Paul Philippe Cret
Encyclopedia
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he headed the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
.
Biography
Born in Lyon, France, Cret was educated at that city's École des Beaux-ArtsÉcole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, then in Paris, where he studied at the Atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal
Jean-Louis Pascal
Jean-Louis Pascal was an academic French architect.- Life :Born in Paris, Pascal was taught at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts by Émile Gilbert and Charles-Auguste Questel...
. He came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1903 to teach at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Although settled in America, he happened to be in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He enlisted and remained in the French army for the duration, for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
and made an officer in the Legion of Honor.
Albert Kelsey
Albert Washburn Kelsey was an American architect. Kelsey was born in 1870 in St. Louis, Missouri, but resided since boyhood in Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1895...
, was the Pan-American Union Building (now Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
) in Washington DC (1908–10), a breakthrough that led to many war memorials, civic buildings, court houses, and other solid, official structures.
His work through the 1920s was firmly in the Beaux-Arts tradition, but with the radically simplified classical form of the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
(1929–32), he flexibly adopted and applied monumental classical traditions to modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
innovations. (Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
also falls in that category.) Some of Cret's work is remarkably streamlined and forward-thinking, and includes collaborations with sculptors such as Alfred Bottiau and Leon Hermant
Leon Hermant
Leon Hermant was a French-American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture.Hermant was born in France, educated in Europe and came to America in 1904 to work on the French Pavilion at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri...
. In the late 1920s the architect was brought in as design consultant on Fellheimer and Wagner's magnificent Cincinnati Union Terminal
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a passenger railroad station in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States...
(1929–33), the high-water mark of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style in the United States. He became an American citizen in 1927.
In 1931 the regents of The University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
commissioned Cret to design a master-plan for the campus, and build the Beaux-Art Main Building
Main Building of The University of Texas at Austin
The Main Building is a structure at the center of the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, United States...
(1934–37), the university's signature tower. Cret would go on to collaborate on about twenty buildings on the campus.
Cret's contributions to the railroad industry also included the design of the side fluting on the Burlington
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...
's Pioneer Zephyr
Pioneer Zephyr
The Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered railroad train formed of railroad cars permanently articulated together with Jacobs bogies, built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , commonly known as the Burlington...
(debuted in 1934) and the Santa Fe
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
's Super Chief
Super Chief
The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was often referred to as "The Train of the Stars" because of the many celebrities who traveled on the streamliner between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.The Super...
(1936) passenger cars.
Cret won the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects
AIA Gold Medal
The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture."...
in 1938. Ill health forced his resignation from teaching in 1937, and after years of inactivity he died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
of heart disease.
Cret's work will be displayed in the exhibit, From the Bastille to Broad Street: The Influence of France on Philadelphia Architecture, opening at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Athenaeum of Philadelphia
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library founded in 1814 to collect materials "connected with the history and antiquities of America, and the useful arts, and generally to disseminate useful knowledge" for public benefit...
April 7, 2011. With a collection of 17,000 drawings and more than 3,000 photographs, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia has the largest archive of Paul P. Cret materials.
Legacy
Cret headed the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania for over 30 years, and designed such projects as the Rodin MuseumRodin Museum
The Rodin Museum is a museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which contains the largest collection of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris.-Founding:...
in Philadelphia, the master plan for the University of Texas in Austin, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
The Benjamin Franklin Bridge , originally named the Delaware River Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey...
in Philadelphia, and the Duke Ellington Bridge
Duke Ellington Bridge
The Duke Ellington Bridge, named after Duke Ellington, carries Calvert Street NW over Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., United States. It connects 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan with Connecticut Avenue NW in Woodley Park, just north of the Taft Bridge....
in Washington, DC. Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
studied at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
under Cret, and worked in Cret's architectural office, 1929-30. Other notable architects who studied under Cret include Alfred Easton Poor
Alfred Easton Poor
Alfred Easton Poor was an American architect, involved with many buildings and projects in New York City, works in Washington, D.C., for the US Federal Government, and perhaps most notably the Wright Brothers National Memorial. While a student at the University of Pennsylvania, he studied under...
, Charles I. Barber
Charles I. Barber
Charles Irving Barber was an American architect, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and vicinity, during the first half of the 20th century...
, and Chinese architect Lin Huiyin
Lin Huiyin
Lin Huiyin was a noted 20th century Chinese architect and writer. She is said to be the first female architect in China. Her niece is Maya Lin.-Biography:...
.
National Memorial Arch
The National Memorial Arch is dedicated "to the officers and private soldiers of the Continental Army December 19, 1777 June 19, 1778". The Arch is situated at the top of a hill at the intersection of Gulph Road and Outer Line Drive in Valley Forge National Historical Park, Chester County,...
at Valley Forge National Historical Park
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolutionary War. The National Historical Park preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. ...
(1914–17), the Pennsylvania Memorial at the Meuse-Argonne Battlefield in Varennes-en-Argonne, France (1927), the Chateau-Thierry American Monument
Chateau-Thierry American Monument
The Château-Thierry American Monument is a World War I memorial, located near Château-Thierry, Aisne, France.- Situation :The memorial is situated upon Hill 204 and commands a wide view of the valley of the Marne River. It is located about east of Paris, southeast of the Aisne-Marne American...
in Aisne, France (1930), and the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial in Waregem, Belgium (1937). On the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...
, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
dedicated Cret's Eternal Light Peace Memorial (1938).
Following Cret's death in 1945, his four partners assumed the practice under the partnership Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson, which for years was referred to by staff members as H2L2. The firm officially adopted this "nickname" as its formal title in 1976. H2L2 celebrated 100 years in 2007.
Major projects
- 1908-10 - Organization of American StatesOrganization of American StatesThe Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
Building, Washington, D.C. (with Albert Kelsey) - 1914-17 - National Memorial ArchNational Memorial ArchThe National Memorial Arch is dedicated "to the officers and private soldiers of the Continental Army December 19, 1777 June 19, 1778". The Arch is situated at the top of a hill at the intersection of Gulph Road and Outer Line Drive in Valley Forge National Historical Park, Chester County,...
, Valley Forge National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical Park is the site where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolutionary War. The National Historical Park preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. ...
, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania - 1916-17 - Indianapolis Central LibraryIndianapolis-Marion County Public LibraryThe Indianapolis Public Library is the public library system that serves the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis...
, Indianapolis, Indiana (with Zantzinger, Borie and MedaryZantzinger, Borie and MedaryZantzinger, Borie and Medary was an early to mid-twentieth-century American architecture firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania specializing in institutional and civic projects, and active under that name from 1910 through 1929, and continuing until 1950. The partners were Clarence C. Zantzinger,...
) - 1922-26 - Benjamin Franklin BridgeBenjamin Franklin BridgeThe Benjamin Franklin Bridge , originally named the Delaware River Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Camden, New Jersey - 1923-25 - Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
- 1923-27 - Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit Institute of ArtsThe Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
, Detroit, Michigan (with Zantzinger, Borie and MedaryZantzinger, Borie and MedaryZantzinger, Borie and Medary was an early to mid-twentieth-century American architecture firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania specializing in institutional and civic projects, and active under that name from 1910 through 1929, and continuing until 1950. The partners were Clarence C. Zantzinger,...
) - 1926-29 - Rodin MuseumRodin MuseumThe Rodin Museum is a museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which contains the largest collection of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris.-Founding:...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (with Jacques GréberJacques GréberJacques-Henri-Auguste Gréber was a French architect specializing in landscape architecture and urban design. He was a strong proponent of the Beaux-Arts style and a contributor to the City Beautiful movement, particularly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Ottawa, Ontario.-Early life and...
) - 1928-29 - George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, Louisville, Kentucky
- 1929 - Integrity Trust Company Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1929-32 - Folger Shakespeare LibraryFolger Shakespeare LibraryThe Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
, Washington, D.C. - 1930 - Chateau-Thierry American MonumentChateau-Thierry American MonumentThe Château-Thierry American Monument is a World War I memorial, located near Château-Thierry, Aisne, France.- Situation :The memorial is situated upon Hill 204 and commands a wide view of the valley of the Marne River. It is located about east of Paris, southeast of the Aisne-Marne American...
, Aisne, France - 1930-32 - Henry Avenue BridgeWissahickon Memorial BridgeThe Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, originally called and still also known as the Henry Avenue Bridge, is a stone and concrete bridge that carries Henry Avenue over Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
over Wissahickon CreekWissahickon CreekWissahickon Creek is a stream in southeastern Pennsylvania. Rising in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, it runs about 23 miles passing through and dividing Northwest Philadelphia before emptying into the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia...
, Fairmount ParkFairmount ParkFairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 1931-32 - Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Klingle ValleyConnecticut Avenue Bridge over Klingle ValleyThe Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Klingle Valley, more commonly known as the Klingle Valley Bridge, is an Art Deco concrete bridge located near the Smithsonian National Zoological Park on Connecticut Avenue, Northwest in Washington, D.C...
, Washington, D.C. - 1932 - Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 925 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1932-33 Hershey Community Center BuildingHershey Community Center BuildingHershey Community Center Building is a historic building located at Hershey, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was designed by noted architect Paul Philippe Cret , under a general plan by Milton S. Hershey , and built in 1932-1933. Plans for a community theater and center were originally drawn-up...
, Hershey, PennsylvaniaHershey, PennsylvaniaHershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality... - 1933 - United States Courthouse, consulting architect, Fort Worth, Texas
- 1933-34 - Central Heating PlantCentral Heating Plant (Washington, D.C.)The Central Heating Plant is a power station located at 325 13th Street, SW in the Southwest Federal Center neighborhood of Washington, D.C. which serves most of the United States federal government buildings near the National Mall. Operated by the General Services Administration, it was designed...
, Washington, D.C. - 1934-37 - Main Building, University of TexasMain Building of The University of Texas at AustinThe Main Building is a structure at the center of the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, United States...
- 1934-38 - Tygart River Reservoir DamTygart River Reservoir DamTygart River Reservoir Dam, also known as Tygart Dam, is a historic dam located near Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia. It was designed in part by Paul Philippe Cret and built between 1934 and 1938, as a project sponsored by the Public Works Administration to provide for flood control. It is...
, near Grafton, West VirginiaGrafton, West VirginiaGrafton is a city in, and county seat of, Taylor County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 5,489 at the 2000 census. The only two national cemeteries in West Virginia are located in Grafton. Mother's Day was founded in Grafton on May 10, 1908; the city is the home to the International Mother's... - 1935 - Duke Ellington BridgeDuke Ellington BridgeThe Duke Ellington Bridge, named after Duke Ellington, carries Calvert Street NW over Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., United States. It connects 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan with Connecticut Avenue NW in Woodley Park, just north of the Taft Bridge....
, Washington, D.C. - 1935-37 - Eccles BuildingEccles BuildingThe Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building houses the main offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. It is located at 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., in Washington, D.C. The building, designed in the stripped-down classical style, was designed by Paul...
, Washington, D.C. - 1935-37 - Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, San Antonio, Texas
- 1936 - Dallas Fair ParkFair ParkDallas Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex located in Dallas, Texas . The complex is registered as a Dallas Landmark, National Historic Landmark and is home to nine museums, six performance facilities, a lagoon, and the largest Ferris wheel in North America...
, Texas Centennial Exposition Buildings at the Texas Centennial ExpositionTexas Centennial ExpositionThe Texas Centennial Exposition was a World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836. More than 50 buildings, for which "George Dahl was director general of a group of architects who designed the buildings ", were...
, consulting architect, Dallas, Texas - 1936-39 - Texas Memorial MuseumTexas Memorial MuseumThe Texas Memorial Museum is the main exhibit hall of the Texas Natural Science Center at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, USA....
, consulting architect, Austin, Texas - 1937 - Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial, Waregem, Belgium (with Jacques GréberJacques GréberJacques-Henri-Auguste Gréber was a French architect specializing in landscape architecture and urban design. He was a strong proponent of the Beaux-Arts style and a contributor to the City Beautiful movement, particularly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Ottawa, Ontario.-Early life and...
) - 1938 - Eternal Light Peace Memorial, Gettysburg BattlefieldGettysburg BattlefieldThe Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...
, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lee LawrieLee LawrieLee Oscar Lawrie was one of the United States' foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II...
, sculptor - 1939-44 - National Naval Medical CenterNational Naval Medical CenterThe National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA — commonly known as the Bethesda Naval Hospital — was for decades the flagship of the United States Navy's system of medical centers. A federal institution, it conducted medical and dental research as well as providing health care for...
, Buildings 1 and 17, consulting architect, Bethesda, Maryland
External links
- University of Pennsylvania Paul Philippe Cret Collection Examples of Cret's graphic work
- H2L2
- Paul Philippe Cret from Philadelphia Architects and Buildings.