Edward H. Kendall
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Kendall was one of the first generation of Americans to study in Paris; he apprenticed in the office of the construction engineer Gridley James Fox Bryant
Gridley James Fox Bryant
Gridley James Fox Bryant was a famous 19th century Boston architect and builder. His work was seen in custom houses, government buildings, churches, schoolhouses, and private residences across the United States.Bryant was born to Marcia Winship Fox and Gridley Bryant, noted railway pioneer...
, Boston. He moved to New York where he collaborated with Bryant's collaborator in developing Boston's Back Bay, Arthur Gilman
Arthur Gilman
Arthur Delevan Gilman was an American architect, designer of many Boston neighborhoods, and member of the American Institute of Architects. Gilman was a descendant of Edward Gilman Sr., one of the first settlers of Exeter, New Hampshire.Gilman was educated at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut...
, in building the Equitable Life Assurance Society Building (1868-71). He soon established independent practice and was a member (1868) and eventually President (1892-93) 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...
, in which capacity he presided over the AIA conventions held during the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, Chicago 1893.
After the humiliating defeat of an Act to License the Practice of Architecture in New York (1892), The Tarsney Act of 1893, by which the Federal Government was to hire private architects through competitions, was passed by Congress largely owing to his persistence as president of the American Institute of Architects.
Kendall died in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1901.
Selected works
All works were in New York, unless otherwise noted.- Equitable Life Building, Broadway and Cedar Street (1868-71, in partnership with Arthur GilmanArthur GilmanArthur Delevan Gilman was an American architect, designer of many Boston neighborhoods, and member of the American Institute of Architects. Gilman was a descendant of Edward Gilman Sr., one of the first settlers of Exeter, New Hampshire.Gilman was educated at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut...
; George B. PostGeorge B. PostGeorge Browne Post was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition.-Biography:Post was a student of Richard Morris Hunt , but unlike many architects of his generation, he had previously received a degree in civil engineering...
assisted) The commission was awarded after a competition in which H.H. Richardson participated. A six-storey commercial building of unprecedented height, it had passenger elevators to make the uppermost floors accessible, the first office building to employ this technology. Additions by Kendall were made in 1898-99, and further modifications by George B. PostGeorge B. PostGeorge Browne Post was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition.-Biography:Post was a student of Richard Morris Hunt , but unlike many architects of his generation, he had previously received a degree in civil engineering...
. The building burned in 1912 and was rebuilt to a new design.
- 425-27 Broome Street, corner of Crosby Street (1874). A cast-iron buildingCast-iron architectureCast-iron architecture is a form of architecture where cast iron plays a central role. It was a prominent style in the Industrial Revolution era when cast iron was relatively cheap and modern steel had not yet been developed.-Structural use:...
in Neo-GrecNeo-GrecNeo-Grec is a term referring to late manifestations of Neoclassicism, early Neo-Renaissance now called the Greek Revival style, which was popularized in architecture, the decorative arts, and in painting during France's Second Empire, or the reign of Napoleon III, a period that lasted...
style. Carefully restored in 2005-06.
- German Savings Bank, southeast corner of 14th Street and 4th Avenue (with Henry Fernbach)
- Goelet houses for the Goelet brothers Robert (591 Fifth Avenue, 1880, southeast corner of 48th Street) and Ogden (608 Fifth Avenue, 1882, southwest corner of 49th Street). The brownstone Goelet corner houses were among the last private mansions on Fifth Avenue below Central Park. His mother having died in 1929, Ogden's son Robert W. Goelet replaced 608 Fifth Avenue in 1932 with the Art Deco Goelet Building (now the Swiss Center Building), itself a designated historic landmark, that is "one giant Art Moderne cigarette case of marble", according to Christopher Gray.
- Gorham Manufacturing Company Building, 889-91 Broadway, northwest corner of 19th Street, built for Robert and Ogden Goelet (1883-84, altered by John H. DuncanJohn H. Duncan-Biography:He was the designer of the Wolcott Hotel. One of the most famous architects in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, his popularity rose after being selected as the architect of what is now Grant's Tomb, another "reconstruction" of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus .Another of...
, who removed the corner tower and added dormers, 1912). A commercial building with two floors of showrooms and kitchenless "bachelor flats" above, it was entirely in commercial use by 1893, as even bachelors moved uptown. Designated a New York City Landmark in 1984.
- One Broadway (1883-84) (NRHPNational Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th StreetList of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th StreetThis is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan below 14th Street, which is a large portion of New York County, New York...
), facing Bowling Green, a ten-storey office building built for Cyrus W. Field as the "Washington Building"; Kendall added four more storeys that gave it a "Hôtel de VilleHôtel de Ville, ParisThe Hôtel de Ville |City Hall]]) in :Paris, France, is the building housing the City of Paris's administration. Standing on the place de l'Hôtel de Ville in the city's IVe arrondissement, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357...
" roof and a cupola prominent from the harbor in 1887; the structure was stripped of its "Queen Anne" brick and brownstone exterior ornament, which had served, according to an early observer in the New York Times, as "a reminder of old Colonial days." "The completed structure, 258 feet high, was the Pan Am Building of its time, Christopher Gray observed, "a comparative giant, of unique silhouette, dominating one of the most important vistas of New York." The facade was stripped and refaced in limestone for new owners, a shipping firm, the International Mercantile Marine Company (1919-21), but the courtyard elevation, not visible from the street was left largely intact. presently the International Mercantile Marine Building
- Navarro house and outbuildings, built for Jose de Navarro in Rumson, New JerseyRumson, New JerseyRumson is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,122.Rumson was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1907, from portions of Shrewsbury Township, based on the results of a...
, purchased in 1891 by Jacob SchiffJacob SchiffJacob Henry Schiff, born Jakob Heinrich Schiff was a German-born Jewish American banker and philanthropist, who helped finance, among many other things, the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.From his base on Wall Street, he was the foremost Jewish leader...
.
- 150 Fifth Avenue, southwest corner of 20th Street (1888). Kendall had his office in this Romanesque Revival building, with his son William M. Kendall. It was formerly the headquarters for the Methodist Book Concern, for whose press room, composing room and bindery its penthouse was expanded in 1900 and 1909. A renovation in 2001 restored its pink granite ground-floor rustication.
- 64-66 Wooster Street, between Spring and Broome Streets (1899). 40°43′24"N 74°0′6"W It currently houses The Ohio Theatre.
- Washington BridgeWashington BridgeThe Washington Bridge carries six lanes of traffic over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, connecting 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan to University Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx...
(1888, consulting architect). This truss arch bridgeTruss arch bridgeA truss arch bridge combines the elements of the truss bridge and the arch bridge. The actual resolution of forces will depend upon the design. If no horizontal thrusting forces are generated this becomes an arch-shaped truss, essentially a bent beam — see moon bridge for an example...
linking Manhattan to The Bronx was redesigned by William R. Hutton and Kendall, based on a design submitted by C. C. Schneider that was pared down to bring the bridge's cost to $3 million.
- American Express Company BuildingAmerican ExpressAmerican Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
, Hudson Street (1890-91)