Editing Raymond Hood

{{Short description|American architect (1881–1934)}}
{{for|the member of the Michigan House of Representatives|Raymond W. Hood}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Raymond Hood
| image = Raymond M. Hood, 1923.jpg
| nationality = American
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|3|29}}
| birth_place = [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|8|14|1881|3|29}}
| death_place = [[Stamford, Connecticut]]
| practice = 
| alma_mater = [[Brown University]] <br /> [[MIT]] <br /> [[École des Beaux-Arts]]
| spouse = 
| significant_buildings = [[Tribune Tower]], [[330 West 42nd Street]], [[Rockefeller Center]], [[Daily News Building]]
| awards = 
}}'''Raymond Mathewson Hood''' (March 29, 1881 – August 14, 1934) was an American architect who worked in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] and [[Art Deco]] styles. He is best known for his designs of the [[Tribune Tower]], [[American Radiator Building]], and [[Rockefeller Center]]. Through a short yet highly successful career, Hood exerted an outsized influence on twentieth century architecture.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 29, 2020|title=Spotlight: Raymond Hood|url=https://www.archdaily.com/784348/spotlight-raymond-hood|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=ArchDaily|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Architectural Archives {{!}} Weitzman School|url=https://www.design.upenn.edu/architectural-archives/raymond-mathewson-hood-collection-022|access-date=March 8, 2021|website=www.design.upenn.edu}}</ref>

==Early life and education==

=== Early life ===
Raymond Mathewson Hood was born in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]] 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]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Conklin|first1=Jo-Ann|url=https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/arts/bell-gallery/sites/brown.edu.campus-life.arts.bell-gallery/files/publications/DWBG_Hood_Catalogue_Web.pdf|title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscrape|last2=Duval|first2=Jonathan|last3=Neumann|first3=Dietrich|publisher=David Winton Bell Gallery|year=2020|location=Providence, RI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219182537/https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/arts/bell-gallery/sites/brown.edu.campus-life.arts.bell-gallery/files/publications/DWBG_Hood_Catalogue_Web.pdf|archive-date=February 19, 2021}}</ref> In a 1931 profile of Hood in ''The New Yorker'', writer [[Allene Talmey]] described the Hood home as "the ugliest place in town."<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine|last=Talmey|first=Allene|date=April 11, 1931|title=Man Against the Sky|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> In 1893, the Hood family visited the [[World's Columbian Exposition|World’s Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago, an experience that may have sparked Hood's interest in architecture.<ref name=":0" />

=== 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]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Raymond Hood: Early Life and Education|url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/2ai|access-date=February 17, 2021|website=raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu}}</ref>

At MIT, Hood studied under [[Constant-Désiré Despradelle]], a prominent proponent of the [[Beaux-Arts style]].<ref name="BellGallery2c">{{cite web |title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper: Early Life and Education, 2c |url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/2c.html |website=David Winton Bell Gallery |publisher=Brown University |access-date=February 6, 2021 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref> Hood excelled at creating meticulously rendered architectural drawings,<ref name="BellGallery2b">{{cite web |title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper: Early Life and Education, 2b |url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/2b.html |website=David Winton Bell Gallery |publisher=Brown University |access-date=February 6, 2021 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref> and after graduating worked as a draftsman for [[Cram and Ferguson Architects|Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson]].<ref name="BellGallery2e">{{cite web |title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper: Early Life and Education, 2e |url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/2e.html |website=David Winton Bell Gallery |publisher=Brown University |access-date=February 6, 2021 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref> During his time at Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, Hood purportedly worked on the 1899 design of the Classical Revival [[Pawtucket Public Library|Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library]].<ref name=":0" />[[File:Mr._Raymond_M._Hood.jpg|thumb|Hood in 1906]]In June 1904, Hood returned to Pawtucket before leaving for Europe with the intention of studying at the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in Paris. Hood failed his first attempt at the entrance exam in October 1904 though was accepted after his second attempt in 1905.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name="BellGallery2f">{{cite web |title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper, September 11, 2020 - December 18, 2020 |url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/2f.html |website=David Winton Bell Gallery |publisher=Brown University |access-date=February 6, 2021 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref>

== Career ==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Tribune_Tower,_Chicago,_Illinois_(9181667444)_(cropped).jpg
| width1 = 
| caption1 = The [[Tribune Tower]] in Chicago (1924) references the [[Rouen Cathedral]]
| image2 = New York Daily News building 1930.jpg
| width2 = 
| caption2 = The [[Daily News Building]] in [[Manhattan]] (1929), rendering by [[Hugh Ferriss]]
| total_width = 225
| alt1 = 
}}

In 1911, Hood returned to the US, taking a job at the office of [[Henry Hornbostel]] in Pittsburgh.<ref name=":1" />

In 1916, Hood designed an ambitious plan for [[Downtown, Providence, Rhode Island|downtown Providence]]; the project's defining feature was a {{convert|600|ft|m}} civic tower, whose pedimented base occupied the entire southern edge of [[Kennedy Plaza|Exchange Place]]. The plan, which was likewise never realized, was published in ''[[The Providence Journal]]'' under the headline "A Striking Plan for Dignifying Civic Centre."<ref name="BellGallery2g">{{cite web |title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper, September 11, 2020 - December 18, 2020 |url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/2g.html |website=David Winton Bell Gallery |publisher=Brown University |access-date=February 6, 2021 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref>

=== Chicago Tribune Tower ===
{{Main|Tribune Tower}}
In 1922, New York architect [[John Mead Howells]], who had met him at the École des Beaux-Arts, invited Hood to become his partner in the [[Tribune Tower|Chicago Tribune]] building competition in which Howells had been invited to compete. The [[Gothic Revival architecture|neo-Gothic]] design submitted by Howells and Hood won the competition beating the designs of prominent competitors, including [[Eliel Saarinen]], [[Walter Gropius]], and [[Adolf Loos]].

The design proved pivotal in Hood's career, catalyzing his emergence as a preeminent architect of the era.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Raymond Hood: American Radiator Building|url=https://raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu/4b.html|access-date=February 17, 2021|website=raymond-hood-exhibition.brown.edu}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

=== American Radiator Building ===
{{Main|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]]. In his 1924 design for the building, produced in collaboration with architect [[J. André Fouilhoux|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."<ref name=":0" />

== Approach ==
Hood did not consider himself an artist, but saw himself as "manufacturing shelter",<ref name="desrep">{{cite web|last=Robins|first=Anthony W.|date=September 11, 1979|title=McGraw-Hill Building Designation Report|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/79-MC-GRAW-HILL.pdf|publisher=[[New York Landmarks Preservation Commission]]}}</ref> writing:

<blockquote>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.<ref>Woolf, S. J. "An Architect Hails the Rule of Reason - Design that is grounded in material and function ill make buildings more beautiful, says Raymond Hood" [[New York Times Magazine]] (November 1, 1931) quoted in Robins, Anthony W. [http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/79-MC-GRAW-HILL.pdf "McGraw-Hill Building Designation Report"] [[New York Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (September 11, 1979)</ref></blockquote>

Hood's design theory was aligned with that of the [[Bauhaus]], in that he valued utility as beauty:

<blockquote>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.<ref>Griswold, J. B. "Nine Years Ago, Raymond M Hood Was Behind in his Rent ... Today - he holds the spotlight as a master shoman of stone and steel" ''American Magazine'' (October 1931) p.145, quoted in Robins, Anthony W. [http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/79-MC-GRAW-HILL.pdf "McGraw-Hill Building Designation Report"] [[New York Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (September 11, 1979)</ref></blockquote>

Despite this paean to utility, Hood's designs featured non-utilitarian aspects such as roof gardens, [[polychromy]], 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.<ref name=desrep />

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]] models of his projects. Hood is believed to have coined the term "Architecture of the Night" in a 1930 pamphlet published by General Electric.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/ArchitectureOfTheNightASeriesOfArticlesPublishedByTheGeneral/CCA48009#page/n5/mode/2up "Architecture of the Night"] [[General Electric Company]] (1930)</ref>

Hood died at age 53 due to arthritis<ref>{{Cite web|title=Raymond Hood Dies; Was Noted Architect|work=The Evening Sun |date=August 14, 1934 |page=8 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58253202/obituary-for-raymond-hood-aged-53|access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> and was interred at [[Sleepy Hollow Cemetery]] in [[Sleepy Hollow, New York]].

==Influence==
Hood's buildings were featured in works by Georgia O'Keeffe (''[[New York skyscrapers (O'Keeffe)|Radiator Building—Night, New York]],'' 1927), [[Diego Rivera]] (''Frozen Assets,'' 1931), and [[Berenice Abbott]] (''McGraw-Hill Building'', 1936; ''Fortieth Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue'', 1938), and [[Samuel Gottscho]] (''Rockefeller Center and RCA Building from 515 Madison Ave'', 1933).<ref name=":0" />

==Works==

=== Built works ===
* John Green Residence, New York, NY, 1920; alteration to an existing apartment building
* [[Mori (New York City restaurant)|Mori]], New York, NY, 1920; Hood designed a new facade for a restaurant that had opened in 1883<ref name="nytimes11-04-90">{{cite news |title=Streetscapes: The Bleecker Street Cinema; The 'Lost' Frescoes of an Artist-Soldier |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/04/realestate/streetscapes-the-bleecker-street-cinema-the-lost-frescoes-of-an-artist-soldier.html |first=Christopher |last=Gray |author-link=Christopher Gray (architectural historian) |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 4, 1990 |access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref>
* St. Vincent de Paul Asylum, [[Tarrytown, New York|Tarrytown]], NY, 1924; with [[J. André Fouilhoux]]
* [[Tribune Tower]], Chicago, IL, 1924
* Raymond Hood House, Stamford, CT, 1924
* [[American Radiator Building]], New York, NY, 1924
* Bethany Union Church, Chicago, IL, 1926
* [[Ocean Forest Country Club]], [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina|Myrtle Beach]], SC, 1926-1927
* McCormick Mausoleum, [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]], IL, 1927<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leuthold|first=Bill|title=The Architecture of Raymond M. Hood|publisher=The University of Florida|date=May 1978}}</ref>
* William R. Morris House, Greenwich, CT, 1927
* 711 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 1927<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=February 18, 2010|title=Where the Orchestras Played and the Mice Presided|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/realestate/21streets.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* 3 East 84th Street, New York, NY, 1928; with [[John Mead Howells]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=November 12, 1995|title=Streetscapes: 3 East 84th Street;An Art Deco Precursor of the Daily News Building|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/12/realestate/streetscapes-3-east-84th-street-an-art-deco-precursor-of-the-daily-news-building.html|access-date=August 5, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[Ideal House, London|Ideal House]], London, UK, 1929
* [[Daily News Building]], New York, NY, 1929
* [[Scranton Cultural Center|Masonic Temple]], [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]], PA, 1929
* [[Beaux-Arts Apartments]], 307 and 310 East 44th Street, New York, NY, 1930<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|title=Beaux-Arts Apartments, 307 East 44th Street|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1668.pdf|date=July 11, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |title=Beaux-Arts Apartments, 310 East 44th Street|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1669.pdf|date=July 11, 1989}}</ref>
* [[DuPont Building]]; [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]], DE, 1930; additions with [[Frederick A. Godley|Godley]] and Fouilhoux
* Joseph Patterson Residence, Ossining, NY, 1930; with Fouilhoux
* [[Rockefeller Center]], New York, NY, 1933–1937; where Hood was a senior architect on the [[Construction of Rockefeller Center#Associated Architects|Associated Architects]]
* Rex Cole Showrooms, [[Bay Ridge, Brooklyn|Bay Ridge]] and [[Flushing, Queens|Flushing]], NY, 1931; with Godley and Fouilhoux
* [[330 West 42nd Street|McGraw-Hill Building]], New York, NY, 1931

=== Unbuilt works ===

* Pawtucket City Hall, [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island|Pawtucket, RI]], 1911
*Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI, 1916
*[[Providence County Courthouse|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, New York|New City, NY]], 1929; competition 
*[[Girard College]] Chapel, Philadelphia, PA, 1930; competition<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hood|first=Raymond M. (Raymond Mathewson)|url=http://archive.org/details/raymondmhood0000hood|title=Raymond M. Hood|date=1931|publisher=New York; London : Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.|others=Internet Archive}}</ref> 
<gallery class="center" mode="nolines">
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|[[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, London|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|[[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|[[330 West 42nd Street|McGraw-Hill Building]]
</gallery>

==Exhibitions==
In 1984, the [[Whitney Museum of American Art|Whitney Museum]] hosted an exhibition of Hood's work entitled "City of Towers." Curated by [[Carol Willis (architectural historian)|Carol Willis]], the exhibit featured Hood's sketches and blueprints.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=January 3, 1984|title=RAYMOND HOOD AND HIS VISIONS OF SKYSCRAPERS (Published 1984)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/03/arts/raymond-hood-and-his-visions-of-skyscrapers.html|access-date=March 8, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

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.<ref name="BellGallery">{{cite web |title=Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper, September 11, 2020 - December 18, 2020 |url=https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/arts/bell-gallery/exhibitions/raymond-hood-and-american-skyscraper |website=David Winton Bell Gallery |publisher=Brown University |access-date=February 6, 2021 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* [https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/arts/bell-gallery/sites/brown.edu.campus-life.arts.bell-gallery/files/publications/DWBG_Hood_Catalogue_Web.pdf Duval, Jonathan and Dietrich Neumann, ''Raymond Hood and the American Skyscraper''. Providence, RI: Bell Gallery, Brown University, 2020.]
*[[Kenneth Frampton|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]]. {{ISBN|1135799431}}
** 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==
{{commons category|Raymond Hood}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Raymond Hood |sopt=t}}
* [https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/3460621 Raymond M. Hood architectural drawings and papers, circa 1890-1944].[http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery/da.html Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives], [http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery.html/ Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University].
* [http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/hood/index.html The Raymond Hood Photograph Collection] at the New-York Historical Society

{{Authority control}}

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