Richard Morris Hunt

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the life of Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895) who was born in Brattleboro, Vermont and is considered one of the most respected architects of his time. It discusses how he was awarded many professional honors and was one of the most highly acclaimed Americans of the nineteenth-century. It briefly examines Hunt?s education and career and evaluates his work in terms of his contributions to architecture, to New York City and his influence on city architecture. It also looks at some key works he designed and created including his most monumental work, the base of the Statue of Liberty. Pictures of some his works are included.

From the Paper:

"The industrial age, however, had produced new methods and materials that opened up novel possibilities. Engineers and industrialists, for example, had perceived the potentialities of cast iron, long before architects began to speculate on its creative applications to their craft. The structural use of iron actually dates form the latter part of the eighteen-century, although at first it was found in bridges, cotton mills, and other functional buildings, where it was usually combined with brick, stone, or timber, or else used as a substitute for one or more of them. With the use of cast iron and steel the nineteenth- century was eventually to see the spanning of broader widths, the enclosure of more cubic space, and projections toward greater heights than had previously been possible. It was in this context that Hunt began his career as an architect, for it was in Europe that he learned to appreciate and respect the history of art in architecture - and it was this European architectural history that he wanted to reproduce in America."

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