William B. Ittner

William Butts Ittner (September 4, 1864 – 1936) was an architect in St. Louis, Missouri. He designed many school buil­dings in Missouri and other areas, was president of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects from 1893–95,[1] was awar­ded an ho­no­rary de­gree by the Uni­ver­sity of Mis­souri in 1930, ser­ved as pre­si­dent of the Ar­chi­tec­tu­ral Le­ague of Ame­rica during 1903–04, and at the time of his death was pre­si­dent of the St. Louis Plaza Com­mis­sion, a fel­low and life mem­ber of the Ame­ri­can In­sti­tute of Ar­chi­tects, and a thirty-third de­gree Mason.[2] He was described as the most influential man in school architecture in the United States[3] and has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. [4] He was appointed St. Louis School Board commissioner in 1897 and is said to have designed open buildings that featured "natural lighting, inviting exteriors, and classrooms tailored to specific needs." [4]

Contents

Background

His parents were Anthony F. and Mary Butts Ittner.[1] His father worked at a lead plant and then as a bricklayer before founding Ittner Bros. with his brother Conrad in 1859.[1] William Ittner's father (later a U.S. Congressman) helped establish the trade school from which his son graduated in 1884 "with the first class granted diplomas by Washington University's Manual Training School."[1] He also graduated with a degree in architecture from Cornell University, traveled in Europe and married Lottie Crane Allen in St. Louis. He worked in the office of Eames & Young between 1889 and 1891, then practiced alone "before entering brief partnerships, first with William Foster and then with T. C. Link and Alfred Rosenheim."[1]

He was elected to the new office of Commissioner of School Buildings for the Board of Education in 1897 and remained in the position until he resigned in 1910.[1] He continued as "consulting architect" to the Board until October 1914.[1] His first school design was Eliot School (1898–99) and his last was Bryan Mullanphy (1914–15).[1]

He is credited with the design of over 430 schools nationwide and has over 35 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.[3][4] E shaped schools were said to be his trademark.[3]

Projects

Residences

Schools

Other buildings

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Carolyn Hewes Toft William B. Ittner, FAIA (1864-1936) Landmarks Association of St. Louis
  2. ^ William B. Ittner at the archINFORM database
  3. ^ a b c d e f Educational architecture in Ohio: from one-room schools and Carnegie ... By Virginia Evans McCormick page 107
  4. ^ a b c d e f g [1] 09-04-1864 6661 Delmar inducted 10-04-2008 St Louis Walk of Fame