Norval Crawford White (June 12, 1926 – December 26, 2009) was an American

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 ...

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. He designed buildings throughout the U.S., but he is best known for his writing, particularly the ''

AIA Guide to New York City The ''AIA Guide to New York City'' by Norval White, Elliot Willensky, and Fran Leadon is an extensive catalogue with descriptions, critique and photographs of significant and noteworthy architecture throughout the five boroughs of New York City. ...

'' (with

Elliot Willensky Elliot A. Willensky (August 6, 1943 – March 29, 2010) was an American composer, lyricist and music producer. He wrote Michael Jackson's first solo hit "Got to Be There" and the Jermaine Jackson/Whitney Houston duet "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautif ...

). White was widely considered to be one of the great figures of New York architecture.

Biography

White was born in 1926 to surgeon William Crawford White and social worker Caroline (Taylor) White. He grew up on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

and went to the Allen-Stevenson School and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. In 1958 he married Joyce L. Lee, and they had four sons: William, Thomas, Gordon and Alastair. Following two years on active duty with the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

during

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 opposin ...

, White received 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 ...

from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1949. He attended

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 ...

(1954) and earned a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

from

Princeton University School of Architecture Princeton University School of Architecture is the name of the school of architecture at Princeton University. Founded in 1919, the School is a center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory. The School offers an und ...

in 1955. White resided in the neighborhood of

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

before moving to northwestern

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the early 1990s. He then retired and lived in the commune of

Roques Roques may refer to: Places * Roques, Gers, a commune in France * Roqués, an uninhabited village in Spain * Roques, Haute-Garonne, a commune in France * Roques de Anaga, two monuments of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain * La Roque-d'Anthéron, a ...

in the French

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of le Gers with his second wife, Camilla Crowe White, until his death on December 26, 2009.

Career

In 1962, upon hearing of the imminent demolition of New York City's historic

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

, White and several other architects, including Willensky, founded AGBANY (Action Group for Better Architecture in New York). They picketed the station and handed out fliers in protest. In 1967, White and Willensky proposed a guide to New York City architecture to 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). The ''

'', a 464+ page guidebook featuring over 2,600 buildings in its first edition The fourth edition of this guide was issued in 1999, then without further contributions from Willensky, who had died in 1990. From 1968 to 1973, White worked as a partner-in-charge with Gruzen and Partners, on the development of the

New York City Police The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the New York City, City of New York, the largest and one of ...

Headquarters building. White was able to finalize the 5th edition of the AIA Guide before his death, which was published in 2010. As a professor, White taught architectural history and design, first at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

and then from 1968 at the School of Architecture and Environmental Studies at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, where he served as the founding chairman and where he continued to teach until he retired.

Published works

* ''

'' with Elliot Willensky. * ''

The Architecture Book ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' * '' New York: A Physical History'' * ''

The Guide to the Architecture of Paris ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' (in English)

References

External links

Regarding the AIA Guide to NYCAmazon.com''Metropolitan Home'' article
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080406001302/http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Norval_White_%26_Associates%2C_Roques%2C_Gers%2C_France Archiplanet.orgbr>Architecture Week listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Norval 1926 births 2009 deaths American activists American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts 20th-century American architects American architectural historians American architecture writers American male non-fiction writers Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from the Upper East Side Princeton University School of Architecture alumni Historians from New York (state) Historians of New York City 20th-century American male writers United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy reservists Cooper Union faculty