 Hugh Ferriss at work, c. 1925 Hugh Ferriss (1889 1962)
Biography
Although he was trained as an architect, at Washington University in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, Ferriss, 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 of a project, or, more commonly, done to advertise or promote the project to a wider audience. So his drawing frequently were destined for annual shows or advertisements. As a result of this his works were often published [as opposed to just given to the architects client] and Ferriss acquired a reputation and after he had set up as free-lance artist found himself to be highly sought after .
In 1912 Ferriss arrived in New York City and was soon employed as a delineator for Cass Gilbert Some of his earliest drawings are of Gilberts Woolworth Building and reveal that Ferrisss illustrations had not yet developed his signature dark, moody appearance. In 1915, with Gilberts blessing he left the firm and set up shop as an architectural delineator. In 1914 Ferriss married Dorothy Lapham, an editor and artist for Vanity Fair magazine.
By 1920 Ferriss had begun to develop his own style, frequently presenting the building being advanced at night, lit up by spot lights, or in a fog, as if photographed with a soft focus. 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, the Christian Science Monitor, Harpers Magazine and Vanity Fair. His writings began to also appear in various publications. He executed the 1922 drawing for the Chicago Tribune Competition that won the event for Howells and Hood.
In 1916 New York City had passed the landmark zoning laws 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 exactly sure what these laws meant in terms of their designs, skyscraper architect Harvey Wiley Corbett commissioned Ferriss to draw a series of four perspectives demonstrating how these regulations could be used by architects while designing.
Every year the American Society of Architectural Illustrators gives out the Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize for architectural rendering excellence. The medal features Ferrisss original "Forth Stage" drawing, executed in bronze.
Selected Renderings
- The Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri, H. Van Buren Magonigle, architect,
- The Four Stages
- Chicago Tribune Building, Howell & Hood architects
- Players Club, Detroit, Michigan, Smith Hinchman & Grylls, [SH&G] architects
- Radiator Building, Raymond Hood architect
- Buhl Building, Detroit, Michigan, SH&G architects
- Chicago Board Of Trade Building, Holabird & Root, architects
- Penobscot Building, SH&G architects
- Guardian [Union Trust] Building, Detroit, Michigan, SH&G architects
- Telephone Building, St Louis Missouri, Mauran, Russell & Crowell and Timlin, architects
Images
References
- Balfour, Alan, Rockefeller Center Architecture As Theater, McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY, NY 1978
- Hoak & Church, Masterpieces of American Architecture, Dover Publications, Mineola, New York 2002 [reprint of 1930 Charles Scribners edition]
- Ferriss, Hugh, The Metropolis of Tomorrow, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY 1986 [reprint of 1929 edition, also including an essay by Carol Willis]
- Ferriss, Hugh, Power in Buildings, An Artists View of Contemporary Buildings, Columbia University Press, New York 1953
- Ferriss, Hugh, American Capitals of Industry: A Series of Drawings by Hugh Ferriss, Harpers Magazine, July, 1919
- Holleman & Gallagher, Smith Hinchman & Grylls, 125 Years of Architecture and Engineering, 1853 1978, Wayne State University Press, Detroit 1978
- Kvaran, Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript
- Stern, Gilmartin & Mellins, New York 1930, Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars, Rizzoli International Publications, NY, NY 1987
- Willis, Carol,Hugh Ferriss - Metroplois, Whitney Museum of American Art at Equitable Center, June 6 - July 30, 1986
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