Gustave Umbdenstock (24 December 1866,

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

- 16 November 1940,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French architect; most familiar for his railway stations.

Biography

His father, also named Gustave, was a cloth merchant. From 1885, he was a student of

Julien Guadet Julien Guadet (1834–1908) was a French architect, theoretician and professor at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of Fran ...

at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

; receiving his diploma in architecture in 1893, and becoming an assistant professor there in 1894. He won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1896, with his design for a naval school. The following year, he married Marie Charlotte Jeanne Normand, the daughter of one of his father's associates. In 1898, he was commissioned by the Ministries of War and the Navy to construct the "Palais des armées de terre et de mer" (Palace of the Army and Navy) for the Exposition Universelle of 1900. As a reward for his work, he was named a Knight in the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. Drawing on his work there, he was named Chief Architect for the construction of the "Palais de France" at the

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

(1904) in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. After 1901, much of his career was devoted to teaching at the

École polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, where he became a full Professor in 1919, and taught until his retirement in 1937. In 1909, he became the workshop manager at the École des Beaux-Arts; a position he held until his death. Two of his best known students were Paul Metz and . In 1903, he wrote a textbook for their classes (''Cours d'architecture'', Gauthier-Villars et Cie). For many years, he worked as an architect for the

Chemins de Fer du Nord The Chemins de fer du Nord''French locomotive built in 1846''

, built several stations for them, and participated in reconstructing their network of stations after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During that time, he also served as a member of the "Council of Buildings and Lycées" at the Ministry of Public Instruction; in charge of the construction of high schools and other public buildings. In 1935, he succeeded Henri-Paul Nénot (deceased) in Seat #5 at the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, architecture section. His last major project involved a

silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

at the , in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

(1932). As a painter, he was an accomplished

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

; making landscapes during his travels. A street in Colmar is named after him.

Selected projects

File:Photo-Editions 14 - ST-LEU-LA-FORET - La Gare.JPG, Gare de Saint-Leu-la-Forêt File:Lycée Pasteur 1.jpg, Lycée Pasteur,

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

File:Strasbourg-Armement Seegmuller-14 juillet 1935.jpg, Seegmuller Tower File:Lycée-Claude-Bernard-1.jpg,

Lycée Claude-Bernard The lycée Claude-Bernard is a French public school opened in 1938, both a collège and a lycée. It is located at 1, avenue du Parc-des-Princes in Paris, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and bears the name of French doctor Claude Bernard (1 ...

File:L'H 15 - SENLIS - La Gare - Inaugurée en 1922 et reconstruite ....JPG, File:One of Merida's twin mansions “Las Casas Gemelas”.jpg, The Cámara Houses in 495

Paseo de Montejo Paseo de Montejo is a notable avenue of Mérida, México. It is named after Francisco de Montejo, the Spanish conquistador who founded the city in 1542, and is the location of some of the most iconic buildings and monuments of the city. Inspir ...

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida () is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the eponymous Municipality. It is located in the northwest corner of the Yucatán Peninsula, about 35 km (22 ...

References

External links

Biography and references
@ Archi-Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Umbdenstock, Gustave 1866 births 1940 deaths French architects Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts Academic staff of École Polytechnique Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Alsatian people People from Colmar

Biography

Selected projects

References

Further reading

External links