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Edward Durell Stone

American architect (1902–1978) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Durell Stone
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Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for the formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City; the Parliament House of Pakistan in Islamabad; the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico; the United States Embassy in New Delhi, India; The Keller Center at the University of Chicago; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the EcoTarium, formerly known as the New England Science Center in Worcester, Massachusetts; and the campus of Windham College now Landmark College in Putney Vermont.[citation needed]

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Early life

Stone was born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he joined the Sigma Nu fraternity,[1] Harvard and M.I.T., but did not earn a degree.[2][page needed] In 1927, he won the Rotch Travelling Scholarship, which afforded him the opportunity to travel through Europe on a two-year stipend.[3] Stone was impressed by the new architecture he observed in Europe, buildings designed in what would come to be known as the International Style.[2][page needed] He returned to the United States in 1929 and took up residence in Manhattan.

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Career

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Hired by the architectural firm of Schultze and Weaver, he designed interiors for the new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He subsequently worked for the Associated Architects of Rockefeller Center and became the principal designer of Radio City Music Hall.[4][page needed]

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Richard H. Mandel House, Mt. Kisco, New York (1933)

Stone was an early advocate of the International Style. His first independent commission was the Richard H. Mandel House, in Mount Kisco, New York (1933).[5] This was followed by the Ulrich Kowalski house, also in Mt. Kisco (1934),[6] and the Albert C. Koch house in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1936).[note 1][7] In 1936, Stone was chosen as associate architect for the new Museum of Modern Art in New York City, designed in collaboration with Philip L. Goodwin.[8] Stone also designed a private residence for MoMA president Anson Conger Goodyear, the A. Conger Goodyear House, in Old Westbury, NY (1938).[9] Both the Richard H. Mandel House and A. Conger Goodyear House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[10]

At the outset of World War II, Stone enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was promoted to the rank of major and served as chief of the Army Air Force Planning and Design Section.[11][page needed] Returning to New York after the war, Stone was commissioned to design the ten-story El Panama Hotel in Panama City, Panama (1946),[12] the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center in Fayetteville (1948),[13] and the 850-bed Hospital del Seguro Social del Empleado in Lima, Peru (1950).[note 2][14]

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U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India (1959)

Stone's best-known work was the Embassy of the United States in New Delhi, India (1959).[15] Tasked with creating a modern building that respected the architectural heritage of its host country, he designed a temple-like pavilion on a raised podium.[16] Frank Lloyd Wright called the embassy one of the most beautiful buildings he had ever seen,[17] and it won a first honor award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).[18][page needed] Subsequent commissions such as the Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California (1955),[19] the Stuart Pharmaceutical Company in Pasadena, California (1956),[20] and the United States pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (1957),[21] repeated elements originally designed for the embassy.[22] The Stuart building and World's Fair pavilion both won awards from the AIA,[23] and Stone was elected to the Institute's College of Fellows in 1958.[24]

Described as romanticist,[25][page needed] Stone's ornate designs[dubious – discuss] brought him commercial success.[15] By the 1960s, his firm was among the largest architectural practices in the United States, with over 200 employees and offices on both coasts.[26] Buildings from this period include the North Carolina State Legislative Building in Raleigh (1960),[27] the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology in Nilore (1961),[28] the National Geographic Society building in Washington, D.C. (1961),[29] the Museo de Arte in Ponce, Puerto Rico (1961),[30] the uptown campus of the University at Albany (1962),[31] the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (1962),[32] the General Motors Building in New York City (1964), the PepsiCo World Headquarters, in Purchase, New York (1967),[33] and the EcoTarium in Worcester, Massachusetts,[34] the Florida State Capital complex in Tallahassee,[35] and the Standard Oil building (now known as the Aon Center) in Chicago, Illinois (all 1970).[36]

Stone also was the architect of the former Windham College in Putney, Vermont. Windham closed in 1978 and its abandoned campus was taken over by the present-day Landmark College in 1985.

Furthermore, Stone also designed Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. Harvey Mudd College is a highly ranked private liberal arts college, and according to Travel and Leisure Magazine in 2013, is one of "America's ugliest college campuses".

Stone retired in 1974 and died in 1978.[11][page needed] Following a New York City funeral his ashes were buried in his hometown of Fayetteville.[37]

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Honors and awards

Honorary degrees

  • Doctor of Fine Arts, University of Arkansas, 1951[38]
  • Doctor of Fine Arts, Colby College, 1959[39]
  • Master of Fine Arts, Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County, 1961[40]
  • Doctor of Fine Arts, Hamilton College, 1962[41]

Memberships and honors

Architectural awards

  • Silver Medal, Architectural League of New York, 1937 – Guest House for Henry R. Luce, Mepkin Plantation, Moncks Corner, South Carolina[50]
  • Silver Medal, Architectural League of New York, 1950 – A. Conger Goodyear Residence, Old Westbury, New York[51]
  • Gold Medal, Architectural League of New York, 1950 – Museum of Modern Art, New York City (Philip Goodwin, Associate)[51]
  • Gold Medal, Architectural League of New York, 1950 – El Panama Hotel, Panama City, Panama[52]
  • First Honor Award, American Institute of Architects, 1958 – Stuart Pharmaceutical Co., Pasadena, California[18][page needed]
  • Award of Merit, American Institute of Architects, 1958 – U.S. Pavilion, Brussels, Belgium[18][page needed]
  • First Honor Award, American Institute of Architects, 1961 – U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, India[18][page needed]
  • Award of Merit, American Institute of Architects, 1963 – Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel, California[53]
  • Honor Award, American Institute of Architects, 1967 – Ponce Museum of Art, Ponce, Puerto Rico[54]

Selected works

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2 Columbus Circle, New York City (1958), before the facade was altered and the interior renovated
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North Carolina State Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina (1960)
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Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. (1962)
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The Uptown Campus of the State University of New York at Albany (1962)
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Busch Stadium (1966), the home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team from 1966 to 2005 and the St. Louis Cardinals football team from 1966 to 1987
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Gallery

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Footnotes

External links

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