Albert Pissis was the architect who introduced the Beaux-Arts architectural style

Architectural style

Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...

 to San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, designing a number of important buildings in the city in the years before and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

1906 San Francisco earthquake

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...

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Biography

Pissis was born in 1852 to French parents in Guaymas

Guaymas

Guaymas is a city and municipality located in the southwest part of the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. The city is located 117 km south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and 242 miles from the U.S. border, and is the principal port for the state. The municipality is located in the...

 in the Mexican state of Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

. His father, a physician, moved the family to San Francisco, California, in the United States, when Pissis was six. He was one of the first Americans to study at the École des Beaux-Arts

École 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,...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, 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...

. He returned in 1880 to San Francisco, which at the time was a fairly provincial western town despite its wealth, with buildings designed in a variety of architectural styles.

In 1882 Pissis became a member of the American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 and, with partner William P. Moore, designed a number of buildings in flamboyant Queen Anne

Queen Anne Style architecture

The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...

 and Eastlake styles. However, by the 1890s he was a major figure in the Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 (Classical Revival) movement, particularly Beaux-Arts, and introduced that style to San Francisco beginning with the Hibernia Bank building in 1892. Initially considered revolutionary, the style became popular among the city's powerful commercial and banking concerns. The dome he designed for the Emporium Department Store, now part of the Westfield San Francisco Centre

Westfield San Francisco Centre

Westfield San Francisco Centre is an upscale, urban shopping center located in San Francisco, California, managed by the Westfield Group and co-owned by Westfield and Forest City Enterprises. It is anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, and includes a Century Theatres multiplex, a Bristol...

, is often considered a "masterpiece".

Pissis played a major role in San Francisco's reconstruction following the Great Earthquake of 1906, both as a designer of a number of the city's landmark buildings, and as a member of the Committee of Fifty

Committee of Fifty (1906)

This Committee of Fifty, sometimes referred to as Committee of Safety, Citizens' Committee of Fifty or Relief and Restoration Committee of Law and Order, was called into existence by Mayor Eugene Schmitz during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake...

. He was also President of the local AIA chapter from 1907 to 1908.

Although popular and internationally known at the time, Pissis's approach to design was derided by later critics as reactionary, and blamed for suppressing more original architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

 and Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan

Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...

 in favor of imitation of older European traditions. However, in more recent years his buildings have been increasingly praised.

Pisses died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 at age 62, in his suite at the St. Francis Hotel

St. Francis Hotel

The Westin St. Francis is a historic luxury hotel located on Powell and Geary Streets on Union Square in San Francisco, California. The two twelve-story south wings of the hotel were built just before the San Francisco Earthquake, in 1904, and the double-width north wing was completed in 1913,...

. He was survived by his widow, Georgia, who in 1920 sold land to Redwood City, California

Redwood City, California

Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...

 that became Sequoia High School

Sequoia High School (Redwood City, California)

Sequoia High School is a high school in downtown Redwood City, California, United States. Established in 1895, it is the oldest high school in the San Francisco Bay Area between San Francisco and San Jose. It was founded as a preparatory school for Stanford University...

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Notable works

Among the buildings Pisses designed are:

• Hibernia Bank building at Market and Jones streets in San Francisco
• The Emporium department store (originally called the "Parrot Building" and home of the California Supreme Court), now part of the Westfield San Francisco Centre.
• James Flood Building at Market and Powell Street in San Francisco, California.
• White House Department Store (now Banana Republic store and White House Garage) at Grant and Sutter Street, San Francisco, California.
• Temple Sherith Israel
  Congregation Sherith Israel (San Francisco, California)
  Congregation Sherith Israel is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. It was established during California’s Gold Rush period and reflects the ambitions of early Jewish settlers to San Francisco. Today it is a congregation widely known for its innovative approach to worship and...
  
   in Pacific Heights, San Francisco
• Mechanics' Institute
  San Francisco Mechanics' Institute
  The Mechanics' Institute Library and Chess Room is a historic membership library, cultural event center, and chess club located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California at 57 Post Street...
  
   Library, San Francisco, California
• University House, Berkeley
  University House, Berkeley
  The University House is a building on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Designed by the architect Albert Pissis, it was formerly the home of the president of the University of California, but is now the home of the chancellor of the Berkeley campus.It is actually the only...