Vaux, Calvert
Vaux, Calvert (1824–95). London-born American architect and landscape-designer, he assisted A. J. Downing in laying out the grounds of the Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, and White House, Washington, DC (1850–2). He formed a short-lived partnership with Downing in 1851, and after the latter's death in 1852 he collected the partnership's designs for houses (some carried out with F. C. Withers), and published them (1857) as Villas and Cottages (prompted by Downing's successful pattern-books), and in the same year approached F. L. Olmsted to work with him to prepare an entry for the competition to design Central Park, NYC, which they won in 1858: their professional partnership was to last until 1872. Their plan, combining aspects of the English Picturesque style with ideas taken from Loudon and Paxton, and embracing ingenious segregation between vehicles and pedestrians, was very influential. Following this success, Vaux prepared further plans for landscapes (including Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NYC (1866–73) ), which introduced the concept of parkways and was assisted by the English-born Jacob Wrey Mould (1825–86), a pupil of Owen Jones. It was Mould who designed many of the architectural features in Vaux's parks, including the Ruskinian Gothic Terrace (1858–71) at Central Park. Vaux and Mould worked to-gether on designs for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1874–80) and the Museum of Natural History (1874–7), both in New York, but only part of each was realized. Although Vaux's greatest achievements were in the field of landscape-design, (e.g. the grounds of the Parliament Buildings, Ottowa, Canada (1873–9) ) he was an accomplished domestic architect. He designed the Gothic Revival Tilden House, NYC (1881–4), later the National Arts Club. His pupils included his son, Downing Vaux (1856–1926).
Bibliography
AAAB, Papers, v (1968), 69–106;
W. Alex (1994);
C. Cook (1972);
Francis (1980);
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vi/1 (Jan.–June1947), 1–12;
Placzek (1982);
Reed & and Duckworth (1967);
Roper (1973);
D. Schuyler & Censer (eds.) (1992);
Jane Turner (1972);
van Vynckt (ed.) (1993);
Vaux (1970)
More From encyclopedia.com
William Thornton , Thornton, William (1759–1828). Born in the British West Indies, he studied medicine at Edinburgh and became an American citizen in 1788. He designed… Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto , Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish architect, furniture designer and town planner. More broadly, he was a comp… Humphry Repton , Repton, Humphry
Repton, Humphry (1752–1818). Leading English landscape-designer after the death of ‘Capability’ Brown (1783). Repton responded to the… Marcel Breuer , The Hungarian-born American architect Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) was among the most influential architects and teachers of the 20th century. From his… Zaha Hadid , Hadid, Zaha
Architect
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, October 31, 1950; daughter of a politician/businessman. Education: Studied mathematics at the American U… Central Park , The first major public example of landscape architecture, Manhattan's Central Park remains the greatest illustration of the American park, a traditio…
About this article
Calvert Vaux
All Sources -
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Calvert Vaux