Willoughby J. Edbrooke
Willoughby J. Edbrooke (Evanston, Illinois 1843 — 1896) was an American architect who remained faithful to a Richardsonian Romanesque style into the era of Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States, supported by commissions from conservative federal and state governments that were part of his duties as Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Edbrooke first practiced in Chicago in 1868 and eventually formed a partnership with Franklin P. Burnham. Among their major joint commissions were the Georgia State Capitol,[1] and buildings for Notre Dame University, and the Mecca Apartments (1891-1892) in Chicago, where Edbrooke served as superintendent of construction. In his position as supervising architect of the Treasury department for which he initiated the design of at least forty buildings.[2]
The monumentally classical Georgia State Capitol shows Burnham's design sensibility rather than Edbrooke's, as Edbrooke's late constructions show. At the turn of the twentieth century, fire destroyed many of the documents in storage at the Capitol, including the original plans and specifications for the building.[3] The competition for the capitol's design was judged by New York architect, George B. Post, who remarked its "beauty, strength and harmony" in justifying his selection of the Edbrooke and Burnham classicizing design, that it was more academically correct, simple and elegant, and monumental in its appearance.[4] At the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893, the Government Building was ascribed to Willoughby J. Edbrooke.[5] Its classicizing designh fit in harmoniously with the "White City" that ushered in the American Renaissance movement and the age of Beaux-Arts architecture.
His major commissions were:
- Construction for Notre Dame University: the Main Building (1879), Washington Hall (1881), LaFortune Student Center (1883) and Sorin Hall (1889).[6]
- Georgia State Capitol (1884-89) Co-architect Franklin P. Burnham. Local builders were It was built by Miles and Horne . George Crouch worked on the ornamental sculpture.
- San Jose Post Office, San Jose, California (1892) Served as the main city library 1937-69; occupied by the Civic Art Gallery 1969, renamed the San Jose Museum of Art 1974. In the 1906 earthquake the top of the tower collapsed into the street and was rebuilt in modified form.[7]
- World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago (1893) Government Building. Co-architect Burnham.
- Old Post Office Building (Washington, D.C.) (1892-99) During construction, five supervising architects made alterations ro Edbrooke's design.[8]
- Old United States Courthouse and Post Office, Duluth, Minnesota (1896). Co-architects Jeremiah O'Rourke, James Knox Taylor. Demolished.
- City Hall, Sioux City, Iowa (1896) Co-architect William Martin Aiken .[9]
- U.S. Court of Appeals, San Francisco, California (1897-1905)
- Milwaukee Federal Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1899).[10] Its five-bay entrance loggia virtually repeats the three-bay entrance loggia for the Old Post Office Building, Washington DC, being erected at the same time.
- Federal Archive Building, New York (1899). A full city block between Greenwich Street and Washington Street, its interior has been renovated as studios and loft apartments, as The Archive.
- Federal Court House and Post office for the Upper Midwest, now the "Landmark Center", St Paul, Minnesota (1902) Cass Gilbert, supervising architect.[11]
His son Harry W.J. Edbrooke went into practice with Willoughby's brother, Frank E. Edbrooke, the dean of early Denver architecture.[12]
Notes
- ^ "City of Atlanta on-line": Georgia State Capitol
- ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects quoted at "City of Atlanta on-line"
- ^ "City of Atlanta on-line": Georgia State Capitol
- ^ Edwin L. Jackson, "The Story of Georgia's Capitols and Capital Cities"
- ^ SAIC Digital Libraries Documentary photographs.
- ^ Notre Dame University Buildings Inventory
- ^ Emporis.com: San Jose Museum of Art.
- ^ Scott G. Schultz, "America's Watchtower: Saving the Old Post Office" (pdf file).
- ^ http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=siouxcitycityhall-siouxcity-ia-usa Emporis.com: Sioux City City Hall]
- ^ Dr Mary Ann Sullivan: "Milwaukee Federal Building": captioned photographs.
- ^ Emporis.com: Landmark Center
- ^ Francis J. Pierson, Dennis J. (FRW) Gallagher, Getting to Know Denver: Five Fabulous Walking Tours 2006:16.