Raymond Mathewson Hood (March 29, 1881 – August 14, 1934) was an American architect who worked in the

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 ...

and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

styles. He is best known for his designs of the

Tribune Tower The Tribune Tower is a , 36-floor neo-Gothic skyscraper located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built between 1923 and 1925, the international design competition for the tower became a historic event in 20th-ce ...

American Radiator Building The American Radiator Building (also known as the American Standard Building) is an early skyscraper at 40 West 40th Street, just south of Bryant Park, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was designed by Raymond Hood an ...

, and

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 ...

. Through a short yet highly successful career, Hood exerted an outsized influence on twentieth century architecture.

Early life and education

Early life

Raymond Mathewson Hood was born in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Fal ...

on March 29, 1881, to John Parmenter Hood and Vella Mathewson. John Hood was the owner of J.N. Polsey & Co., a crate and box manufacturing company. The family lived at 107 Cottage Street in a house designed by John Hood and local architect Albert H. Humes. In a 1931 profile of Hood in ''The New Yorker'', writer

Allene Talmey Allene Rosamond Talmey (January 11, 1903 March 13, 1986), later Allene Talmey Plaut, was an American columnist, editor, reporter and a film reviewer. She worked with various magazines and newspapers, including ''Vogue'' magazine, where she was a ...

described the Hood home as "the ugliest place in town." In 1893, the Hood family visited the

World’s Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago, an experience that may have sparked Hood's interest in architecture.

Education

In 1898, Hood graduated from Pawtucket High School. Later that year Hood enrolled at Brown University. At Brown he studied mathematics, rhetoric, French, and drawing. In 1899, seeking more opportunities to pursue an architectural education, Hood enrolled at 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 ...

. At MIT, Hood studied under Constant-Désiré Despradelle, a prominent proponent of the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpor ...

. Hood excelled at creating meticulously rendered architectural drawings, and after graduating worked as a draftsman for Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. During his time at Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, Hood purportedly worked on the 1899 design of the Classical Revival Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library.

In June 1904, Hood returned to Pawtucket before leaving for Europe with the intention of studying 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 centur ...

in Paris. Hood failed his first attempt at the entrance exam in October 1904 though was accepted after his second attempt in 1905. His capstone ''diplôme'' project at the École was a city hall for Pawtucket, his hometown. The project, which was never realized, fused classical features with modern technology.

Career

In 1911, Hood returned to the US, taking a job at the office of

Henry Hornbostel Henry Hornbostel (August 15, 1867 – December 13, 1961) was an American architect and educator. Hornbostel designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States. Twenty-two of his designs are listed on the National Regis ...

in Pittsburgh. In 1916, Hood designed an ambitious plan for

downtown Providence Downtown is the central economic, political, and cultural district of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. It is bounded on the east by Canal Street and the Providence River, to the north by Smith Street, to the west by Interstate 95, and to th ...

; the project's defining feature was a civic tower, whose pedimented base occupied the entire southern edge of Exchange Place. The plan, which was likewise never realized, was published in ''

The Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...

'' under the headline "A Striking Plan for Dignifying Civic Centre."

Chicago Tribune Tower

In 1922, New York architect

John Mead Howells John Mead Howells, (; August 14, 1868 – September 22, 1959), was an American architect. Early life and education Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of author William Dean Howells, he earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard Unive ...

, who had met him at the École des Beaux-Arts, invited Hood to become his partner in the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

building competition in which Howells had been invited to compete. The

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 ...

design submitted by Howells and Hood won the competition beating the designs of prominent competitors, including

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

, and

Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely- ...

. The design proved pivotal in Hood's career, catalyzing his emergence as a preeminent architect of the era.

American Radiator Building

Among the commissions received by Hood in the immediate wake of his design for the Tribune Tower, was a design for a new New York office tower for the

American Radiator Company The American Radiator Company was established in 1892 by the merger of a number of North American radiator manufacturers. The company expanded in the early 20th century into Europe under the brand National Radiator Company. In 1929, it amalgam ...

. In his 1924 design for the building, produced in collaboration with architect Jacques André Fouilhoux, Hood moved towards a looser interpretation of Gothic architecture, cladding the structure in black brick. The design was additionally noted for its revolutionary use of lighting. According to art and architectural historian Dietrich Neumann, the design "helped to introduce a new age of color and light in American architecture."

Approach

Hood did not consider himself an artist, but saw himself as "manufacturing shelter", writing:

There has been entirely too much talk about the collaboration of architect, painter and sculptor; nowadays, the collaborators are the architects, the engineer, and the plumber. ... Buildings are constructed for certain purposes, and the buildings of today are more practical, from the standpoint of the man who is in them than the older buildings. ... We are considering effort and convenience much more than appearance or effect.

Hood's design theory was aligned with that of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

, in that he valued utility as beauty:

Beauty is utility, developed in a manner to which the eye is accustomed by habit, in so far as this development does not detract from its quality of usefulness.

Despite this paean to utility, Hood's designs featured non-utilitarian aspects such as roof gardens,

polychromy Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

, and Art Deco ornamentation. As much as Hood might insist that his designs were largely determined by the practicalities of zoning laws and the restraints of economics, each of his major buildings were different enough to suggest that Hood's design artistry was a significant factor in the final result. While a student at the École des Beaux-Arts, Hood met John Mead Howells, with whom he later partnered. Hood frequently employed architectural sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan both for architectural sculptures for his building and to make

plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product category ...

models of his projects. Hood is believed to have coined the term "Architecture of the Night" in a 1930 pamphlet published by General Electric. Hood died at age 53 due to arthritis and was interred at

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch ...

in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Influence

Hood's buildings were featured in works by Georgia O'Keeffe ('' Radiator Building—Night, New York,'' 1927),

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

(''Frozen Asssets,'' 1931), and Berenice Abbott (''McGraw-Hill Building'', 1936; ''Fortieth Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue'', 1938), and

Samuel Gottscho Samuel Herman Gottscho (February 8, 1875 – January 28, 1971) was an American architectural, landscape, and nature photographer. Gottscho was born in Brooklyn in New York City. He acquired his first camera in 1896 and took his first photo ...

(''Rockefeller Center and RCA Building from 515 Madison Ave'', 1933).

Works

Built works

* John Green Residence, New York, NY, 1920; alteration to an existing apartment building *

Mori Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname, and also a Persian pet name for Morteza. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname *Barbara Mori, Uruguayan-Mexican actress * Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesare ...

, New York, NY, 1920; Hood designed a new facade for a restaurant that had opened in 1883 * St. Vincent de Paul Asylum,

Tarrytown Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hu ...

, NY, 1924; with J. André Fouilhoux *

, Chicago, IL, 1924 * Raymond Hood House, Stamford, CT, 1924 *

, New York, NY, 1924 * Bethany Union Church, Chicago, IL, 1926 * Ocean Forest Country Club,

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

, SC, 1926-1927 * McCormick Mausoleum, Rockford, IL, 1927 * William R. Morris House, Greenwich, CT, 1927 * 711 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 1927 * 3 East 84th Street, New York, NY, 1928; with

* Ideal House, London, UK, 1929 *

Daily News Building The Daily News Building, also known as The News Building, is a skyscraper at 220 East 42nd Street in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The original building was designed by architects Raymond Hood and John Me ...

, New York, NY, 1929 * Masonic Temple,

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

, PA, 1929 *

Beaux-Arts Apartments The Beaux-Arts Apartments are a pair of apartment towers on 307 and 310 East 44th Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Raymond Hood and Kenneth Murchison, the Beaux-Arts Apartment ...

, 307 and 310 East 44th Street, New York, NY, 1930 * DuPont Building; Wilmington, DE, 1930; additions with Godley and Fouilhoux * Joseph Patterson Residence, Ossining, NY, 1930; with Fouilhoux *

, New York, NY, 1933–1937; where Hood was a senior architect on the Associated Architects * Rex Cole Showrooms,

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

and

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

, NY, 1931; with Godley and Fouilhoux * McGraw-Hill Building, New York, NY, 1931

Unbuilt works

* Pawtucket City Hall, Pawtucket, RI, 1911 *Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI, 1916 * Providence County Court House, Providence, RI, 1924; competition *Polish National Alliance Building, Chicago, IL, 1924; Hood's design won the competition but was never built *Ridgewood Municipal Building, Ridgewood, NJ, 1926; Hood's design won the competition but was never built *Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Columbus, OH, 1927 *Rockland County Courthouse, New City, NY, 1929; competition *

Girard College Girard College is an independent college preparatory five-day boarding school located on a 43-acre campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school was founded and permanently endowed from the shipping and banking fortune of Stephen Girard upon ...

Chapel, Philadelphia, PA, 1930; competition File:Proposed City Hall for Pawtucket.jpg, Pawtucket City Hall (unbuilt) File:View of the Monumental Group from the North.jpg, Providence Civic Center (unbuilt) File:Mori's Restaurant, 144 Bleecker Street, Manhattan (NYPL b13668355-482851).jpg, alt=Mori Restaurant, Mori Restaurant File:Competition for the New Court House, City of Providence State of Rhode Island.jpg, Providence County Court House (unbuilt) File:Polish National Alliance Competition.jpg, Polish National Alliance Building (unbuilt) File:Tribune Tower3.jpg, Tribune Tower File:NYC - American Radiator Building.jpg, alt=American Radiator Building,

File:Ocean Forest Country Club Jun 10.JPG, Ocean Forest Country Club File:Palladium House (5143759412).jpg, alt=Ideal House in London, a black and gold building, Ideal House File:Daily News Building, 42nd Street between Second and Third Avenues, Manhattan (NYPL b13668355-482560).jpg, alt=Daily News Building, Daily News Building File:Beaux-Arts Apartments May 2021 09.jpg, alt=Beaux-Arts Apartments,

File:Scranton - Scranton Cultural Center (48472741161).jpg, alt=Scranton Cultural Center, Scranton Cultural Center File:GE Building by David Shankbone.JPG, Rockefeller Center File:Mcgraw-hill-42nd-st 1.jpg, alt=330 West 42nd Street in New York City, a turquoise skyscraper, McGraw-Hill Building

Exhibitions

In 1984, the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

hosted an exhibition of Hood's work entitled "City of Towers." Curated by Carol Willis, the exhibit featured Hood's sketches and blueprints. In 2020, The David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, Hood's ''alma mater'', held an online exhibition titled "Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper." The exhibition focused on a selection of Hood's built and unbuilt skyscrapers, and included about 70 of his architectural drawings, photographs, models, and books.

References

Notes Bibliography
Duval, Jonathan and Dietrich Neumann, ''Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper''. Providence, RI: Bell Gallery, Brown University, 2020.
* Frampton, Kenneth. "Storia dell'Architettura Moderna" 4a edizione, Zanichelli * Gargiani, Roberto. ''Rem Koolhaas/Oma''. Grandi Opere-Gli Architetti, editori Laterza * Hood, Raymond M. (1931) ''Contemporary American Architects: Raymond M. Hood''. New York: Whittlesey House,

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes refere ...

. ** Features a large collection of photographs of Hood's works. * Kilham, Walter H. (1973). ''Raymond Hood, Architect - Form Through Function in the American Skyscraper''. Architectural Book Publishing Co Inc, New York. * Kvaran, Einar Einarsson. ''Architectural Sculpture of America''. unpublished manuscript

External links

*
Raymond M. Hood architectural drawings and papers, circa 1890-1944

at the New-York Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, Raymond 1881 births 1934 deaths People from Pawtucket, Rhode Island 20th-century American architects Architects from Pawtucket, Rhode Island Architects from New York City Art Deco architects Brown University alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery