Ferdinand Gottlieb
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ferdinand Gottlieb (October 5, 1919 in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
– October 27, 2007, in
Dobbs Ferry Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2019, its population rose to an estimated 11,027. The village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a p ...
, New York) was a New York-based
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. He headed his own firm, Ferdinand Gottlieb & Associates, based in Dobbs Ferry (1961–2007). He is perhaps best known for his interior design of the original
Rizzoli Bookstore Rizzoli Bookstore is a general interest bookstore, located in the St. James Building, 1133 Broadway in New York City, that primarily specializes in illustrated books and foreign language titles. Its previous location at 31 W. 57th Street was no ...
at 712 Fifth Avenue in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
(1964), and for his landmark Saul Victor House in the Fieldston section of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
(1967), noted in the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
' '' AIA Guide to New York City'' as a "formal modernist design in now-grayed redwood siding". When the interior of the building housing the Rizzoli bookstore was razed for an office tower, architecture critic Carter Horsley decried not the loss of the block except that, "If anything was wonderful on the Fifth Avenue portion of the site it was the splendid Rizzoli bookstore in the building ... and the Rizzoli bookstore was less than two decades old." In addition to a substantial number of private residences, Gottlieb also designed the New York, now
Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , countr ...
for Nursery Years (1965), the headquarters for the now defunct salvage and construction firm
Merritt-Chapman & Scott Merritt-Chapman & Scott, nicknamed "The Black Horse of the Sea", was a noted marine salvage and construction firm of the United States, with worldwide operations. The chief predecessor company was founded in the 1860s by Israel Merritt, but a ...
in NY (1966) and several other large commercial projects in the New York area including a warehouse for Pirelli tires in Oakland, N.J. The New York Times quotes from him in 1989, decrying most builders' and designers' alienation from the "grammar" of good design, even when building million dollar mansions: "Unfortunately, a lot of these mansions are done by people who haven't studied traditional architecture very carefully. They use mass-produced windows, incorrect brick and plastic moldings ordered out of a catalogue from South Carolina. It isn't a true piece of traditional architecture, but it gives the impression of wealth." The architect's personal residence, with its three barrel vaulted volumes, crafted by a Norwegian shipwright can be viewed here. After escaping from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1934, he lived in
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...
before emigrating to New York in 1937. He subsequently served in the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
intelligence in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, receiving two
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
medals. After the war, he attended
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
School of Architecture, graduating 1953, and marrying Bernice Gottlieb (née Friedman) the same year, with whom he raised three children. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he worked as a draftsman at Klein and Shtier, Architects and Erwin Gerber, Architect, both located in Newark, N.J. and at William T. Meyer, Architect and Starrett & Van Vleck, Architects, located in Manhattan. Before opening his own practice, he was associated with Morris Ketchum Jr., a leading New York architect who was a pioneer in shopping center design. While working for Ketchum, Ferdinand Gottlieb served as both project manager and a designer for the Cross County Shopping Center, the first modern shopping center, working with the
urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
pioneer, Lathrop Douglass. An early leader in the advancement of graduate real estate education in the United States, Gottlieb taught classes as an adjunct professor at the first such graduate program, the New York University Real Estate Institute, now known as the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, starting in 1967. Several internet sources credit him with working at
Skidmore Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
but this is as yet unconfirmed.See Architecture 365 https://dustingoffron.wordpress.com/category/walter-netsch/ Gottlieb's wife, Bernice Gottlieb, was an early leader in the
international adoption International adoption (also referred to as intercountry adoption or transnational adoption) is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple residing in one country becomes the legal and permanent parent(s) of a child who is a national of ...
movement.


External links


Ferdinand Gottlieb architectural drawings and records, 1950s–2000s


References

;Notes ;Sources *"Gottleb, Ferdinand" in ''American Architects Directory'' 3rd ed. (New York, 1970) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gottlieb, Ferdinand 1919 births 2007 deaths German emigrants to the United States 20th-century German architects 20th-century American architects United States Army personnel of World War II Architects from Berlin United States Army Air Forces soldiers Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni