Mewès, Charles Frédéric

Mewès, Charles Frédéric (1860–1914). French architect. Trained in Paris, he worked in an elegant Classical (often Louis Seize) style. He developed a large international practice from the 1890s, in association with architects in several countries. In England his colleague was Arthur J. Davis, who had worked with him in Paris. Mewès designed the Ritz Hotel in Paris (1898) and in 1900 the interiors of the Carlton Hotel, London, by Henry Louis Florence (1843–1916). Mewès & Davis designed the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly, London (1903–6), a steel-framed building with an elegant Frenchified façade and tall roofs reminiscent of the architecture of the Paris Boulevards. Other joint projects were the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall (1908–11), which has a façade reminiscent of Gabriel's work, and the Morning Post Building, Aldwych, Strand (1905–6). Mewès was responsible for the luxurious interiors of the German liners Amerika (1905), Kaiserin Auguste Victoria (1907–8), Imperator (1911–12), Vaterland (1913), and Bismarck (1914). He also designed the décor in the Cunard liner Aquitania (1914).

Bibliography

Arkansas (Boston, MA), xiv/5 (May 1907), 137–48;
A. S. Gray (1985);
Hamlin (1953);
MM&W (1989);
RIBA Journal (Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects), ser. 3, liv (Oct. 1947), 603–4;
Service (ed.) (1975)