Gilmore David Clarke (July 12, 1892 – August 8, 1982''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', August 10, 1982, p. B19:
Gilmore D. Clarke, 90, is dead; designed major public works
'.) was an American civil engineer and landscape architect who designed many parks and public spaces in and around

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 ...

Biography

Born in New York, Clarke went to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

to study landscape architecture and civil engineering, graduating in 1913 with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree. 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 which he served as an engineer in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, he served on several architectural commissions, ranging from local to federal level. Amongst others, he was a member of the Architectural Advisory Board for the U.S.

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

and of the New York State Council of Parks. He was awarded a Gold Medal of Honor by the Architectural League of New York in 1931 for his works in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. In 1934 he became a consultant for the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

under parks commissioner Robert Moses. His works in the city include the Central Park Zoo, the

Conservatory Garden The Conservatory Garden is a formal garden near the northeastern corner of Central Park in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Comprising , it is the only formal garden in Central Park. Conservatory Garden takes its name from a conservatory that ...

, the expansion of Riverside Park, and many other public spaces. The following year, he teamed up with Michael Rapuano (1904 – 1975),Sculpture Review: ''In Memoriam: Michael Rapuano''
Sculpture Review XXV(1)
; Spring 1976. founding the firm of Clarke & Rapuano. From 1935 to his retirement in 1950 he taught landscape architecture at Cornell University, where he was the Dean of Architecture from 1939 on. Clarke designed the landscape architecture of the 1939 New York World's Fair, and he and his firm of Clarke & Rapuano were also deeply involved in the design of the 1964 New York World's Fair, which were both held at

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushi ...

. For the 1964 exhibition, Clarke designed the

Unisphere The Unisphere is a spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. The globe was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke as part of his plan for the 1964 New York World's ...

, and his company designed many of the fountains and statues in the park, as well as the "Garden of Meditation" exhibit. Clarke was also appointed the landscape architect and engineer for the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jerse ...

. He had closely worked with Robert Moses and combined the examples of the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's w ...

and the

Merritt Parkway The Merritt Parkway (also known locally as "The Merritt") is a limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with a small section at the northern end in New Haven County. Designed for Connecticut's Gold Coast, the parkway is known ...

to give the highway an efficient and beautiful appearance. In addition to his practice in New York, Clarke was appointed in 1932 to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., and served as its chairman from 1937 to 1950. He led the Commission in opposition to several controversial issues during this period, including the design of the neo-classical

Jefferson Memorial The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the A ...

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeff ...

, the siting of the new Pentagon complex near Arlington Cemetery, and the construction of the so-called "

Truman Balcony The Truman Balcony is the second-floor balcony of the Executive Residence of the White House, which overlooks the South Lawn. It was completed in March 1948, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Controversy over construction plans Trum ...

" within the south portico of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

.Thomas E. Luebke, ed., ''Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts'' (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Chapter 3; Carroll William Westfall, "The Jefferson Memorial: A Pyrrhic Victory for American Architecture'; and Appendix B, p. 542. He was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1945 and was a member and Special Committee chairman for the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

from 1944-1945. In 1944, Clarke was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1946. Clarke retired from his firm in 1972 and later consulted on the construction of the

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. He also became a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History. Clarke died on August 8, 1982 while aboard the ship '' Royal Viking Star'' on a cruise off the coast of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

References

External links

Architecture at Cornell; World War II and Postwar

Clarke & Rapuano Landscape Architecture Collection, 1935–2002 (bulk, 1935–1975), PR-080
at th
New-York Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Gilmore David 1892 births 1982 deaths Architects from New York City Military personnel from New York City American landscape architects Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Cornell University faculty Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters