Architect Drawings : A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History
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Ferriss, Hugh (1889–1962)<br />
Crest <strong>of</strong> Boulder, Hoover Dam, The Power in Buildings series, September 14 (between 1943<br />
and 1953), Avery <strong>Architect</strong>ural and Fine Arts Library, NYDA.1000.001.00010, 30.7 23.3cm,<br />
Charcoal on tracing paper on board<br />
Although Hugh Ferriss was from a different generation than Louis Sullivan, he represents the attitudes<br />
<strong>of</strong> the architects designing buildings scraping the skies <strong>of</strong> American cities. Primarily an illustrator,<br />
it is important to include him in this section because he did much to promote the future <strong>of</strong><br />
cities with his drawings and sketches <strong>of</strong> emotive and dramatically lit urban structures.<br />
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he received a pr<strong>of</strong>essional education in architecture from Washington<br />
University. A school immersed in beaux-arts teaching methods, he graduated in 1911. After completing<br />
school he journeyed to New York City to work for Cass Gilbert. A licensed architect, Ferriss<br />
found work rendering buildings for architects such as Harvey Wiley Corbett. Paul Goldberger writes<br />
that Ferriss became interested in New York City’s new zoning ordinance, and in 1916 he drew a series<br />
<strong>of</strong> five drawings describing building mass and the pyramid shapes that the ordinances implied. ‘Ferriss’s<br />
drawing style became a crucial factor in shaping the priorities <strong>of</strong> the 1920’s: his visions <strong>of</strong> the impact <strong>of</strong><br />
the zoning law were to affect the age as much as the law itself, as masonry buildings endeavored to take<br />
on the feeling <strong>of</strong> sculpted mountains, their shape suddenly more important than their historical detail<br />
<strong>of</strong> even their style’ (Goldberger, 1982, p. 58). Preparing his visions for a utopia, he exhibited<br />
‘<strong>Drawings</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Future City’ in 1925 and in 1929 he published Metropolis <strong>of</strong> Tomorrow. Continuing to<br />
illustrate for a wide variety <strong>of</strong> architects he commented that his purpose was to convey a certain aspect<br />
<strong>of</strong> reality in an exciting way when the project was in still primarily in the architect’s mind (Leich,<br />
1980). Later in his life he received a grant to travel the United States recording important contemporary<br />
architecture, resulting in the book Power in Buildings.<br />
The buildings in Hugh Ferriss’ drawings were not <strong>of</strong> his design but in a sense he created the<br />
method <strong>by</strong> which they would be comprehended. They could be considered sketches <strong>by</strong> virtue <strong>of</strong><br />
their conceptual qualities. Ferriss resembles the futurist architect Sant’Elia who seduced an ideal and<br />
appealed to an emotional position. In the New York Times, Peter Blake reviewed the show Power in<br />
Buildings and wrote: ‘ … Ferriss speaks (and writes) s<strong>of</strong>tly, but carries an awfully big pencil’. Blake<br />
was implying their dynamic vision but also their powerful meaning (Leich, 1980, p. 31).<br />
This sketch from the Power in Buildings series (Figure 4.5) presents a dramatic view <strong>of</strong> Hoover<br />
Dam. In a reversal, strong light is emitting from below exaggerating the height <strong>of</strong> the observation platform.<br />
The stark slope <strong>of</strong> the concrete mass fades away into emptiness further evoking this perception.<br />
The lone figure helps the viewer comprehend the immense scale. On close inspection the sketch is<br />
entirely freehand utilizing the ambiguous texture <strong>of</strong> a pliable media. Ferriss was known to have<br />
implored s<strong>of</strong>t pencil, charcoal and crayon, subsequently removing the medium for highlights with a<br />
kneaded eraser or a knife. The use <strong>of</strong> smudged s<strong>of</strong>t crayon produced an eerie foggy halo. In this case<br />
the s<strong>of</strong>t medium presented both less defined edges and high contrast. Not a preparatory sketch like<br />
others in this book, the design <strong>by</strong> Gordon B. Kauffmann has been transformed <strong>by</strong> the hands <strong>of</strong> Ferriss.<br />
The sketch puts the viewer in awe <strong>of</strong> the dam’s ability to extract power and the sheer magnitude <strong>of</strong> its<br />
size. It suggests the light emitting from below represents the glow <strong>of</strong> the generating electricity.<br />
Hugh Ferriss lived until modernism had reached a peak, but his methods strongly speak <strong>of</strong> an<br />
architecture <strong>of</strong> masonry, <strong>of</strong> mass and solidity. His sketches were less about accuracy and more about<br />
seduction in an attempt to influence the perception <strong>of</strong> architecture.<br />
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