Irving Foster Morrow (September 22, 1884 – October 28, 1952) was an American architect best known for designing the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

Early life

He was born and raised in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, the son of Susie (née Kirkman) and James Alexander Morrow, who was the president of a metal works in Oakland. Morrow was a lifelong resident of the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

. Morrow graduated from the newly founded

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

architecture program in 1906. He then attended the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

in Paris from 1908 until 1911. He moved back to

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and began practicing architecture in San Francisco and Oakland. He designed houses, banks, theatres, hotels, schools, and commercial buildings. He married Gertrude Comfort Morrow, a fellow architect and UC Berkeley graduate. He worked with Gertrude and architect William I. Garren, and with them designed the Alameda-Contra Costa County Building for the 1939

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936 ...

. Morrow and his associates also designed the rectory and guest house of the

Mission San Juan Bautista Mission San Juan Bautista is a Spanish mission in San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, California. Founded on June 24, 1797 by Fermín Lasuén of the Franciscan order, the mission was the fifteenth of the Spanish missions established in presen ...

Design of the Golden Gate Bridge

Morrow was hired in 1930 by Joseph Strauss to design the

. Morrow collaborated with Strauss with the design, sketching his ideas in charcoal. Morrow romanticized the bridge long before he was hired to work on it, writing in 1919 that "The narrow strait is caressed by breezes from the blue bay throughout the long golden afternoon, but perhaps it is loveliest at the cool end of the day when, for a few breathless moments, faint afterglows transfigure the gray line of hills." It was also Morrow that decided the bridge should be painted

international orange International orange is a color used in the aerospace industry to set objects apart from their surroundings, similar to safety orange, but deeper and with a more reddish tone. Variations of international orange Aerospace The Advanced Cre ...

. At first, Morrow's suggestion was deemed by the bridge authorities as ludicrous, as it was thought no paint could withstand the salty weather. Morrow found such a paint, and the bridge authorities relented. Morrow wrote the ''Report on Color and Lighting'' to Chief Engineer, Joseph B. Strauss, on April 6, 1935. In his report, he selected low pressure sodium vapor lamps with an amber glow and the most modern available in 1937. In 1972, the lights were replaced with high-pressure sodium vapor lamps.

Other work

Morrow was a member of 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 ...

and the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship ...

, an editor of '' Pacific Coast Architecture'', and a contributor to the ''

Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. "The Record," as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important historical record of the unfolding debates in a ...

'' and various other periodicals. He served as chairman on the Section on Architecture of the Commonwealth Club of California, and director of the American Historical Building Survey.

Interest in Music

Morrow was an avid supporter of new music. He performed in concerts presented by

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...

and

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

. With his wife, Gertrude Comfort Morrow, he designed the Cowell House, commissioned by Olive Cowell and lived in by her and her son, composer

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

. The Cowell's hosted many concerts at the house in the 1930s. Morrow also designed a series of soundproof listening rooms for the Record Rental Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrow, Irving Architects from San Francisco 1884 births 1952 deaths American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Golden Gate Bridge UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design alumni