In Boston, my favorite architect is Henry Hobson Richardson. Decades before F.L. Wright was even conceived, H.H. Richardson (1838-86) earned his reputation as the original organic architect as he imbued his buildings with references from nature such as columns with carved, twirling vines, rough cut red sandstone bases and asymmetrical picturesque roofs. Thanks to the hospitality of Facebook Friends, the Vlad Family, I was able to spend time in Richardson’s Thomas Crane Library in Quincy, Massachusetts (1882). Richardson was a large man and his personal stature is affectionately mirrored in the broad sturdiness of his architecture. Influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, Richardson developed a unique medieval-inspired style that included massive rusticated walls, contrasting polychromatic stone detailing, robust semi-circular arches on squat columns and round arches over groupings of windows. But at the Thomas Crane Library, it is the interior that steals the show. With triple storey height library stacks wrapped in elaborately carved wood bannisters, a grand hearth and home fireplace that spills out into the rest of the room, delicate stained and leaded glass windows that soften the sunlight and Indian carpets that warm the eye, the space is a soothing, contemplative celebration of the written word. It is a place that you never want to leave. Passed away too early at age 47 of kidney complications, he left his family of a wife and 6 children with little. Along with his good friend and neighbour, Frederick Law Olmstead, Landscape Architect, it is hard to think about what other creations never made it on to his drawing board. Nevertheless, Richardson’s legacy includes monumental works such as Trinity Church at Copley Square in Boston, the Allegheny Courthouse in Pittsburgh and a portfolio of iconic 19th century train stations, libraries and city halls that are the anchor and architectural jewels of so many American downtowns.
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 02:33:36 +0000
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