Hugh Ferriss
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
delineator (one who creates perspective drawings of buildings) and architect
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...
. According to Daniel Okrent, Ferriss never designed a single noteworthy building, but after his death a colleague said he 'influenced my generation of architects' more than any other man. Ferriss also influenced popular culture, for example Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
(the setting for Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
) and Kerry Conran
Kerry Conran
Kerry Scott Conran is an American filmmaker, educated at the California Institute of Arts. He created and directed the 2004 pulp science fiction film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow....
's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a 2004 American pulp adventure science-fiction film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut. The film is set in an alternative 1939 and follows the adventures of Polly Perkins , a newspaper reporter, and Harry Joseph "Joe" Sullivan ,...
.
Biography
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, but, early in his career, began to specialize in creating architectural renderings for other architects' work rather than designing buildings himself. As a delineator, his task was to create a perspective drawing of a building or project. This was done either as part of the sales process for a project, or, more commonly, to advertise or promote the project to a wider audience. Thus, his drawings frequently were destined for annual shows or advertisements. As a result of this his works were often published (rather than just given to the architect’s client) and Ferriss acquired a reputation. After he had set up as a free-lance artist he found himself much sought after.
In 1912, Ferriss arrived in New York City
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...
and was soon employed as a delineator for Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
. Some of his earliest drawings are of Gilbert’s Woolworth Building
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York City. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 57 stories, one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City...
; they reveal that Ferriss’s illustrations had not yet developed his signature dark, moody appearance. In 1915, with Gilbert’s blessing, he left the firm and set up shop as an independent architectural delineator. In 1914, Ferriss married Dorothy Laphan, an editor and artist for Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
.
By 1920, Ferriss had begun to develop his own style, frequently presenting the building at night, lit up by spotlights, or in a fog, as if photographed with a soft focus
Soft focus
In photography, soft focus is a lens flaw, in which the lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. A soft focus lens deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as an...
. The shadows cast by and on the building became almost as important as the revealed surfaces. He had somehow managed to develop a style that would elicit emotional responses from the viewer. His drawings were being regularly featured by such diverse publications as Century
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
, the Christian Science Monitor, Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
and Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
. His writings began to also appear in various publications.
In 1916, New York City had passed landmark zoning laws
1916 Zoning Resolution
The New York City 1916 Zoning Resolution was a measure adopted primarily to stop massive buildings such as the Equitable Building from preventing light and air from reaching the streets below...
that regulated and limited the mass of buildings according to a formula. The reason was to counteract the tendency for buildings to occupy the whole of their lot and go straight up as far as was possible. Since many architects were not sure exactly what these laws meant for their designs, in 1922 the skyscraper architect Harvey Wiley Corbett
Harvey Wiley Corbett
Harvey Wiley Corbett was an American architect primarily known for skyscraper and office building designs in New York and London, and his advocacy of tall buildings and modernism in architecture.-Early life and career:...
commissioned Ferriss to draw a series of four step-by-step perspectives demonstrating the architectural consequences of the zoning law. These four drawings would later be used in his 1929 book "The Metropolis of Tomorrow".
Hugh Ferriss' archive, including drawings and papers, is held by the Drawings & Archives Department of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library is one of twenty-five libraries in the Columbia University Library System and is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in the City of New York. It is the largest architecture library in the world...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Every year the American Society of Architectural Illustrators gives out the Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize
Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize
The Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize is awarded by the American Society of Architectural Illustrators in recognition of excellence in the graphic representation of architecture...
for architectural rendering excellence. The medal features Ferriss’s original "Fourth Stage" drawing, executed in bronze.
Selected Renderings
- The Liberty MemorialLiberty MemorialThe Liberty Memorial, located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, is a memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War I and houses the The National World War I Museum, as designated by the United States Congress in 2004.. Groundbreaking commenced November 1, 1921, and the city held a site dedication...
, Kansas City, Missouri. Harold Van Buren MagonigleHarold Van Buren MagonigleHarold Van Buren Magonigle was an American architect best known for his memorials.Born in New Jersey, Magonigle worked for Calvert Vaux, Rotch & Tilden and McKim Mead & White before opening his own practice in 1903...
, architect. - The Four Stages
- Chicago Tribune TowerTribune TowerThe Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
. Howells & Hood, architects. - Players Club, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & GryllsSmith Hinchman & GryllsSmithGroup ranks as the United States' 7th largest architecture and engineering firm and employs 800. The firm is composed of client industry-focused practices serving Health, Learning, Science & Technology, and Workplace markets...
[SH&G], architects. - Radiator Building, New York, New York. Raymond HoodRaymond HoodRaymond Mathewson Hood was an early-mid twentieth century architect who worked in the Art Deco style. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, educated at Brown University, MIT, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the latter institution he met John Mead Howells, with whom Hood later partnered...
, architect. - Buhl Building, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & GryllsSmith Hinchman & GryllsSmithGroup ranks as the United States' 7th largest architecture and engineering firm and employs 800. The firm is composed of client industry-focused practices serving Health, Learning, Science & Technology, and Workplace markets...
[SH&G], architects. - Chicago Board of Trade Building. Holabird & RootHolabird & RocheThe architectural firm of Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm's designs have changed many times — from the Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern Architecture to Sustainable Architecture.-History:...
, architects. - Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & GryllsSmith Hinchman & GryllsSmithGroup ranks as the United States' 7th largest architecture and engineering firm and employs 800. The firm is composed of client industry-focused practices serving Health, Learning, Science & Technology, and Workplace markets...
[SH&G], architects. - Guardian [Union Trust] Building, Detroit, Michigan. Smith Hinchman & GryllsSmith Hinchman & GryllsSmithGroup ranks as the United States' 7th largest architecture and engineering firm and employs 800. The firm is composed of client industry-focused practices serving Health, Learning, Science & Technology, and Workplace markets...
[SH&G], architects. - Telephone Building, St. Louis, Missouri. Mauran, Russell & Crowell and TimlinJohn MauranJohn Lawrence Mauran, FAIA was an American architect responsible for many downtown landmarks in St. Louis, Missouri, and also active in Texas.- Life :...
, architects.
External links
- The Hugh Ferriss Architectural Drawings and Papers Collection. Includes digital images of more than 350 original drawings held by Columbia University.