Harvey Wiley Corbett (January 8, 1873 – April 21, 1954) was an American architect primarily known for skyscraper and office building designs in New York and London, and his advocacy of tall buildings and modernism in architecture.

Early life and career

Corbett was a San Francisco native. He was an 1895 graduate of the engineering program at the

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 ...

and then was educated at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he was registered as a student on August 18, 1896, by teacher Godefroy-Freynet. After his graduation in 1900, he started work in the firm of

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...

.Corbett, Harvey Wiley
on artnet.com One of Corbett's early commissions during the 1910s was for the landmark Springfield Municipal Group, two large municipal buildings with a tower in Springfield, Massachusetts, in partnership with Francis Livingston Pell (1873-1945), firm of Pell & Corbett.

Middle and later years

As part of the firm of Helmle & Corbett, Harvey Wiley Corbett designed

Bush Tower The Bush Tower (also the Bush Terminal Building, the Bush Terminal International Exhibit Building and formerly the Bush Terminal Sales Building) is a skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, just east of Times Square ...

, a 30-story

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

skyscraper built for the

Bush Terminal Industry City (also Bush Terminal) is a historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the Upper New York Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The northern portion, commonly cal ...

Company on 42nd St. near

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The tower, "with its prominent position and slight setbacks in buff, white and black brick, marked his début as an influential skyscraper designer." Corbett's next major commission was in London, where again working for Irving T. Bush and the Bush Terminal Co., he was the architect for

Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...

, a massive and essentially American-style office building built within the limits of strict London building codes.Saint, Andrew (1984). "Americans in London: Raymond Hood and the National Radiator Building." ''AA Files'' 7, 37–38."The Bush House of London" (February 23, 1923). ''The New York Times'', p. SM6-8 Later in the 1920s, Harvey Wiley Corbett was part of one of the three firms that designed

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

in New York. Corbett, however, left the Rockefeller Center project in 1928, so he could work on plans for the

Metropolitan Life North Building The Metropolitan Life North Building, now known as Eleven Madison, is a 30-story art deco skyscraper in the Flatiron District adjacent to Madison Square Park in Manhattan, New York City, at 11-25 Madison Avenue. The building is bordered by Eas ...

, designed as a 100-story skyscraper and the world's tallest building, but eventually built as a 32-story tower during the Great Depression. Corbett, continued to design some structures during the Great Depression, notably the massive New York City Criminal Courts Building in downtown Manhattan, the northern tower of which is the Manhattan Detention Center (

The Tombs ''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 ...

). The complex was designed with Charles B. Meyers and completed in 1941.

Views and writings

According to his obituary in ''

The 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 ...

'', Corbett was a longtime and ardent champion of skyscrapers and modernism. In 1922, Corbett commissioned delineator and architect

Hugh Ferriss Hugh Macomber Ferriss (July 12, 1889 – January 28, 1962) was an American architect, illustrator, and poet. He was associated with exploring the psychological condition of modern urban life, a common cultural enquiry of the first decades of ...

to draw a series of four step-by-step perspectives demonstrating the architectural consequences of New York's "setback" zoning law. These four drawings would later be used in Ferriss's 1929 book '' The Metropolis of Tomorrow''.Ferriss, Hugh. ''The Metropolis of Tomorrow'' (with essay by Carol Willis). New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1986. Reprint of 1929 edition. By demonstrating how architecture might evolve, Corbett's commission and Ferriss's book continue to influence popular culture; the

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

of Batman and the cities seen in the 2004 movie

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...

both were influenced by Corbett and Ferriss. In the late 1920s, the impact of skyscrapers on cities and downtowns was still hotly debated. Harvey Corbett defended the benefits of tall buildings against skyscraper detractors in articles published in ''The New York Times Magazine'' and the ''National Municipal Journal'' in 1927. In 1930, Corbett described modernism in architecture as a "freeing of the shackles of style that for years have forced architects to erect duplicates of Grecian temples for bank buildings, regardless of modern requirements for light, air, and utility.""Harvey Wiley Corbett, Architect, Dead" (April 22, 1954). ''

'', p. 22 H.W. Corbett lectured at the

Columbia School of Architecture Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is regarded as an important and highly prestigious architecture school.

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York from 1907 to the 1930s, further influencing a generation of architects.

Legacy

George Washington Masonic National Memorial from King Street Washington Metro station

In addition to his work on skyscrapers, office buildings, and municipal buildings, Harvey Wiley Corbett designed monuments such as the

Peace Arch The Peace Arch (french: Arche de la Paix) is a monument situated near the westernmost point of the Canada–United States border in the contiguous United States, between the communities of Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia. Co ...

(1921) on the Canada–US border and the

George Washington Masonic National Memorial The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial located in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. It is dedicated to the memory of George Washington, the first President of the United States and a Mason ...

in Virginia (cornerstone laid in 1923). Later, Corbett shaped the course of architecture by heading the architectural committee of the

1933 World's Fair A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositio ...

(the "Century of Progress" exhibition) in Chicago. He was also chairman of the advisory committee of architects that created the theme for the modernistic 1939 New York World's Fair. Both fairs were influential examples of modern architecture. Because of his work in America and England, Harvey Corbett was simultaneously a fellow 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

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

. One month before his death, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects granted him their annual award for career achievement. In 1926, he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1930. Today, Corbett's papers are contained within the collection of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.

Selected works

* New York School of Applied Design for Women (1909) *

(1918) *

(1921) *

Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial The Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial, located in Lady Bird Johnson Park on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C., is a monument honoring sailors of the United States Navy, Coast Guard, the United States Merchant Marine, the NOAA Commissioned Offi ...

(1922) *

, London (1923) * One Fifth Avenue (1927) * PPL Building (1928) at 28 stories, the tallest building in Allentown, Pennsylvania * Master Apartments (1929)Master Apartments at Emporis.com
Retrieved December 30, 2008 *

(begun 1928, completed 1950; with D. Everett Waid) *

(1922–1932) * New York City Criminal Courts Building (including

; with Charles B. Meyers) (1941) * Springfield Municipal Group in Springfield, Massachusetts

References

External links

Corbett, Harvey Wiley
on artnet.com, derived from the

Grove Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

Harvey Wiley Corbett architectural drawings and papers, circa 1914–1949