Brooklyn Public Library Park Slope Branch

Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank 001 002 003 combined crop

Raymond F. Almirall (1869–1939) was an American architect of the Beaux-Arts period, practicing in New York City.

Life and career

Almirall was born in New York in 1869. He studied architecture at Cornell University and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1896 he established an architectural firm in New York City with John W. Ingle, Ingle & Almirall. The firm lasted until the end of 1900, when Almirall opened an independent office. In the mid-teens, Almirall made Philip Alain Cusachs a member of his new firm, Almirall & Cusachs, which lasted into the 1920s. He was a very creative architect for his time and his work incorporated the latest architectural techniques including structural steel, reinforced cement and reinforced concrete In 1909, Almirall designed what might have been his masterpiece, the Beaux-Arts classical style Brooklyn Central Library which was expected to be a major example of the City Beautiful architectural style in that city. But money was short, and construction did not begin for several years. Soon after, money ran out and only the west wing wall was actually built. In 1937, the project was renewed and the New York firm of Githens & Keally was hired to redesign the building in the Modern Classical style. Almirall’s original scheme was abandoned in favor of the new one and the redesigned library was completed in 1941. Almirall also designed several large churches for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. One of these, the Mortuary Chapel at Calvary Cemetery,

Long Island City, New York Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

, was described at the time of its construction as ‘’the Most Remarkable Mortuary Chapel in America’’.

Henry Haven Windsor Henry Haven Windsor (November 13, 1859 – May 11, 1924), American author, magazine editor, and publisher, was the founder and first editor of ''Popular Mechanics''. He was succeeded as editor by his son, Henry Haven Windsor, Jr (1898–1965). Wi ...

, ed
Popular Mechanics: an Illustrated Weekly Review
Volume 12, Issues 1-6 (Chicago, Illinois: 1909), p.292-293. He was one of the very few American architects of his day to design a Cathedral in a foreign country. His byzantine styled Holy Trinity Cathedral in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, which contains a "broad, clearly articulated facade" and a large concrete dome. In his book ''Hagia Sophia, 1850-1950: Holy Wisdom Modern Monument'', author Robert S. Nelson compares the Cathedral to the Hagia Sophia. Almirall also designed most of the buildings for the Seaview Hospital in

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

, which at the time of its construction was the largest tuberculosis hospital in the world where many of the successful treatments for this disease were to be created. Today this hospital is a ruin.

Architectural Works

Ingle & Almirall, 1896-1900

* 1897 - Binghamton Municipal Building, 79 Collier St,

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

* 1897 - St. Dominic R. C. Church, 93 Anstice St,

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore o ...

Russell, Daniel E
"The Bells of St. Patrick's"
Glen Cove, NY: City of Glen Cove, n.d. * 1898 - Binghamton Savings Bank Building, 99 Collier St, Binghamton, New York * 1898 - St. Patrick R. C. Church, 39-38 29th St,

* 1899 - R. C. Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, 104-11 37th Ave,

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

* 1899 - St. Patrick R. C. Church, 235 Glen St,

Glen Cove, New York Glen Cove is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Nassau County, New York, United States, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. At the 2020 United States Census, the city population was 28,365 as of th ...

* 1900 - R. C. Church of the Guardian Angel, 2978 Ocean Pkwy,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Raymond F. Almirall, 1901-c.1915

* 1903 - Pacific Library, 25 4th Ave,

* 1904 - Chi Psi Lodge, 200 Church St,

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

** Burned in 1912. * 1905 - Decauville Garage, 1743-1745 Broadway,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

** Demolished. * 1905 - Municipal Lodging House, 432-438 E 25th St, New York, New York ** An early version of the modern homeless shelter. Demolished. * 1905 -

Seaview Hospital Seaview Hospital was a historic tuberculosis sanatorium, now a national historic district located at Willowbrook on Staten Island, New York. The complex was planned and built between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal fac ...

, 460 Brielle Ave,

* 1905 - St. Michael's R. C. Church, 352 42nd St, Brooklyn, New York * 1906 -

Fordham Hospital Fordham Hospital was the first public hospital in the Bronx, New York City, having opened in 1892. Prior to that time, all the New York City municipal hospitals were in Manhattan. It was located in the Fordham section of the Bronx on Valentine Av ...

, Southern Blvd,

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

** Demolished. * 1906 - Park Slope Library, 431 6th Ave, Brooklyn, New YorkDolkart, Andrew. ''Guide to New York City Landmarks''. 2009. * 1906 -

Public Bath No. 7 Public Bath No. 7 is a historic bathhouse located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City. It was designed by Brooklyn architect Raymond F. Almirall. It was built between 1906 and 1910 and is constructed of white glazed brick and limestone colored ...

, 227 4th Ave, Brooklyn, New York * 1908 - Bushwick Library, 340 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, New York * 1908 -

49 Chambers 49 Chambers, formerly known as the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building and 51 Chambers Street, is a residential building at 49–51 Chambers Street in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was built between 1909 ...

(Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building), 49–51 Chambers St, New York, New York * 1908 - R. C. Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, North St,

* 1910 - Chapin Home for the Aged, 16501 Chapin Pkwy,

Jamaica, New York Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...

** Demolished. * 1913 - Eastern Parkway Library, 1044 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, New York * 1915 - R. C. Church of the Nativity, 20 Madison St, Brooklyn, New York

Almirall & Cusachs, from c.1916

* 1916 - Notre Dame Home for the Aged, 660 183rd Ave,

* 1917 - Central Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza,

** Partially built and then demolished. * 1920 - R. C. Church of the Nativity (Addition), 20 Madison St, Brooklyn, New York * 1926 - 386 Park Ave S,

"Manhattan NB Database". ''http://www.metrohistory.com/''. Office for Metropolitan History, n. d. Web.

References

External links

* Raymond F. Almirall works
Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almirall, Raymond F. 1869 births 1939 deaths American ecclesiastical architects Architects of Roman Catholic churches Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Architects of cathedrals Architects from New York City American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts