Claude Bragdon

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Claude Bragdon ( Claude Fayette Bragdon ; born August 1, 1866 in Oberlin, Ohio , † September 17, 1946 in New York City ) was an American architect , author and theosophist .

life and work

Childhood, marriage and children

Claude Bragdon was born on August 1, 1866 in Oberlin, Ohio, the younger of two children to George Chandler Bragdon (1832-1910) and Katherine Elmina Shipherd (1837-1920). The father was a newspaper editor and a poet . He attended schools in Watertown , Dansville and Rochester . He was married to Charlotte Coffin Wilkinson and had two children. After Charlotte's death in 1907, Bragdon was married again to Eugenie Julier Macauley († 1920) in 1912 ; this marriage remained childless.

As an architect

FirstUniversalist Church in Rochester, New York

From 1886 Bragdon worked for several architects in Rochester and New York City, in 1891 with various partners and in 1904 as an independent architect. His most significant works were the New York Central Railroad Station (New York Railway Station), the First Universalist Church (Church of the Unitarian Universalists of the Unitarians ) and the Italian Presbyterian Church ( Presbyterian Church ), both in Rochester.

After a dispute with Eastman Kodak about the appearance of the Chamber of Commerce Building in Rochester in 1917, in which Bragdon lost out, his order volume fell noticeably. In 1923 he closed his architecture office and moved to New York, where he lived in the Shelton Hotel in Manhattan for the rest of his life .

As an author and theosophist

Bragdon joined the Theosophical Society in 1891 and after its split in 1895 followed the Theosophical Society Adyar (Adyar-TG). He remained connected to theosophy until the end of his life. Since 1909 numerous publications in the fields of architecture , design , theater , yoga and theosophy have appeared. He translated PD Ouspensky's work Tertium Organum into English. For his work on architectural theory , Bragdon received an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1932 .

Works (selection)

  • A primer of higher space (the fourth dimension) . First edition: The Manas Press, Rochester, New York 1913 (78 pp. + Ill.).
    • Other editions: AAKnopf, New York 1923 (together with the text Man the square, a higher space parable ); A.Dakers, London 1938; Omen Press, Tucson, Arizona 1972.
    • latest edition: Cosimo Classics, New York 2005, ISBN 1596053615 .
  • Projective ornament . Dover Publications, New York 1992, ISBN 048627117X .
  • The Arch lectures . Core Collection Books, Great Neck 1978, ISBN 0848630009 .
  • The beautiful necessity, seven essays on theosophy and architecture . Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton 1978, ISBN 0835605078 .
  • Yoga for you . Cosimo Classics, New York 2005, ISBN 1596053895 .

literature

  • Jean France: Claude Bragdon, a pre-modern architect . University of Rochester, Rochester 1985, ISBN 091809819X .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bragdon, Claude
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bragdon, Claude Fayette
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect, author and theosophist
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberlin (Ohio)
DATE OF DEATH September 17, 1946
Place of death New York City