Jacques Gréber
Encyclopedia
Jacques-Henri-Auguste Gréber (10 September 1882 - 5 June 1962) 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
.
, the son of sculptor Henri-Léon Gréber
, and attended the École des Beaux-Arts
in that city. Following graduation in 1908, he designed many private gardens in the United States
. These include Harbor Hill
(1910) in Roslyn
, Long Island, New York for Clarence Mackay
(with architects McKim, Mead & White); and at Lynnewood Hall
(1913) in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
for Joseph E. Widener
(with architect Horace Trumbauer
).
His greatest private commission was for investment banker Edward T. Stotesbury
at Whitemarsh Hall
(1916–1921) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
(also with Trumbauer). There he created the unsurpassed American example of a French classical garden in the grand manner of André Le Nôtre
.
Gréber is best known for the 1917 master plan for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; for his work as master architect for the 1937 Paris International Exposition
; and for the Greber Plan
for Ottawa and the Canadian National Capital Region. The latter, produced between 1937 and 1950 (with an interruption during World War II
), included expansion of urban parks, a series of parkways, and a greenbelt surrounding the city.
In anticipation of the 1926 sesquicentennial of the Declaration of Independence
, Gréber created a plan for a mall north of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. This included a "Great Marble Court" surrounded on 3 sides by arcades (with each arch representing a U. S. state) and a pavilion at its center to house the Liberty Bell
. It was not carried out; Independence Mall was created in the 1950s under a different plan. He also collaborated with fellow French-American architect Paul Cret on Philadelphia's Rodin Museum
in 1926. He was not always popular with the press: a Philadelphia newspaper dubbed him "Jack Grabber".
In France, between the world wars, Gréber worked on urban plans in Lille
, Belfort
, Marseille
(1930), Abbeville
, and Rouen
, Neuilly
, Montrouge
, among others. But he is not as well-known today in France as he is in North America.
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...
architect specializing in landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
and urban design
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
. He was a strong proponent of the Beaux-Arts style and a contributor to the City Beautiful movement
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
, particularly 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,...
and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Early life and education
Gréber was born in ParisParis
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...
, the son of sculptor Henri-Léon Gréber
Henri-Léon Gréber
Henri Léon Greber was a French sculptor. His son was the architect Jacques Gréber. Active in the United States of America, he produced a fountain sculpture of 4 equestrian statues for Harbor Hill and the copy of The Kiss in the Philadelphia Rodin Museum.-See also:*Monument...
, and attended 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 that city. Following graduation in 1908, he designed many private gardens in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. These include Harbor Hill
Harbor Hill
Harbor Hill was a spectacular Long Island mansion built from 1899-1902 in Roslyn, New York, commissioned by Clarence Hungerford Mackay. It was designed by McKim, Mead, and White, with Stanford White supervising the project...
(1910) in Roslyn
Roslyn, New York
Roslyn is a village in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 2,770...
, Long Island, New York for Clarence Mackay
Clarence Mackay
Clarence Hungerford Mackay was an American financier, believed to inherit most of a $500 million estate in 1902. In 1926, his daughter Ellin married Irving Berlin against her father's wishes and he disinherited her....
(with architects McKim, Mead & White); and at Lynnewood Hall
Lynnewood Hall
Lynnewood Hall is a 110-room Neoclassical Revival mansion in Elkins Park, Montgomery County designed by architect Horace Trumbauer for industrialist Peter A. B. Widener between 1897 and 1900...
(1913) in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the suburbs of Philadelphia, roughly from Center City, Philadelphia.-Points of interest:...
for Joseph E. Widener
Joseph E. Widener
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C...
(with architect Horace Trumbauer
Horace Trumbauer
Horace Trumbauer was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus of Duke University...
).
His greatest private commission was for investment banker Edward T. Stotesbury
Edward T. Stotesbury
Edward Townsend "Ned" Stotesbury was a prominent investment banker, a partner in Drexel & Co. and its New York affiliate J. P. Morgan & Co. for over fifty-five years....
at Whitemarsh Hall
Whitemarsh Hall
Whitemarsh Hall was a huge estate located on of land in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, USA, and owned by banking executive Edward T. Stotesbury and his wife, Eva...
(1916–1921) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
Wyndmoor is a census-designated place in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 5,498 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
(also with Trumbauer). There he created the unsurpassed American example of a French classical garden in the grand manner of André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
.
Major works
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Named for favorite son Benjamin Franklin, the mile-long Parkway cuts diagonally across the grid plan pattern of Center City's Northwest quadrant...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; for his work as master architect for the 1937 Paris International Exposition
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)
The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937 in Paris, France...
; and for the Greber Plan
Greber Plan
The Greber Plan, or General Report on the Plan for the National Capital , was an urban plan developed in 1950 by Jacques Gréber for the Federal District Commission of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Its main components were:...
for Ottawa and the Canadian National Capital Region. The latter, produced between 1937 and 1950 (with an interruption during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
), included expansion of urban parks, a series of parkways, and a greenbelt surrounding the city.
In anticipation of the 1926 sesquicentennial of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
, Gréber created a plan for a mall north of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. This included a "Great Marble Court" surrounded on 3 sides by arcades (with each arch representing a U. S. state) and a pavilion at its center to house the Liberty Bell
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House , the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY...
. It was not carried out; Independence Mall was created in the 1950s under a different plan. He also collaborated with fellow French-American architect Paul Cret on Philadelphia's Rodin Museum
Rodin 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 1926. He was not always popular with the press: a Philadelphia newspaper dubbed him "Jack Grabber".
In France, between the world wars, Gréber worked on urban plans in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
, Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
(1930), Abbeville
Abbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Location:Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and northwest of Amiens...
, and Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, Neuilly
Neuilly
Neuilly is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name Nobilis or Novellius:...
, Montrouge
Montrouge
Montrouge is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the center of Paris, France. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe...
, among others. But he is not as well-known today in France as he is in North America.
See also
- Greber PlanGreber PlanThe Greber Plan, or General Report on the Plan for the National Capital , was an urban plan developed in 1950 by Jacques Gréber for the Federal District Commission of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Its main components were:...
(Ottawa) - Gatineau ParkGatineau ParkGatineau Park is a park located in the National Capital Region, in Quebec's Outaouais region, just north of Ottawa, Ontario. Administered by the National Capital Commission, the park is a 361 km² wedge of land to the west of the Gatineau River...
- Greenbelt (Ottawa)Greenbelt (Ottawa)The Greenbelt is a crescent of land within the present-day boundaries of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in which real estate development is strictly controlled. It begins at Shirleys Bay in the west and extends to Green's Creek in the east...