Architect Drawings : A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History

White, Stanford (1853–1906)
Freehand sketches of large estates, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, White DR 35,
SW46:19, 4.74 7 in., Graphite on paper
An American architect with an eclectic style, Stanford White was a partner in the successful firm of
McKim, Mead and White. White was originally intending to study painting, but was counseled to
consider architecture. In 1872, after receiving a degree from New York University, he found work
with the architectural practice of H. H. Richardson in Boston. Richardson had attended the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts and his design process reflected that education. As an apprentice, White was exposed
to Richardson’s Romanesque since Trinity Church was being constructed during his tenure in the
firm. It was in Richardson’s office that he met his future partner, Charles Follon McKim. In 1878,
White traveled to Europe for a period of almost a year. Upon returning from Europe he joined
McKim and Mead as a third partner, replacing the retiring William Bigelow. In a scandal that almost
overshadowed his prolific architectural career, he was fatally shot at the age of fifty-three.
The following are a few of the projects for which he was the partner responsible; the Methodist
Episcopal Church in Baltimore, 1887, the New York Life Insurance Building, Omaha, Nebraska,
1890, Judson Memorial Church, Washington Square, 1888–1893, the Metropolitan Club built between
1892 and 1894, and Tiffany and Company in New York City, 1903–1906. Throughout his career,
White designed numerous shingle style homes for the rich and famous. The precedent for his neoclassical
architecture employed elements from the past, arbitrarily including Châteauesque, French provincial,
Venetian, French and German Renaissance, in unique combinations and variations.
This example of a sketch by Stanford White is remarkably playful (Figure 4.3). Johann Huizinga
and Hans-Georg Gadamer outline the philosophical aspects of play as having boundaries to sketch
against, being representational, an all absorbing endeavor, conveying a method of learning and displaying
a give and take of dialogue. Considering a definition of play, White found intelligibility in
this image. He was quickly sketching the building’s form conceived in his mind’s eye while learning
about the building in the process. As it emerged on the paper, he could visualize its potential. Play
also involves representation as White was imagining this project, he was seeing the building rather than
the paper as a substitute (Wollheim, 1971). He was consciously accepting boundaries, never sketching
anything other than the building, providing a ground plane and a sense of perspective. The verticals as
possible columns on the porch have been sketched so quickly they have transformed from columns to
resemble n’s and m’s. These lines seem to skip off the page in some instances and in other cases they
appear continuous. This implies he could not stop long enough to lift the pencil off the page. As
another aspect of play, White was engrossed in the action of the play, the dialogue of the ‘give and
take.’ He could draw one line and it responded with another as his mind interacted with the image.
The sketch facilitating discourse shows a softer pencil lead over a first general outline. The latter
demonstrative roof and balustrade are more forceful in an effort to obliterate the original roof expression.
It is possible to surmise the areas of the design that most concerned him at the moment.
In a catalogue of projects by McKim, Mead and White, Leland Roth includes a project coordinated
by White, the A. A. Pope Residence in Farmington, Connecticut. The building with its strong
eave balustrade and taller central portion seems to strongly resemble this sketch by White. Roth indicates
that the project was influenced by the Pope’s daughter Theodate who had architectural education
and participated with the design. With this in mind, White’s sketch may also represent a mode
of communication and discussion between two architects.
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