Paul Gunther

A message from our President, Paul Gunther

On May 1, our co-founder, intellectual sparkplug, and moral conscience, Henry Hope Reed Jr. passed peacefully in his Manhattan home at the age of 97, with his cherished nephew Andy beside him.

We pledge to honor his memory with redoubled commitment to our core educational mission.

Meanwhile, picture this in fond remembrance:

JULY 7, 1955, Capitol Hill, Washington DC

Testimony before the House Appropriations Committee of the 84^th Congress over the 1956 Department of Defense allocation.

Subject:  Initial plans for an Air Force Academy to be sited in Colorado Springs.

Cast:  Henry Hope Reed and Frank Lloyd Wright — first Henry then Frank, allied in their conviction that America deserved better than the first banal SOM design proposal.

Surely this important symbol of American pride — one set in such a magnificent place — deserved better. And it deserved some house of worship or other communal anchor of shared values.

Henry’s transcript says it best:

“In the creation of a United States Air Force Academy the Government I believe is not taking advantage of a great opportunity to assert the tradition of building magnificently with the aid of all the arts.  By so doing, all Americans gain the opportunity to reaffirm their patriotism in a visual form—an opportunity that this Government has offered them up until now.”

Their joint efforts prevailed and the renowned chapel emerged therefore.

Such a debate continues today especially amidst tight budgets, but the spirit of Henry’s words stand the test of time.

Not all agree that a building without ornament in this 21^st century is like a night sky without stars, as Henry liked to admonish.

Yet we all do believe that the possibility and the ability to place stars in the sky should endure through a contemporary synthesis of imagination and skill.  That is the Institute’s purpose: Tradition is innovation that has succeeded.

Henry, along with Arthur Ross, founded in 1982 the annual Arthur Ross Awards for Excellence in the Classical Tradition, when the first architect winner was Philip Trammell Shutze just six months before that great Atlanta master’s death.

It was especially appropriate therefore to celebrate Henry at the 32^nd presentation last week, when the five Ross Laureates and the Board of Directors’ honoree Richard Cameron took center stage as each so heartily merited.

They are:
Architecture: Fairfax & Sammons Architects, New York

Anne Fairfax & Richard Sammons

Artisanship: Miriam Ellner, New York, New York

Paul Gunther with Miriam Ellner

Artisanship: Timothy Richards, Bath, England

Timothy Richards

Board of Directors Honor: Richard Cameron, Brooklyn, New York

Richard Cameron, Alexa Aron, and Peter Francis

Interior Design: Thomas Jayne, New York, New York

Father Stephen Gerth, Thomas Jayne, and Lt. Col. Timothy Adams

Patronage: Jonathan Nelson, Providence, Rhode Island

Jonathan and Judy Nelson

This roster of winners personifies the essential trinity of good design and building excellence: practitioner, artisan, and patron.

It is this mutual engagement that makes the Arthur Ross Awards so dense and lively in full measure of Arthur and Henry’s great expectations.

I thank the 2013 jurors: chair Barbara Eberlein of the Philadelphia Chapter; Robert Baird, Utah Chapter; Kate Brodsky and Melissa del Vecchio of New York; Coby Everdell of San Francisco and the Northern California Chapter; John Margolis from Boston and the New England Chapter; Scott Merrill of Vero Beach, Florida; and board directors Peter Pennoyer and Barbara Sallick.

Finally, a request: ICAA seeks tax-deductible gifts made in Henry’s honor, above all in order to allow Columbia’s Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library to complete the digitization and cataloging of his personal papers and unique archives of contemporary classicism of the last three generations. As was his decision, that is where this unique resource will reside with due permanent promise.  In addition, proceeds from our request today will assist the faculty of our Beaux-Arts Atelier as it prepares for its third year next fall.

Click here to donate online in Henry’s honor and indicate its memorial intent directly, or call Kathleen Maloney at (212) 730-9646, ext. 106. We will publish a memorial donor honor roll in The Classicist No. 11, which its editor Steven Semes is framing to include a scholarly examination of Mr. Reed’s example.

{Photos by Mia McDonald.}

By Christine G. H. Franck

As America’s oldest city St. Augustine celebrated the 500^th Anniversary of the exploration of Florida by Juan Ponce de León, the ICAA Florida Chapter held its second annual jury for the Addison Mizner Medal for Excellence in Classical and Traditional Architecture.

I was honored to join one of my mentors, Thomas Gordon Smith, an architect, scholar, and professor who in 1989 established the program in classical architecture at Notre Dame. We were both thrilled to have Semyon Mikhailovsky come all the way from St. Petersburg, Russia for the jury. An artist himself, he is currently Rector of the St. Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, which was founded in 1757 and to this day offers education in classical art, sculpture, and architecture. Over a fine repast at the Casa Monica on our first evening we remarked upon how our three respective institutions, the St. Petersburg Academy, Notre Dame, and the ICAA, when taken together, reflect the longevity and vitality of the classical tradition.

We would see that vitality on full display as our jury spent more than six hours reviewing all the submissions. But before we got to down to work on Saturday, we enjoyed a tour the chapter arranged of some of the treasures of St. Augustine.

Gathered in the Plaza de la Constitucion we enjoyed an insightful orientation lecture from Paul Weaver of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. Hosting us on this tour were ICAA Florida Chapter President, David Case; ICAA Florida Chapter trustee and Addison Mizner Medal Committee Chairman, Téofilo Victoria; ICAA Florida Chapter trustees, Cliff Duch and Joe Cronk; architect and professor, Rafael Fornés; and ICAA Florida Chapter State Coordinator, Lane Jeter Manis.

After an overview of St. Augustine’s history, urban plan, and some of its architectural highlights, we left the shade of the Spanish-moss-covered trees to walk westward on King Street for a visit to Carrère and Hastings’ brilliant Ponce de Léon Hotel, now Flagler College. Shortly after completing their studies at the École des Beaux-Arts, John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings were commissioned for their first major commission by tycoon Henry Flagler. He wanted a grand hotel in St. Augustine for the influx of wintering northerners he expected as he improved and built railway connections in eastern Florida.

An exclusive hotel with masterpieces at every turn, such as Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows and evocative murals painted by George W. Maynard, it is astounding that construction began on the hotel in 1885 and was completed by 1887. By blending Spanish Renaissance, picturesque elements, and axially symmetrical planning, and traditional materials like coquina used as aggregate in unreinforced poured concrete walls, Carrère and Hastings created a modern classical building filled with delight.

A highlight of our visit, which began in the courtyard by the sparkling fountain, was when Flagler College President, Dr. William T. Abare, Jr., stopped by to meet our group. We were very impressed by his commitment to the preservation of their architectural heritage and his understanding that it greatly enhances his students’ experience.

In collaboration with Flagler College, the University of Florida has developed the Carrère & Hastings Digital Collection. Formed “through a Saving St. Augustine’s Architectural Treasures project grant to conserve and digitally preserve an irreplaceable collection of the earliest architectural drawings of [Carrère and Hastings]. Created for Henry Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida, these drawings had been “lost” for decades. The few people who knew of their existence were unaware of their historical significance. Stored in a basement boiler room under high Florida temperatures and humidity, and exposed to insects and rodents, this treasure trove remained unknown and endangered until its rediscovery in 2004.”

Though our visit was leisurely, with so much to see in the building, I never felt like I had enough time there. But another Carrère & Hastings masterpiece awaited us. Constructed in 1890, Carrère and Hastings’ Memorial Presbyterian Church, also commissioned by Flagler, is a creative blend of motifs reminiscent of Venice. Walking into the church, I found myself thinking that Carrère and Hastings must have been having fun applying “lively mental energy,” as Thomas Gordon Smith often quotes Vitruvius. On our way out, I paused a moment at Flagler’s tomb to contemplate the impact a patron and his architects can have.

Convening after lunch in the landmark building, 24 Cathedral Place, home to offices of Cronk Duch Architects, our jury settled in to review a diverse and impressive array of awards’ submissions. I can’t reveal the winners yet, but our jury discussions were intense, philosophical, and detailed. The quality of all submissions was high, making our deliberations difficult. After making our final decisions and looking back at the projects selected for recognition, we were pleased with the array and unanimously felt that it reflected the depth and breadth of contemporary classicism.

After bidding farewell to my fellow jurors, I paused to reflect on the weekend. The ICAA Florida Chapter is dynamic, as all ICAA chapters are. The work we juried was from talented contemporary classicists, as it is in the Bulfinch, Shutze, Staub, and White Awards. Taken together, this all signals yet another step forward toward excellence in the life of the ICAA and the classical tradition.

I join my fellow jurors in offering resounding congratulations to all entrants and winners on work very well done and our heartfelt appreciation to the ICAA Florida Chapter for an inspiring and delightful weekend.

Paul Gunther

A message from our President, Paul Gunther

I am pleased to announce the advent both online and in situ of the Institute’s Library. It is the collective result of generous foresight on the part of so many ICAA stalwarts over these first 20 years sharing a commitment to the printed book alongside the sort of Wen catalog that brings the collection to bear in contemporary discourse. It is located in the Henry Hope Reed Classroom just as Mr. Reed heralds his 98th year. There are so many contributors but Seth Weine, Taylor Harbison, and Henry himself merit particular praise.

I attach here the permanent link created by our cherished colleague, Nora Reilly, who has served as our founding librarian and catalog architect as she completes her Master in Library Science at Queens College CUNY. Her work leads the way to scope and access. A further introduction to the library and its services, which will find a permanent home on the ICAA website in the next week, can be found here. Please take advantage and spread the word. Appointments for use can be arranged with due facility; we do so while also sustaining a central role in safeguarding accumulated knowledge as originally conceived in line with our mission’s founding principles.

I also commend John Flower of Flower Construction and Zepsa Industries for contributing so abundantly to the library’s beautiful build-out designed by Richard Cameron and Andy Taylor in accordance with the underlying blueprint conceived now eight years ago by Gary Brewer and his fellow volunteer architects at Robert A. M. Stern. Tom Jayne’s contributing paint palate sealed it.

With our limited resources and with the generous support of donors like you at all levels, we endeavor constantly to advance our public service to the classical tradition.

Please know that with the budding advent of The Classicist No. 11, Steven Semes, Associate Professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Notre Dame, has accepted the consulting post of its Editor following as he does in the esteemed footsteps of Dr. Richard John, who is now completing issue No. 10 for publication later this year. We hope you agree that a multiplicity of viewpoints is what is called for in the Institute’s varied educational efforts.

We welcome to the national staff Kathleen Maloney as Development & Membership Associate, who will be working with David Ludwig in sustaining and expanding the national network that has proved so essential to our overall impact and well being. Make sure to introduce yourself when next coming by.

Finally I call last-minute attention to the imminent celebration the 32nd annual Arthur Ross Awards for Excellence in the Classical Tradition on May 6 at New York’s landmark University Club. To learn more, including the proud roster of laureates, visit classicist.org.

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In anticipation of its future, permanent home on the ICAA website, please take a moment to peruse the ICAA Library’s About and Research Services pages below. Here you’ll find information on how to visit and access the library, and here is the link to the catalog where you can search by keyword, title, author, etc..

[Of particular interest may be to search using the phrase "Taylor Harbison", to view books and monographs on European drawings and paintings, and "Seth Weine", to view the books that cherished ICAA Fellow and Instructor has selected for our students over the years.]

Paul Gunther

A message from our President, Paul Gunther

The ICAA Web site now includes a benefit for members in search of skilled applicants. Find the link to the Professional Job Board on our home page and proceed as described. It is straightforward and worthy. Note that it is for prospective employers who send requisite details to jobs@classicist.org. We make the postings available accordingly to those in the market looking for assignments that meet their experience and aspirations. And we offer this service with gratitude and allegiance to the demands of contemporary practice across disciplines nationwide. I commend my colleagues David Ludwig and Kelly Price for this initiative. If there are any questions about its purpose and function, they are, as always, at your call.

Likewise the Professional Directory on the Web site is a global service to prospective clients and colleagues who rely on the Institute as a resource for excellence in design, construction, art, and craft as all called for by our constituents and those looking our way for guidance. It is visited by many tens of thousands monthly. Make sure that those belonging there take due advantage.

Also, we hope to see you on Monday, May 6 for the 32^nd annual Arthur Ross Awards for Excellence in the Classical Tradition. Reserve today as space still allows in honor of the very deserving slate of 2013 laureates. The national jury did a fine job indeed and I thank them.

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One brisk New York winter’s eve I skipped into the Century Association, thrilled that the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art had arranged a visit to see Charles Platt’s book collection. His scrapbooks, with shiny photographs lining black pages, were the highlight. In awed silence I imagined Platt studying them as he designed his own projects. Designers need access to good precedents, yet one cannot always dash off to study buildings and places in person. It is with that in mind that I have assembled and shared my Architectural Image Database.

Over the past year I have scanned my collection of architectural photographs and, along with my digital images, uploaded them all to Flickr. They are now available for design professionals, educators, authors, students, and anyone seeking such references. While the collection is limited by the extent of my own travels and interests, it does capture buildings and landscapes across Canada, the United States, Jamaica, Barbados, England, Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, and Tunisia in over 12,800 images.

The photographs are arranged into thematic collections including locations, building types and architectural, landscape, and interior details. There are also special collections for Classical architecture and museums. Within each collection, you will find sets of photographs for specific cities, buildings, elements such as windows and doors, specific orders like the Ionic, ornament, and more.  Generally things are arranged alphabetically, though sometimes I have chosen to arrange them in what I hope is an intuitive manner.

Each image is tagged with information such as location, building name, architect and, if applicable, the type of building or architectural element. Some images have detailed information and links to further resources. You may explore the collection by browsing through the collections and sets, or by searching. As I add more tags, you will be able to search quite specifically.

Please feel free to share this resource widely, for surely the more we have access to good lessons of design, the more we will improve our built environment.

Paul Gunther

On behalf of the remarkable national jury working with Fellows coordinator Seth Weine, I can announce today that the winners by category are as outlined below:

ARCHITECTURE
Fairfax & Sammons Architects, New York and Palm Beach

ARTISANSHIP
Miriam Ellner, New York

ARTISANSHIP
Timothy Richards, Bath, England

INTERIOR DESIGN
Thomas Jayne, New York

PATRONAGE
Jonathan Nelson, Providence

BOARD OF DIRECTORS HONOR
Richard Cameron, New York

The 2013 Ross Jury chair, Barbara Eberlein, Interior Designer, author and president of the Philadelphia Chapter summed it up well: “Our team marveled at the quality and breadth of the entries which explored and expressed the ideals of classicism in architecture, landscape architecture, craftsmanship, artisanship and, for the first time, interior design. There were also important additions to our body of knowledge in history, research and publishing. We were particularly impressed by the notable accomplishments in stewardship and patronage; without these champions, our built environment would not enjoy such beauty and integrity.”

She was joined on the national jury by Robert Baird, Kate Brodsky, Melissa del Vecchio, Coby Everdell, John Margolis, Scott Merrill, Peter Pennoyer, and Barbara Sallick.

The ICAA is grateful that the new and overdue category of interior design was affirmed with the selection of Tom Jayne whose example on multiple fronts fits the bill ideally. A true harbinger of recognition in a central arena of contemporary classical design excellence. The process also reminded one and all for the essential need to recruit nominations from throughout the chapter network so that regional achievement becomes evermore part of the countrywide conversation.

For more information or to purchase tickets to the 2013 Arthur Ross Awards, call David Ludwig at (212) 730-9646, ext. 104.

Take a moment to review the full array of February programs and plan to participate accordingly. Special note can be paid to the complementary regional awards initiatives both under way and taking shape; two more chapter opportunities are poised for announcement soon.

Finally I welcome to the board of directors the renowned interior, fixture, and furniture designer Alexa Hampton, whose candidacy was affirmed at the recent trustee meeting. We welcome her leadership example and look forward to many years of service to the vibrant constituency you exemplify.

Calder Loth

by Calder Loth
Senior Architectural Historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Member of the Institute of Classical Classical Architecture & Art‘s Advisory Council.

Dedicated in 306 A.D., the Baths of Diocletian survive as Rome’s only relatively intact ancient bath structure. Its main space, the vast vaulted frigidarium,[i] was preserved by conversion to a church under the direction of Michelangelo in 1563-64.[ii] A distinctive feature of the frigidarium is the series of huge windows along the upper tier of its side walls. (Figure 1) The window form consists of a large semi-circular arch divided into three sections by two thick vertical mullions.[iii] Because of their association with this structure, windows in this configuration are termed Diocletian windows, but we also describe them as thermal windows from thermae, the Latin word for warm bath. The windows’ brick construction was originally veneered with stone moldings and decorations of which only fragments remain in situ. Nevertheless, the form appealed to Renaissance architects who popularized it through treatises and projects. As we see in the following survey, architects have interpreted and applied the Diocletian window in a variety of ways over the past four and a half centuries.

Figure 1. The Baths of Diocletian, Rome (Loth)

Figure 2. Villa Foscari, Italy (Loth)

Andrea Palladio undertook detailed studies of Roman bath ruins with the intention of producing a book on the subject. His project never materialized but various features observed in the ruins found their way into several of Palladio’s designs.[iv] The Diocletian window appears in three of Palladio’s villa elevations published in Book II of I Quattro Libri (1570). Perhaps Palladio’s most prominent Diocletian window dominates the rear elevation of the ca. 1560 Villa Foscari, also known as La Malcontenta. (Figure 2) We have no published drawing of the rear; Palladio’s treatise illustrates only the villa’s portioced façade. Nevertheless, like the ancient prototype, the villa’s huge window is reduced to essentials. Its only ornament is the rustication joints scribed into the stucco.

Figure 3. San Moisè, Venice (Loth)

Palladio set a precedent for incorporating a Diocletian window into the façades of Venetian churches with his designs for San Francesco della Vigna (1566-70) and S. Maria della Presentazione, also known as Le Zitelle, (1577-80).  Palladio also incorporated Diocletian windows in the clerestory of Il Redentore (consecrated 1592). The tradition extended to several later Venetian churches including the façade added in 1688 by Alessandro Tremignon to the church of San Moisè, perhaps the most luscious Baroque façade in Venice. (Figure 3) Though hardly small, the Diocletian window above the entrance is almost overwhelmed by its Baroque encrustations. The window itself is set well back from the heavily decorated arch and mullions. With its sculptures by Heinrich Meyring, the façade is a monument to the Fini family, its patrons.

Figure 4. Gibbs Building, King’s College Cambridge: James Gibbs, A Book of Architecture (1728), plate 34.

In 1724, architect James Gibbs received the commission to design a complex of buildings for the front court of King’s College, Cambridge. Of the three massive structures in Gibbs’s scheme only the West Range, built 1724-31, was realized. For the central pavilions of each front, Gibbs proposed a broad Diocletian window atop a Doric aedicule framing the entrance arch. (Figure 4) This composition closely followed Palladio’s final design for the Villa Pisani at Bagnolo shown in Book II of I Quattro Libri.[v]  As illustrated in Gibbs’s A Book of Architecture (1728), Gibbs intended the pediment slopes of the King’s building to be adorned with statues of reclining scholars in the manner of the figures on Michelangelo’s Medici tombs. The sculptures were never realized. Gibbs proposed a similar combination Diocletian window and portico for Whitton Place, Middlesex, but his design was rejected in favor of a design by Roger Morris.[vi]

Figure 5. Chiswick, London (Loth)

Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, was the primary leader of England’s 18th-century Anglo-Palladian movement. His passion for the architecture of Andrea Palladio and his contemporaries inspired his design for his villa at Chiswick. (Figure 5) Completed in 1729, the compact structure exhibited in its forms and details Lord Burlington’s broad knowledge of Palladian architecture. Burlington crowned his house with an octagonal dome prominently fitted with Diocletian windows on its four main faces. The use of this motif was likely inspired by one of Palladio’s early schemes for the Villa Pisani at Bagnolo, the drawing for which was among Burlington’s large collection of original Palladian drawings. (Figure 6) The stair and inset Palladian window in the drawing are features also reflected in Chiswick.

Figure 6. Andrea Palladio, Preliminary design for the Villa Pisani at Bagnolo; pen and brown ink drawing, ca. 1542. (Royal Institute of British Architects)

Figure 7. Mount Clare, Baltimore (Loth)

The lunette in the pediment of Baltimore’s Mount Clare is among America’s very rare Colonial-era versions of the Diocletian window. (Figure 7) Unlike the more standard half-circle examples, Mount Clare’s window is a shallow segment supported with the requisite pair of vertical mullions to give it the thermal form. The voids between the mullions are backed with small window panes. Mount Clare was erected in 1760 as a villa with an extensive park and terraced garden for Charles Carroll, a prominent Maryland patriot. As seen in the illustration, the house walls are laid in header bond, a characteristic feature of the finest colonial Maryland dwellings.

Figure 8. Faneuil Hall, Boston (Loth)

The Diocletian window enjoyed increased though limited popularity during the Early Republic. Boston architect Charles Bulfinch installed them in a handful of his buildings, including his 1805 expansion of the 1742 Faneuil Hall in the heart of Boston. (Figure 8) Bulfinch’s remodeling  involved increasing the original three-bay façade to seven bays and adding the tall third story. To accent the resulting vast pediment, Bulfinch inserted a Diocletian window flanked by two circular windows. Bulfinch gave prominence to the somewhat diminutive Diocletian window by framing it in a broad curved architrave, a trick he used in other designs and one that works effectively in this prodigious structure.

Figure 9. Former Bourse, St. Petersburg, Russia (Loth)

Architect Thomas de Thomon used the Diocletian window with dramatic flair in the attic gable of the St. Petersburg Bourse (Stock Exchange), a monumental landmark on the prow of Vlasilyevsky’s Island, across the Neva from the Winter Palace. (Figure 9) A multiplicity of thin voussoirs forming the arch gives the window the effect of a radiant sun rising from the portico. Partly hiding it, however, is S. Sukhanov’s sculpture group of Neptune with Two Rivers.  Surrounding the building is a peristyle of forty-two unfluted Greek Doric columns, an echo of Paestum. The strategically sited structure served as the center of financial and trade operations for Imperial Russia. Since 1940, the building has housed the Central Naval Museum.

Figure 10. Imperial Stables and Carriage House, Pushkin, Russia (Loth)

We see a more lighthearted use of Diocletian windows on the Imperial stables in Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoye Selo), the suburban town of palaces and parks south of St. Petersburg. (Figure 10) Rendered in Russia’s virile Neoclassical style, the 1820 stable complex was designed by Vasily Stasov and Smaragd Shustov. Here a series of windows punctuates the façade of the stable courtyard. Setting off each window is a thick, plain lintel painted white to contrast with the tan stucco. The curved lintels reflect the semi-circular plan of the courtyard. The battered doorway and keystone focus attention on the center window. Vasily Stasov is best known as the architect of the Winter Palace staterooms, rebuilt after the fire of 1837.

Figure 11. Fireproof Building, Charleston, South Carolina (Loth)

Architect Robert Mills incorporated a Diocletian window in the Meeting Street elevation of the Fireproof Building, constructed 1820-27 as a state office building. (Figure 11) It quickly became known as the Fireproof Building because of its pioneering use of non-combustible materials to protect government records. Though he was a dedicated classicist, Mills used the Diocletian motif in only a few instances. His mentor, Thomas Jefferson, interestingly, applied the motif to none his buildings. In the Fireproof Building, Mills tied the window into a composition embracing the three-part window below. Accenting it is a decorative iron railing, giving a lightness to an otherwise visually solid structure.

Figure 12. Low Memorial Library, Columbia University, New York City (Loth)

The firm of McKim, Mead & White made use of the Diocletian window in a variety of forms in numerous projects. In two of the firm’s most monumental works: Pennsylvania Station (1906-10; demolished 1964) and Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library (1893-95), the widows were of such huge scale that they were divided by four vertical mullions rather than the more standard two. (Figure 12) The use of four mullions at Low Library may have been dictated by the fact that the mullions are metal rather than thick masonry.  Nevertheless, with the window panes set in Roman lattice, the broad composition has a gracefulness despite its size.

Figure 13. Bavarian State Chancellery, Munich, Germany (Loth)

The heavy classicism of Imperial Germany, known as the Wilhelmine style, is boldly exhibited in the central domed section of what is now the Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich. (Figure 13) At the base of the dome is a pedimented pavilion framing a rusticated Diocletian window, a weighty contrast to the window in the Natural History Museum shown below. Designed by Ludwig Mellinger, the building’s center section is all that remained of the 1905 Bavarian Army Museum following the Allied bombing in World War II.  The destroyed wings were rebuilt in 1992 in glassy greenhouse style to house the state legislature and government offices.

Figure 14. Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. (Loth)

The firm of Hornblower and Marshall provided our National Mall with a classic Diocletian window set in the open tympanum pediment of the Natural History Museum, built 1901-11. (Figure 14) The allusion to classical Antiquity is reinforced by the use of bronze Roman lattice in the openings. Executed in white granite, the window’s plain architrave frame and vertical mullions lend the composition a restrained monumentality. Below the window is a hexastyle colonnade employing the Corinthian order of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the three columns of which survive in the Roman Forum. The museum’s pediment and window is one of four identically treated pediments providing buttressing for the dome of this monument of the American Renaissance.

Figure 15. Memorial Gymnasium, University of Virginia, Charlottesville (Loth)

The ancient Roman baths provided excellent precedents for enormous formal enclosures such as railroad stations and gymnasiums. We see this in the University of Virginia’s Memorial Gymnasium, whose form was inspired by the Baths of Diocletian. (Figure 15) Completed in 1924, the design was the product of an architectural commission with Fiske Kimball, founder of the university’s school of architecture, serving as supervising architect. As with the Diocletian bath’s frigidarium, Memorial Gymnasium’s side elevations are composed of a series of gables supporting huge Diocletian windows. The gymnasium’s brick construction reflects the brick walls of the Roman baths, stripped of their stone veneers.

Figure 16. Brooks Brothers Store, Beverly Hills, California (Loth)

Although modern applications of the Diocletian window are rare, the form remains a useful one and can lend potency to a composition. Architect Allan Greenberg effectively applied the motif to the façade of the 1997 Tommy Hilfiger flagship store on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive, now the Brooks Brothers store. (Figure 16) The window’s allusion to the masculine camaraderie and physical fitness of the ancient baths was appropriate for a firm specializing in men’s haberdashery.  It is hoped that young architects specializing in classical architecture will, like Greenberg, appreciate the design potential of this powerful ancient window form and will regard it as a resource for 21st-century projects.