Hugh Ferriss

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New York Daily News Building (1930)

Hugh Ferriss (born July 12, 1889 in St. Louis , Missouri , † January 28, 1962 in Greenwich Village , New York City ) was an American architect and architectural draftsman who is best known for his dramatic perspective depictions of high-rise buildings .

Life

Ferriss studied architecture in his hometown of St. Louis , Missouri (at Washington University ). However, there is no known building in the planning of which he took a leading role. Ferriss' field of activity was rather the graphic presentation of the projects of other architects for the general public or for investors, he was active as a so-called "delineator". As such, he was employed by the well-known New York architect Cass Gilbert from 1912 , went self-employed in 1915 with Gilbert's approval, and reached the peak of his fame in the 1920s. At the time, his drawings appeared in popular magazines such as Harper's Magazine and Vanity Fair . Among other things, Ferriss also illustrated the structural possibilities of the mathematically formulated stepping regulations of the New York building code of 1916.

At the height of the American post-war economy, his book "The Metropolis of Tomorrow" was published in 1929. It shows gigantic New York-style skyscrapers in the representation style typical of Ferriss with dramatic light and shadow effects, including monumental structures in the shape of suspension bridges over straits. Due to the global economic crisis that began with the stock market crash of October 1929 , Ferriss' book, like the fate of the Empire State Building planned before the onset of the Great Depression, became emblematic of the overheated [building] fantasies before the big crash.

Hugh Ferriss was elected a member ( NA ) of the National Academy of Design two years before his death . Ferriss' drawing archive is located in the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "F" / Ferriss, Hugh NA 1960 ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on June 21, 2015)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nationalacademy.org

literature

  • Hugh Ferriss, The Metropolis of Tomorrow , New York 1986 (reprint of the 1929 edition) ISBN 0-910413-11-8

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ferriss, Hugh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect and architectural draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 1962
Place of death Greenwich Village , New York City