Paul Thiry (1904–1993) was an American architect most active in Washington state, known as the father of architectural

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Thiry designed "some of the best period buildings around the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

during the 1950, 60s and 70s."NORTH SLOPE HISTORIC DISTRICT; PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES. OMB No. 1024-0018 Section 8, 11 pages

Life

Thiry was born in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

, of French parents. He was a 1928 graduate of the architecture school at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and studied 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 ...

in France. He traveled in Europe and met

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

, before returning to Seattle in 1935.Caroline T. Swop
Classic houses of Seattle
high style to vernacular, 1870-1950 Thiry designed his own house upon his return but had few commissions in the 1930s. Those he built "showed a clear understanding of the European International Style in his use of spare, geometric forms, clean lines, and new building technologies."Jan Goggans, Aaron DiFranc

page 12 The Pacific region KeyArena Seattle

Thiry came to national attention in 1937 with a cement-based

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed residence for a manager at Portland Cement, Frank J. Barrett. The innovative house was published in '' The Modern House in America'' in 1940: the garage and house formed two rectangles, with a "smooth, undecorated exterior", its doors and windows flush with the surface. Steel window frames were painted blue-green, and glass-brick was used around the entry and along the walls of the partly sunken living room. Thiry served as

supervising architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of the nineteenth ...

for the

Seattle World's Fair The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.Walt Crowley, Paul Dorpa
National Trust Guide, Seattle
America's guide for architecture and history travelers Preservation Press Series, John Wiley and Sons, 1998 , responsible for the overall plan and coordinating the work of contributors like John Graham Jr. (for the

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center f ...

Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward D ...

, and the landscape architect

Lawrence Halprin Lawrence Halprin (July 1, 1916 – October 25, 2009) was an American landscape architect, designer and teacher. Beginning his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, in 1949, Halprin often collaborated with a local circle of modernist a ...

. Thiry's own designs for the fair included the Washington State Pavilion, which later became the

KeyArena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was or ...

and is today the

Climate Pledge Arena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was or ...

. Thiry has been compared to other modernists in the Northwest such as

Pietro Belluschi Pietro Belluschi (August 18, 1899 – February 14, 1994) was an Italian-American architect. A leading figure in modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based up ...

(1899–1994) and

John Yeon John Yeon (October 29, 1910 – March 13, 1994) was an American architect in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-twentieth century. He is regarded as one of the early practitioners of the Northwest Regional style of Modernism. Largely self-taught, ...

(1910–1994). Thiry is quoted as having said that "Buildings should be good neighbors." He is credited with being "instrumental" to introducing International Style architecture in Seattle.

Lewis and Clark College

Thiry designed the Agnes Flanagan Chapel, the Aubrey Watzek Library, and the Biology-Psychology Building at

Lewis and Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

in Portland, Oregon. The Flanagan chapel is "a creatively designed 16-sided structure" with an 85-rank

Casavant Frères Casavant Frères is a Canadian organ building company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building pipe organs since 1879. As of 2014, the company has produced more than 3,900 organs. Company history Brothers Joseph-Claver (1855–1933 ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

and seating for 600 people. According to the Lewis and Clark website the building "serves as a meeting place for

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical inform ...

s, musical performances, and religious services. The entry is a bridge flanked by Northwest Coast Indian-style statues depicting the four evangelists (

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

, and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

) created by the native artist Chief Lelooska.

Projects

* Paul Thiry residence (1935–1936) * Frank J. Barrett residence (1937) * Thiry architectural office, 800 Columbia Street (1946) *

Museum of History and Industry The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four m ...

(MOHAI) (1952) at 2700 24th Avenue East in Seattle, Washington *

Regents Hill The Regents Hill residential complex, also known as Regents Hall, is a residence hall located on the main campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Designed by Paul Thiry and completed in 1952, it was the first International ...

(originally "New Women's Dorimitory"),

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

, Pullman, Washington (1952) *

Frye Art Museum The Frye Art Museum is a modern and contemporary art museum located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1952 to house the collection of Charles and Emma Frye and has since grown to include rotating temporary ex ...

(1952) at 704 Terry Avenue in Seattle (later remodeled and expanded) *

Washington State Library The Washington State Library is a government agency that operates public libraries in Washington state's prisons and mental hospitals, and maintains collections related to the state government. Based in Tumwater, it is a service of the Washington ...

, Olympia, Washington, 1959 * U.S. Embassy Residence,

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

, 1961 * Nalley's Fine Food pavilion (1961) * supervising architect for Seattle's

Century 21 Exposition The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States.KeyArena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was or ...

(1961) * Delta Upsilon chapter house, Washington Chapter, Seattle, Washington (1967). * Watzek Library (1968) and the Agnes Flanagan Chapel (1969) at

in Portland, Oregon * concrete sanctuary addition to the North Slope section, Christ Episcopal Church,

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

(1970) * consulting architect for the

Libby Dam Libby Dam is a concrete gravity dam in the northwestern United States, on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana. Dedicated on it is west of the continental divide, upstream from the town of Libby. At in height and a length of , Libby Dam c ...

project,

Libby, Montana Libby is a city in northwestern Montana, United States and the county seat of Lincoln County. The population was 2,775 at the 2020 census. Libby suffered from the area's contamination from nearby vermiculite mines contaminated with particularl ...

(1975)

Bibliography

*'' Churches and Temples'' with Richard Bennett and Henry Kamphoefner Rheinhold Publishing 1953Mark Allen Torgerso
An architecture of immanence
architecture for worship and ministry today Calvin Institute of Christian Worship liturgical studies series Edition illustrated Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007 , , 313 pages, page 112

References

External links

Biography
at

HistoryLink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 5,000 daily visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organization History Ink prod ...

University of Oregon Libraries photographs
of the Agnes Flanagan Chapel and Watzek Library at

and the

(Seattle, Washington) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thiry, Paul 1904 births 1993 deaths Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Modernist architects American ecclesiastical architects Architects from Seattle University of Washington College of Built Environments alumni Century 21 Exposition National Academy of Design members 20th-century American architects People from Nome, Alaska American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts