Harold Craig Severance (July 1, 1879 – September 2, 1941) was an American architect who designed a number of well-known buildings in New York City, including the Coca-Cola Building, Nelson Tower and most prominently,

40 Wall Street 40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau and William streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Erected in 1929–1930 as the headquarters of the Manhat ...

Biography

He was born on July 1, 1879, to George Craig Severance and Emma Alida Gilbert. He married Faith Griswold Thompson. In his early career, Severance worked for

Carrere and Hastings Carrere or Carrère may refer to: As a name * Georges Carrère (1897–1986), French classical violinist * Edward Carrere (1906–1984), Mexican art director * Emmanuel Carrère (1957–), French author, screenwriter, and director * Fernando Car ...

and later, in partnership with

William Van Alen William Van Alen (August 10, 1883 – May 24, 1954) was an American architect, best known as the architect in charge of designing New York City's Chrysler Building (1928–30). Life William Van Alen was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1883 to ...

. The partnership ended on unfriendly terms, and in the late 1920s, the two found themselves in competition to build the world's tallest building, with Severance's 40 Wall Street and Van Alen's Chrysler Building. Although the Chrysler Building claimed victory with its spire at 1,046 feet, Severance protested that his building had the highest usable space. The issue became moot when the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

was completed less than a year later. He died on September 2, 1941.

Other well-known designs

50 Broadway 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

, New York City *

400 Madison Avenue 400 Madison Avenue is a 22-story office building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is along Madison Avenue's western sidewalk between 47th and 48th Streets, near Grand Central Terminal. 400 Madison Avenue was designed by H. Craig Seve ...

, New York City *

Bank of the U.S. A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, New York City * Montague-Court Building, New York City * Taft Hotel, New York City

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Severance, H. Craig 1879 births 1941 deaths 20th-century American architects Architects from New York (state) People from Clinton County, New York