Jacques Gréber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jacques Gréber | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jacques Gréber |
| Nationality | French |
| Birth date | 10 September 1882 |
| Birth place | Paris, France |
| Date of death | 5 June 1962 (aged 79) |
| Place of death | Paris, France |
| Work | |
| Significant buildings | Rodin Museum |
| Significant projects | Benjamin Franklin Parkway |
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 contributor to the City Beautiful movement, particularly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Ottawa, Canada.
[edit] Early life and education
He was born in Paris, the son of sculptor Henri-Léon Gréber, and attended the École des Beaux-Arts in that city. After graduation in 1909, he designed many private gardens in the United States for clients such as Clarence Mackay (1910, Harbor Hill at Roslyn on Long Island), Joseph E. Widener (1913, Lynnewood Hall with Horace Trumbauer), and Edward T. Stotesbury at Whitemarsh Hall in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania (1914 – 1916).
[edit] Major works
He is best known for the 1917 master plan for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, his work as master architect for the 1937 Paris International Exposition, and plans for Ottawa and the National Capital Region in Canada produced from 1937 to 1950 (with an interruption during World War II).
In France, he worked on urban plans in Lille, Belfort, Marseille (1930), Abbeville, and Rouen, among others, between the world wars, but he is not as well-known today in France as he is in North America.
