Harry Cobb

Henry Nichols Cobb, FAIA, longtime partner of I M Pei, died in early March of this year. 

Having worked for and admired him, I thought I’d post a personal memory. 

When I arrived in Manhattan after college looking for work, I took my resume to the Pei Cobb Freed offices in Midtown. I didn’t get past the receptionist.

Years later, after I won a national award, I got a call from Mr. Cobb. He said that my work had beautiful “mise en scene” and that he would like me to come by to discuss a project. After looking up “mise en scene” (nice compliment) and getting my best suit out of storage, I met Mr. Cobb. He was quiet and mannerly and quickly put me at ease. He was obviously steeped in the history of architectural drawing, and in the process of producing good architectural illustrations. Mr. Cobb was also sure of what he wanted and what he didn’t want—in other words, a pleasure to work with. Eventually I worked on a number of projects for him.

… a couple of examples…

Dusk view of the centerpiece of Canary Wharf.

Interior rendering of a corporate headquarters in Spain.

I’ll leave the last, and appropriately elegant, word to Mr. Cobb.

“If the truth be told, perspectivists have a wickedly tough row to hoe. They are the servants of servants—unless the client happens to want a pretty picture but is too cheap to hire an architect, in which case they are just servants. So why should the tenth anniversary of the American Society of Architectural Perspectivists be the occasion for anything more than a sympathetic shrug and a condescending nod? Here’s why.

“In the age of cyberspace, perspectivists may be the last true romantics. And how could it be otherwise? For they alone celebrate in their art that supreme distillation of romance, the vanishing point. Has there ever been an invention of the human mind so irresistibly alluring, so mysteriously seductive, so real yet elusive, in sum so essentially and ineluctably romantic as is the vanishing point? Not the least of its romantic qualities is its name. As anyone who has ever constructed a perspective drawing knows, this passionately imagined, infinitely distant point in space is actually nothing more than the point of convergence for a few straight lines inscribed on a flat surface. But to call it such would deprive it of all its romance.

“Let us then salute the one art that finds its origin in the vanishing point; and let us salute also those who, following in the great tradition, today dedicate themselves to the practice of that art. Through their skillfully rendered representations of architectural visions, they remind us, as we now more than ever need to be reminded, that we are all at heart romantics."

Henry N Cobb, FAIA (in “Architecture in Perspective 10” exhibition catalog, 1995)

Inspiration - Schell Lewis

I happened on an old Harvard Magazine (March April 2009) yesterday while sorting out moving boxes in the attic. (No, I’m not Ivy, my son is). It had an article on the Supreme Court with a rendering of the Supreme Court building in Washington. The rendering was by Schell Lewis, an excellent but now forgotten architectural delineator.

It struck a chord with me. First, it was sad that such a talented artist was now completely forgotten. And second, it reminded me that I had gathered images for a blog post on him; a post that was filed away when I found so little biographical information.

Since I’m more interested in the art than the artist, I’ve decided to post what little I’ve got.

According to the 1920 census, Schell Lewis was born about 1887 in Moline, Illinois (I found a site suggesting that he was born in 1875, but that seems improbable). By 1920 he became known for his skill in architectural delineation. He worked in the office of Charles A. Platt for years, but by the late 1920s he was doing professional renderings for other architects. He was active into his 60s, with little evidence of age. The latest image I could find was from 1960.

The following is from Pencil Points magazine, vol. 2, 1921
“Though Mr. Schell Lewis has made many excellent perspective drawings and sketches he has not specialized in rendering… His charcoal drawings, made as a means of studying the designs in the office and not as presentation drawings, convey the character of the designs admirably and are done with great facility.
Mr. Lewis was born in Moline, Ill., but his family removed to New York when he was a youth. After acquiring the rudiments of drafting he entered an architect’s office in New York. Then, after a few attempts, he secured a place in the office of Mr. Charles A. Platt, in whose organization he has been continuously excepting six months with the U. S. Shipping Board and six month with Trowbridge & Ackerman.
All of Mr. Lewis’ work shows an appreciation of architectural character as well as a knowledge of architectural design.”

I first saw Lewis’s work in Drafting Room Practice by Eugene Clute (Pencil Points Press 1928). I found an old copy in a used book store years ago. There was no biographical information, but they reproduced a number of wonderful architectural detail studies done in charcoal.

The only other story I found concerning Lewis’s work is in The President as Architect: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Top Cottage, By John G. Waite Associates, Architects. In 1938 President Roosevelt sketched out the design for a “cottage” on his Hyde Park property north of New York City. Lewis, who did regular work for Henry J. Toombs, FDR’s favorite architect, was brought on to do a couple pencil renderings for a publicity brochure. Being a “traditional” renderer familiar with traditional architecture, he fit in perfectly with FDR’s love of the old country style of building.

Here are a few additional images which show something of Lewis’s rendering process. His preliminary sketches are nice examples of value studies produced by all artists of the time. The preliminary working out the light and dark areas ensures an image that presents the subject in a pleasing way. See my post on Gustave Doré for more of the same, as well as all of my posts on composition.

Prelim sketch for Cadet Barracks at U S Military Academy

Finished rendering of Cadet Barracks at U S Military Academy

Prelim study for an aerial view of a Church

Prelim sketch for a rendering of a Church

Finished rendering of a Church

Unfinished Prelim study for a Church

______________________________


The following images are all of the Schell Lewis renderings that I could find on the internet. They are arranged in roughly chronological order. Comments are included as I felt the need.

1088 Park Avenue New York City, 1924

This and the next 6 renderings are nice examples of subtle value manipulation used to enliven otherwise dull forms.

Apartment Block in New York City, 1926

Proposed Development at Warm Springs, Georgia, 1926

111 John Street, New York City, 1927

15 East 39th Street New York City, 1928

1441 Broadway, New York City, 1929

Bronx County Jail, New York City, 1931

_________________________

Proposed Chapel at Kent School, Kent, Connecticut  1929

The image above was the only interior rendering that I found.

Georgia Building, 1933

Chapin School in New York City, 1935

The following 4 renderings are from the 1939 World’s Fair, held in New York City. Both Hugh Ferriss and John Wenrich did illustrations for the fair.

Court of the States Building, Inner court collonnade & tower

Court of the States Building, Inner court

Court of the States Building, Spanish grouping

Court of the States Building, West court

___________________________

Band Building, 1947

Mallory Gymnasium, Rhodes College, 1949

Toronto City Hall proposal, 1955

Trezevant Hall, Rhodes College, 1959

Moore Moore Infirmary, Rhodes College, 1960

Proposal for Mahan Hall at West Point, 1967

Lewis seems to have preferred pencil throughout his career, but was clearly a master of ink as well, as shown in the last two images I found. The first is copied from the internet and is very low resolution. The second image (noted simply as "brick house") is scanned from Arthur L. Guptill's classic Rendering in Pen and Ink, and is detailed enough to show both the overall composition and the satisfying details.

Burrow Library, Rhodes College, 1951

So, what do I take away from all this?
Schell Lewis is inspiring because he blends the large, conceptual view with the rendering of crisp detail. “Fine” artists can often get away with a broad-brush splash of emotion or symbolism (the rest is commentary). Architects, on the other hand, are usually obsessed with the details: “God is in the details”. But both scales of view are necessary.
The architectural illustrator must needs do both. Yet, it is unusual to find someone who can mix the two extremes so seamlessly as Schell Lewis did.

Cesar Pelli

César Pelli died July 19 at age 92.

As with I M Pei, the major media obituaries cover his life and work better than I ever could.

However, having worked on many of his projects over the years I thought I’d comment. 

My first personal experience with Pelli’s work was the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center in New York City. I did not work on the project but did explore it as an average citizen. It was and is a joy to experience: space, light, people and palms, all in the middle of the big city. On winter weekends I took my kids there to play on the monumental marble steps. 

About the same time Pelli needed a rendering quickly of a proposed high-rise in Malaysia. The image was a hit, ending up on the covers of all the southeast Asian magazines. It was an interesting job which I’ve already posted on here. The design is thoroughly modern but had a strong reflection of Malaysian culture. It introduced me to Pelli’s interesting body of work.

And that “work”? It was, speaking as an architect, well thought out and clean. It was also surprisingly various: he never really had a “style”. He seemed to take the DNA of the place the project was to be built in and formed it into a landmark building. Speaking as an architectural illustrator, Pelli’s work was enjoyable. The designs were fun to explore, and he was confident enough to let me try out new ideas. .

Pelli was charming and diplomatic. While Dean of the School of Architecture at Yale he was known for effortlessly smoothing the personal conflicts found in such an institution.

Pelli rejected the idea of celebrity architect. He was gracious and kind every time I met with him. 

He was a “good” man: a mench!

Just as a personal “footnote”,

A partial list of projects I rendered: 

Al Jeraisy Headquarters (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

Cleveland Hospital

Exchange Place competition (Toronto)

KLCC retail mall (Malaysia)

Columbus Circle competition (NYC)

Cheung Hong Center (Hong Kong)

KLCC symphony hall (Malaysia)

Mayo Clinic, Gonda Building (Minnesota)

Bank Boston (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Enron Headquarters (Houston)

Pittsburgh Convention Center competition

Battery Park City residential block (NYC).

Office Tower (Tampa)