Constant-Désiré Despradelle

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Constant-Désiré Despradelle (May 20, 1862[1]–February 8, 1912) was a French-born professor of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who, through his teaching, influenced the Beaux-Arts style in North America.

Born in Chaumont, France, he was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at age twenty, and obtained his diploma in 1886. He won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1889, and in 1893 he went to Boston, accepting a position as Professor of Design at MIT[1], where he served until his death. He taught the Beaux-Arts style and thus influenced the style's continued use throughout North America until about 1920. Among architects who studied under him were the Canadians George Allen Ross, William Sutherland Maxwell and Andrew R. Cobb. American architects who trained under him included Ellis Lawrence,[2] and Raymond Hood.[3]

A contemporary anecdote in the MIT student paper The Tech (October 9, 1902) may give some indication of his manner and personality: "The Lounge [a column in the paper] secured the services of Mr. Derby as interpreter, and thus equipped sought an audience with Professor Despradelles. After an excited conversation of about fifteen minutes Mr. Derby reported in full to The Lounge as follows, 'Mr. Despradelles says that Sunday is a curious American custom'."

He was also an early architect of the buildings and grounds of the University of California, and served on its advisory board[1].

In Boston he also maintained a practice with Stephen Codman, called Codman and Despradelle. Among their best known buildings is the Berkeley Building on Boylston Street, Boston, now a US national landmark. Despradelle's most famous unrealized project was the monumental "Beacon of Progress" he intended for the site of the 1893 Exposition in Chicago.

He died in his home in Boston after a long illness[1].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Noted architect dead." (PDF), New York Times, 1912-09-04, p. 11. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. (English) 
  2. ^ Ellis Lawrence Accessed March 6, 2007
  3. ^ Raymond Hood Accessed March 6, 2007

[edit] References