Ralph Adams Cram
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Ralph Adams Cram, (December 16, 1863 - September 22, 1942), was an American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the gothic style.
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[edit] Early life
Cram was born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire into a Unitarian clerical family, and in his youth called himself an agnostic. He moved to Boston in 1881, at age 18, and spent five years in the architectural office of Rotch & Tilden, after which he left for Rome. During an 1887 Christmas Eve mass in Rome, he had a dramatic conversion experience.[citation needed] For the rest of his life, he remained a fervent Anglo-Catholic who self-identified as High Church Anglican.
[edit] Career
From 1898-1914, Cram was in partnership with Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the Boston firm then known as Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson.
His work is represented on a number of campuses, including Cornell University, The University of Notre Dame, Sweet Briar College, University of Richmond, Williams College, Wheaton College in Massachusetts, the United States Military Academy, St. George's School and Phillips Exeter Academy. Cram designed the original master plan of Rice University in Houston and its original 1912 suite of six major buildings, serving as consulting architect for the remainder of his active career. He is most closely associated with Princeton, where he served as Consulting Architect from 1907 to 1929.
As an author, lecturer, and architect, Cram propounded the view that the Renaissance had been, at least in part, an unfortunate detour for western culture.[citation needed] Cram argued that authentic development could come only by returning to Gothic sources for inspiration, as his "Collegiate Gothic" architecture did, with considerable success. He was not altogether inflexible on this point, however, rejecting Gothic for his Rice University buildings in favor of a medieval north Italian Romanesque style more in keeping with Houston's hot, humid climate.
[edit] Works
Cram's buildings include:
- All Saints' Church, Ashmont
- (Rev. Dr. Samuel Valentine) Cole Memorial Chapel, Wheaton College, Norton
- Church of the Advent, Boston
- Marsh Plaza, Boston University
- Saint Clement's Eucharistic Shrine
- Saint Paul's Parish, Malden
- State Administration Building
- Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (nave and exterior)
- Saint Thomas Church
- Cathedral of Hope
- Calvary Episcopal Church
- Holy Rosary Church
- Concordia Lutheran Church, 1930
- Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church (chancel addition in 1931)
- First Presbyterian Church, 1929[1]
- St. Mary's Academy, 1930
- St. George's School Chapel
- South Dining Hall, University of Notre Dame
- All Saints' Chapel, University of the South, Sewanee, TN
- Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, 1907
- St Philip's Episcopal Church
[edit] Publications
Cram authored numerous publications and books on issues in architecture and religious devotion. Titles include:
- Spirits Black & White: A Book of Ghost Stories, Stone & Kimball, 1895
- Impressions of Japanese Architecture, The Baker & Taylor Company, 1905
- Heart of Europe, MacMillan & Co. London, 1916 325pgs.
- The Substance of Gothic, Marshall Jones Company, Boston 1917
- Towards the Great Peace, Marshall Jones Company, Boston 1922
[edit] References
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