Robert Maynicke (1849-1913) 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 ...
. At his death, the ''New York Times'' called him "a pioneer in the building of modern loft buildings."
[Robert Maynicke]
" ''New York Times'', October 1, 1913.
Life and career
Robert Maynicke was born in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1849, coming to New York with his family as an infant.
["Obituaries," ''American Art Annual'', ed. Florence N. Levy, vol. 11 (New York: American Federation of Arts, 1914): 395.] He attended the city's public schools, and received his initial architectural training in the Free Night School of Science and Art of the
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 ...
. After his 1869 graduation, he entered the office of
George B. Post, architect of many early skyscrapers. In 1871 he was Post's representative in
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
, where he supervised construction of the
Troy Savings Bank Building and Music Hall. He remained in Troy until construction was completed in 1875. He eventually rose to the position of Post's chief assistant, supervising all work in the office.
After working in Post's office for some twenty-five years, Maynicke initiated his own practice in 1895, making a specialty of commercial loft buildings. In January, 1905 he formed a partnership with the Beaux-Arts trained architect Julius Franke (1868-1936), whom he had first met in the office of Post.
[Henry F. Withey and Elsie Rathburn Withey, "Franke, Julius," ''Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased)'' (Los Angeles: New Age Publishing Company, 1956): 218-219.] Maynicke & Franke kept their offices at 25
Madison Square South.
After Maynicke's death in 1913, Franke continued to practice under the name of Maynicke & Franke until his retirement in 1926.
He died at his home, Cedarknoll, in
Bedford Hills, New York
Bedford Hills is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 3,001 at the 2010 census.
Two New York State prisons for women, Bedford Hills Correctional F ...
on September 30, 1913 at the age of 69.
The noted Cincinnati architect
Rudolph Tietig worked in his office at the turn of the century. For some time
William H. Gompert William H. Gompert (1875 -1946) was the Architect and Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education. According to researcpublished by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Gompert was educated at Adelphi ...
was also a member of the office.
Architectural works
The work of Maynicke and Maynicke & Franke was extensive. In 1925, towards the end of his career, Franke stated that he had calculated that the floor area of buildings completed by Maynicke and Maynicke & Franke would be equal to the area of Lower Manhattan from the Battery to Cortlandt Street.
Some important works in New York include: the Guggenheimer Building (1895), the
Sohmer Piano Building
The Sohmer Piano Building, or Sohmer Building, is a Neo-classical Beaux-Arts building located at 170 Fifth Avenue at East 22nd Street, in the Flatiron District neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan, diagonally southwest ...
(1897), the
Germania Bank Building (1898, designated NYC landmark 2005), the
Yorkville Bank Building
The Yorkville Bank Building at 201–203 East 85th Street, 1511–1515 Third Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, was designed by Robert Maynicke. An example of Renaissance Revival architecture, it was built for the Yorkville Bank in 1905 and was des ...
(1905, designated NYC landmark 2012) and the
Fifth Avenue Building (1909). They were also responsible for extensions to the
New York Times Building
The New York Times Building is a 52-story skyscraper at 620 Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets, on the west side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Its chief tenant is the New York Times Company, publis ...
(1903, designated NYC landmark 1999) and the
Goelet Building (1905).
After Maynicke's death, Franke maintained the firm's specialties. In addition to continuing commercial work, Maynicke & Franke was also responsible for the design of the
Heckscher Museum of Art
The Heckscher Museum of Art is named after its benefactor, August Heckscher, who in 1920 donated 185 works of art to be housed in a new Beaux-Arts building located in Heckscher Park, in Huntington, New York. The museum has over 2000 works of art ...
in
Huntington, New York
The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...
, opened in Heckscher Park in 1920. In 1921, for the same client, Franke also designed the Children's Building of the
Heckscher Foundation for Children on Fifth Avenue.
[''Real Estate Record and Builders Guide'' 107, no. 4 (January 22, 1921): 125.] Among other civic uses, this building now contains
El Museo del Barrio
El Museo del Barrio, often known simply as El Museo (the museum), is a museum at 1230 Fifth Avenue in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is located near the northern end of Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, immediately north of the Museum of the Cit ...
.
References
External links
"Robert Maynicke" ''
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 d ...
'', October 13, 1913.
"Robert Maynicke"on Emporis
"Maynicke & Franke"on Emporis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynicke, Robert
1913 deaths
Architects from New York City
People from Bedford Hills, New York
1849 births