jane B. Davies: Davis, Alexander Jackson. In: American National Biography (American Council of Learned Societies). 2000.
  • Amelia Peck: Alexander Jackson Davis, American Architect 1803-1892. Rizzoli, 1992.
  • Adolf K. Placzek (Ed.): Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects. New York 1982, ISBN 0-02-925000-5 .
  • Aspirations for Excellence: Alexander Jackson Davis and the First Campus Plan for the University of Michigan, 1838.
personal data
SURNAME Davis, Alexander Jackson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Davis, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1892
Place of death West Orange