Richardson, Henry Hobson (1838–86). Influential and brilliantly gifted American architect. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts (1860–2), and worked in Paris under Labrouste's elder brother, Théodore (1799–1885), and then Hittorff, before returning the USA (1865). He entered into partnership with Charles Dexter Gambrill (1834–80—a former partner of Post), who acted mostly as business manager, leaving Richardson free to concentrate on design. With his Brattle Square (1870–2) and Trinity (1872–7) Churches, Boston, MA, he established his reputation as an architect of great power, scholarship, and originality. Trinity Church is an assured essay in freely treated Romanesque Revival, with a monumental crossingtower, apsidal chancel, and gritty exterior, clearly influenced by contemporary French round-arched churches such as St-Augustin, Paris, and the works of Vaudremer, but the massiveness and strength also suggest an influence from Burges, some of whose publications Richardson had in his collection. With the geometrical emphases inherent in using the semicircular arch, Richardson gradually moved towards evolving his own style, using rock-faced rustication to give added weight to his buildings, as in the 7-storey Marshall Field Wholesale Warehouse, Chicago, IL (1885–7— demolished 1930). Round-arched too was his Allegheny County Court House and Gaol (1883–8), the staircase of which was ingenious and thrilling in terms of spatial interpenetration. At the Gaol, the massive oversized voussoirs, clearly derived from Florentine precedents, suggested the Sublime. Richardson was also attracted to the Arts-and-Crafts movement, and designed many fine and original houses, some of which were in the Shingle style, but all were ingenious, beautifully crafted, and organized with great sensitivity to their sites, especially those on the New England coast. Among his best domestic buildings were the Watts Sherman House, Newport, RI (1874–5), the Paine House, Waltham, MA (1884–6), the Glessner House, Chicago (1885–7), and the Stoughton House, Cambridge, MA (1882–3). His work influenced McKim, Mead, & White, Root, and Sullivan, among others.

Bibliography

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