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31-611: Calvert Vaux FAIA ( / v ɔː k s / ; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer . He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed parks such as Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City and the Delaware Park–Front Park System in Buffalo, New York . Vaux, on his own and in various partnerships, designed and created dozens of parks across

62-631: A Fellow is considered a formal honor. Beginning in 1922, Fellows were elected by a Jury of Fellows, then nominated by the President, and now by the Secretary. In 1952 the present College of Fellows was established to formally represent Fellows within the larger organization. Architects recognized with FAIA include: This architecture -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Frederick Clarke Withers Frederick Clarke Withers (4 February 1828 – 7 January 1901)

93-421: A designer of homes and landscapes. After Downing's sudden death in 1852, Vaux was left with their assistant Frederick Clarke Withers to continue Downing's legacy. He left Newburgh in 1856 to grow his practice in New York City, where he began, received and completed commissions with Olmsted, Withers, and Jacob Wrey Mould . As a result, Vaux's name was frequently overshadowed by other designers, such as Olmsted, yet

124-487: A few months after Withers joined his office on July 28, 1852, attempting to save his mother-in-law in the explosion of the steamboat Henry Clay . Calvert Vaux , Downing's partner, then took Withers in as an assistant and later partner by 1854. Vaux included a design for a bookcase credited to Withers among those in his Villas and Cottages (1857), which records both designs of the firms Downing & Vaux and Vaux & Withers. A year prior to publication, Vaux dissolved

155-550: A hillside landscape and a meadow, the partners handled each differently, connecting them via paths. After Vaux's death, his son Downing completed the grounds, adding a conservatory of his own design. John C. Olmstead completed his father's portion as he had become gravely ill and could not return to Newburgh. On November 19, 1895, Vaux accidentally drowned in Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn while visiting his son Downing. He

186-542: A landscape plan, to help with the Greensward Plan, which would become New York City's Central Park . They obtained the commission through the Greensward Plan , an excellent presentation that drew upon Vaux's talents in landscape drawing to include before-and-after sketches of the site. Together, they fought many political battles to make sure their original design remained intact and was carried out. All of

217-529: A major park project in Buffalo, New York , which included The Parade (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Park ), The Park (now the Delaware Park ), and The Front (now simply Front Park ). Vaux designed many structures to beautify the parks, but most of these have been demolished. Vaux also designed a large Canadian city park in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick called Rockwood Park . It is one of

248-555: A series of watercolor landscapes that he made while en route to the United States that caught the attention of Andrew Jackson Downing , a noted landscape architect in Newburgh, New York . Rejected in his offer to Alexander Jackson Davis to form a partnership, Downing traveled to London in search of a new architect who would complement his architectural vision. He believed that architecture should be visually integrated into

279-467: Is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member architects who have made outstanding contributions to the profession through design excellence, contributions in the field of architectural education, or to the advancement of the profession. In 2014, fewer than 3,200 of the more than 80,000 AIA members were fellows. Honorary Fellowship (Hon. FAIA) is awarded to foreign (non- U.S. citizen ) architects, and to non-architects who have made substantial contributions to

310-626: Is buried in Kingston, New York 's Montrepose Cemetery . In 1998, the city of New York dedicated Calvert Vaux Park , situated in Gravesend overlooking the bay, to him. In 1854, Vaux married Mary Swan McEntee, the sister of Jervis McEntee , a Hudson River School painter. They had two sons (Calvert and Downing) and two daughters (Helen and Julia). Fellow of the American Institute of Architects Fellowship

341-686: The Children's Aid Society in partnership with Radford; the Fourteenth Ward Industrial School (1889), pp. 256-258 Mott Street, facing the churchyard of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral , and the Elizabeth Home for Girls (1892), 307 East 12th Street, both survive and are landmarked. The last collaboration between Vaux and Olmsted was Downing Park in Newburgh, given to the memory of Downing. Divided into two sections,

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372-545: The Gothic Revival mode, Withers wrote about architecture and designed in the highly colored Ruskinian Gothic manner. His first commission in 1859 for a High Victorian Gothic building, the Reformed Church of Beacon (1860) was likely secured through the congregation's associations with John Peter DeWindt , his father-in-law. Others in this style, such as the nearby Tioronda School (1865), were recognized by

403-770: The Hudson River State Hospital , and the Jefferson Market Courthouse . In 1856, he gained U.S. citizenship and became identified with New York City's artistic community, “the guild,” joining the National Academy of Design , as well as the Century Club . In 1857, he became one of the founding members of the American Institute of Architects . Also in 1857, Vaux published Villas and Cottages, which

434-580: The National Academy of Design in 1866. When A. J. Bicknell published Withers's Church Architecture (1873), featuring the school, the architect's reputation was secured. Among his prestigious commissions in New York was the William Backhouse Astor, Sr. Memorial Altar and Reredos (1876–77) at Trinity Church . Withers's only cast-iron building stands at 448 Broome Street, Manhattan, but many of his urban designs went unrealized. By

465-601: The 1880s he had separated from Vaux and worked in partnership with Walter Dickson (1835–1903), originally from Albany, New York . A number of Withers's works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and further honored as National Historic Landmarks . Under the firm Vaux, Withers & Co., Withers designed his most famous building, the Jefferson Market Courthouse , built in 1874 on 10th St. in Greenwich Village , New York next to

496-887: The United States. Frederick Clarke Withers was born in Shepton Mallet , Somersetshire. He had a brother, Robert Jewell Withers , who also became an architect. He studied architecture in England for eight years under Thomas Henry Wyatt . He came to the United States in February 1852 at the invitation of the prominent American horticulturist and burgeoning architect Andrew Jackson Downing . Withers and Downing later became family, as they married sisters: Emily Augusta and Caroline Elizabeth DeWindt, respectively. The sisters were great-grandchildren of President John Adams , and grandnieces of John Quincy Adams . Downing drowned

527-546: The built features of Central Park were of his design; Bethesda Terrace is a good example. In 1865, Vaux and Olmsted founded Olmsted, Vaux and Co., which went on to design Prospect Park and Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn , and Morningside Park in Manhattan . In Chicago , they planned one of the first suburbs for the Riverside Improvement Company in 1868. They also were commissioned to design

558-581: The contemporary American public still recognized his talents. Born in London to a physician , Vaux was baptized at St Benet Gracechurch on February 9, 1825. He trained as an apprentice under the architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham , a leader of the Gothic Revival movement interested in Tudor architecture. Vaux trained under Cottingham until the age of twenty-six, also befriending George Godwin and George Truefitt during his studies. In 1850, Vaux exhibited

589-441: The field of architecture or to the institute. Fellowship is awarded in one of six categories: Membership in the American Institute of Architects was originally divided into two categories, Professional and Associate, with the former largely corresponding to the later title of Fellow. This title was first proposed in 1864 by Calvert Vaux , and by at least 1867 was in common use. Earlier Professional members, including several of

620-570: The founders, began using the title at this time, and prior Professional members are now considered Fellows. During this period, the title was considered a senior rather than honorary title. In 1889, the AIA was merged with the Western Association of Architects (WAA), which had designated all of its members Fellows. Upon the merger, WAA members kept their title and all existing AIA members were raised to Fellowship. Beginning in 1890, Fellowship

651-818: The largest of its kind in Canada. In 1871, the partners designed the grounds of the New York State Hospital for the Insane in Buffalo and the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane in Poughkeepsie . In 1872, Vaux dissolved the partnership and went on to form an architectural partnership with George K. Radford and Samuel Parsons . In that same year he completed work on Olana , the home of artist Frederic Edwin Church , who collaborated with Vaux on

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682-700: The mansion's design. Famous New York City buildings Vaux designed are the Samuel J. Tilden House , and the original Ruskinian Gothic buildings, now largely invisible from exterior view, of the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art . In addition to the New York buildings, Vaux also was the architect for The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Towson, Maryland . Less familiar are twelve projects Vaux designed for

713-553: The northeastern United States , most famously in Manhattan , Brooklyn , and Buffalo in New York. He introduced new ideas about the significance of public parks in America during a hectic time of urbanization . This industrialization of the cityscape inspired Vaux to focus on the integration of buildings, bridges, and other forms of architecture into their natural surroundings. He favored naturalistic and curvilinear lines in his designs. In addition to landscape architecture, Vaux

744-487: The practice and left for New York City. Withers began plans for his first independent commissions, a series of country houses for clients in adjacent Balmville . His library for the Frederick Deming House, "Morningside" (1859–60) was deemed architecturally significant by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the late 1970s and removed for display. One of Withers's most radical and linear villas of these years

775-727: The surrounding landscape, and wanted to work with someone who was equally passionate. Vaux accepted the opportunity and subsequently moved to the United States. Vaux worked with Downing for two years and became a firm partner. Together, they designed many projects such as the White House grounds and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Vaux's work on the Smithsonian inspired him to write an article in 1852 for The Horticulturalist, of which Downing

806-780: Was "Tioronda" (1859–60), built for Joseph Howland and his wife Eliza Newton Woolsey in present-day Beacon, New York . Set within a landscape by Henry Winthrop Sargent , Tioronda marked Withers's maturity as an architect and picturesque designer trained in Downing's vision. At the outset of the American Civil War , Withers volunteered and received a commission as a lieutenant in the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment . This experience added invaluable engineering experience to his architectural expertise. After 1863, he moved his practice to New York City from Newburgh. As an independent architect in New York working largely in

837-438: Was a highly-sought after architect until the 1870s, when his modes of design could not endure the country's return to classical forms . His partnership with Andrew Jackson Downing , a major figure in horticulture , landscape design, and domestic architecture, brought him from London to Newburgh, New York , in 1850. There, Downing's praise of Gothic Revival and Italianate architecture contributed to Vaux's personal growth as

868-506: Was an English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical designs. For portions of his professional career, he partnered with fellow immigrant Calvert Vaux ; both worked in the office of Andrew Jackson Downing in Newburgh, New York , where they began their careers following Downing's accidental death. Withers greatly participated in the introduction of the High Victorian Gothic style to

899-413: Was an influential pattern book that determined the standards for “Victorian Gothic” architecture. These particular writings revealed his acknowledgment and tribute to Ruskin and Ralph Waldo Emerson , as well as to his former partner Downing. These people, among others, influenced him intellectually and in his design path. In 1857, Vaux recruited Frederick Law Olmsted , who had never before designed

930-492: Was the editor. In his publication, he argued that the government should recognize and support the arts. Shortly afterward, Downing died in a steamboat accident. After Downing's death, Vaux gained control of the firm. As a partner, he hired Frederick Clarke Withers , who was already working at the company. In two separate periods of partnership, interrupted by the Civil War, their projects included multiple houses in Newburgh,

961-476: Was the primary form of membership in the AIA, in addition to "Honorary and Corresponding" members, who, as in the present, were non-architects or foreign nationals. In 1898, the AIA returned to a two-tier membership system of Fellows and Associates, with significant requirements for election to Fellowship and the final decision left to the AIA Board of Directors. It is from this point forward that designation as

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