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RaymondHoodWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

RaymondHood
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

RaymondMathewsonHood(March29,1881August14,1934)wasanAmericanarchitectwho
workedintheArtDecostyle.

RaymondHood

Contents
1
2
3
4
5

Lifeandcareer
Infiction
Selectedworks
References
Externallinks

Lifeandcareer
HoodwasborninPawtucket,RhodeIsland,andattendedBrownUniversitybeforeenrollingatMIT.
Asapostgraduate,HoodworkedasadraftsmanatthearchitecturefirmCram,Goodhueand
FergusoninBoston.HewasacceptedintothecoledesBeauxArtsin1911andearnedadegree.[1]
In1922,NewYorkarchitectJohnMeadHowells,whohadmethimattheEcoledesBeauxArts,
invitedHoodtobecomehispartnerintheChicagoTribunebuildingcompetitioninwhichHowells
hadbeeninvitedtocompete.ThedesignsubmittedbyHowellsandHoodwonthecompetition,and
Hood,41,becometoutedasoneofNewYork'sbestarchitects.[2]
Hooddidnotconsiderhimselfanartist,butsawhimselfas"manufacturingshelter",[2]writing:

Born

29March1881
Pawtucket,RhodeIsland

Died

14August1934(aged53)
Stamford,Connecticut

Nationality American
Almamater BrownUniversity,MIT,coledes
BeauxArts
Occupation Architect
Buildings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Hood

TribuneTower,GEBuilding,New
YorkDailyNewsBuilding
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Therehasbeenentirelytoomuchtalkaboutthecollaborationofarchitect,
painterandsculptornowadays,thecollaboratorsarethearchitects,the
engineer,andtheplumber....Buildingsareconstructedforcertain
purposes,andthebuildingsoftodayaremorepractical,fromthestandpoint
ofthemanwhoisinthemthantheolderbuildings....Weareconsidering
effortandconveniencemuchmorethanappearanceoreffect.[3]
Hood'sdesigntheorywasalignedwiththatoftheBauhaus,inthathevaluedutilityas
beauty:
Beautyisutility,developedinamannertowhichtheeyeisaccustomedby
habit,insofarasthisdevelopmentdoesnotdetractfromitsqualityof
usefullness.[4]
Despitethispaentoutility,Hood'sdesignsfeaturednonutilitarianaspectssuchasroof
gardens,polychromy,andArtDecoornamentation.AsmuchasHoodmightinsistthat
hisdesignswerelargelydeterminedbythepracticalitiesofzoninglawsandthe
restraintsofeconomics,eachofhismajorbuildingsweredifferentenoughtosuggest
thatHood'sdesignartistrywasasignificantfactorinthefinalresult.[2]

TheTribuneTowerin
Chicago

TheDailyNewsBuildingin
Manhattan,renderingbyHugh
Ferriss

WhileastudentatthecoledesBeauxArts,HoodmetJohnMeadHowells,withwhom
helaterpartnered.HoodfrequentlyemployedarchitecturalsculptorRenePaul
Chambellanbothforarchitecturalsculpturesforhisbuildingandtomakeplasticine
modelsofhisprojects.Hoodisbelievedtohavecoinedtheterm"ArchitectureoftheNight"ina1930pamphletpublishedbyGeneralElectric.[5]
Hooddiedatage53andwasinterredatSleepyHollowCemeteryinSleepyHollow,NewYork.

Infiction

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FrankHeynick[6]hasarguedfromastudyofthejournalnotesofAynRandmadeinthelate1930s
andofincidentsinher1943novelTheFountainhead,thatRaymondHood'scareerandworks
providedfodderforherfictionalarchitectPeterKeating.ThismajorfigureinTheFountainhead
epitomizedthe"secondhander"whoinstarkoppositiontotheuncompromisingandinnovative
heroofthenovel,HowardRoark,andexemplifiedinreallifebyFrankLloydWright,whomRand
idolizedadaptstheclassicistandhistoricistOldWorldarchitecturalstylestothenewAmerican
mediumoftheskyscraper,andthengoesontoadoptmodernismassoonasthisbecomessafely
fashionable.CertainspecificincidentsinthefictionalKeating'scareerarepointedtobyHeynickas
havingbeendrawnfromHood'sreallifecareer,suchastheirbothsuddenlygainingnationalfameby
winningthehighlypublicizedskyscrapercontestforamediacorporationintheearly1920switha
designinthehistoriciststyle,andtheirbothheadingthecommitteefora"modernistic"World'sFair
inthe1930sfromwhichtheheroarchitect(HowardRoarkinthenovel,FrankLloydWrightinreal
life)wasexcluded.[6]

Theunmarkedmountainlaurelgravesiteof
RaymondHoodinSleepyHollowCemetery

Nevertheless,withregardtoRockefellerCenter,ofwhichHoodwasthechiefdesigner,Rand,
despiteherearliernegativecommentsinherjournals,wassubsequentlycitedashavingsomegood
wordsfortheRCABuilding.Moreintriguingly,asHeynickpointsout,Randisquotedina1943newspaperinterviewasreferringtoHood'sMcGraw
HillBuildingasthemostbeautifulinNewYork,thus,apparently,seeingHoodinadifferentlight.This,Heynickargues,wasjustlyso.Rand'screating
ofthenegativefictionalcharacterofPeterKeatingrequiredhertodrawexclusivelyuponthenegativeaspectsofHood'scareerassheperceivedit.But
particularlywithreferencetotheArtDecomodeastylewhichgoesunmentionedinRand'snovelHoodinfactshowedhiscreativeversatilityin
designingtwoDecoskyscraperssoradicallydistinctfromoneanotherastheRCABuildingandtheMcGrawHillBuilding.[6]

Selectedworks
TribuneTower,Chicago,Illinois1924
AmericanRadiatorBuilding,alsoknownastheAmericanStandardBuilding,Manhattan,NewYorkCity1924
OceanForestCountryClub,MyrtleBeach,SouthCarolina19261927
NewYorkDailyNewsBuildingManhattan,NewYorkCity1929
MasonicTemple,Scranton,Pennsylvania1930
RockefellerCenter,Manhattan,NewYorkCity,whereHoodwasaseniorarchitectonalargedesignteam.193337
McGrawHillBuilding,Manhattan,NewYorkCity1931

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Hood

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Notes
1.Baughman,JudithS.,ed.(1996).AmericanDecades:19201929.NewYork:GaleResearch.pp.1801.ISBN9780810357242.
2.Robins,AnthonyW.(September11,1979)."McGrawHillBuildingDesignationReport"(PDF).NewYorkLandmarksPreservationCommission.
3.Woolf,S.J."AnArchitectHailstheRuleofReasonDesignthatisgroundedinmaterialandfunctionillmakebuildingsmorebeautiful,saysRaymondHood"
NewYorkTimesMagazine(November1,1931)quotedinRobins,AnthonyW."McGrawHillBuildingDesignationReport"
(http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/79MCGRAWHILL.pdf)NewYorkLandmarksPreservationCommission(September11,1979)
4.Griswold,J.B."NineYearsAgo,RaymondMHoodWasBehindinhisRent...Todayheholdsthespotlightasamastershomanofstoneandsteel"American
Magazine(October1931)p.145,quotedinRobins,AnthonyW."McGrawHillBuildingDesignationReport"
(http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/79MCGRAWHILL.pdf)NewYorkLandmarksPreservationCommission(September11,1979)
5."ArchitectureoftheNight"(https://archive.org/stream/ArchitectureOfTheNightASeriesOfArticlesPublishedByTheGeneral/CCA48009#page/n5/mode/2up)General
ElectricCompany(1930)
6.Heynick,Frank."PeterKeatingdesignedRockefellerCenter?"(http://www.theatlasphere.com/columns/090907heynickrockefeller.php)onTheAtlaspherewebsite
(September7,2009)

Bibliography
Frampton,Kenneth."Storiadell'ArchitetturaModerna"4aedizione,Zanichelli
Gargiani,Roberto.RemKoolhaas/Oma.GrandiOpereGliArchitetti,editoriLaterza
Hood,RaymondM.(1931)ContemporaryAmericanArchitects:RaymondM.Hood.NewYork:WhittleseyHouse,McGrawHill.ISBN
1135799431
FeaturesalargecollectionofphotographsofHood'sworks.
Kilham,WalterH.(1973).RaymondHood,ArchitectFormThroughFunctionintheAmericanSkyscraper.ArchitecturalBookPublishingCo
Inc,NewYork.
Kvaran,EinarEinarsson.ArchitecturalSculptureofAmerica.unpublishedmanuscript

Externallinks
WorksbyoraboutRaymondHood(https://archive.org/search.php?

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mediarelatedtoRaymond
Hood.

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Hood%2C%20Raymond%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Raymond%20Hood%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Raymond%20Hood%22%20OR%20
description%3A%22Hood%2C%20Raymond%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Raymond%20Hood%22%29%20OR%20%28%221881
1934%22%20AND%20Hood%29%29%20AND%20%28mediatype:software%29)atInternetArchive
TheRaymondHoodPhotographCollection(http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/hood/index.html)attheNewYorkHistoricalSociety
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Categories: 1881births 1934deaths PeoplefromPawtucket,RhodeIsland Americanarchitects ArchitectsfromRhodeIsland
ArchitectsfromNewYorkCity ArtDecoarchitects BrownUniversityalumni AmericanalumniofthecoledesBeauxArts
BurialsatSleepyHollowCemetery
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