James Ingo Freed (19302005)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

James Ingo Freed (19302005) Dates of Interview: December 1, 2, 3, 1997 Location of Interview: Freed's office in New York City Interviewer: Betty J. Blum Length of Transcript: 138 pages View Online Biographical Summary James Freed was born in 1930 in Essen, Germany. He was evacuated to Chicago in 1939, where he was later joined by his parents. He studied architecture under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology, receiving his B.Arch. in 1953. After working with Mies on the Seagram building in New York City, he joined the office of I.M. Pei (now Pei Cobb Freed) in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, Freed served as Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at IIT. During the 1970s, he joined the "Chicago Seven," a diverse group of architects who held a series of influential exhibitions and symposia to encourage new approaches to architecture in Chicago. Freed was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1977. He died in New York City in 2005. Interview Highlights Freed speaks about his early memories in Europe; coming to America and settling in Chicago; studying with Mies at the Illinois Institute of Technology; joining I.M. Pei in New York; why he did not suceed as Dean of Architecture at IIT; joining the Chicago Seven; exhibiting with the Chicago Seven; the New York Five, reflections on Mies and his impact on Freed's work. Townhouse, "Exquisite Corpse" exhibition, Walter Kelley Gallery, Chicago, 1977. Townhouse, "Exquisite Corpse" exhibition, Walter Kelley Gallery, Chicago, 1977. Interview Excerpt "Mies is always difficult to talk about for me. The problem that I saw at IIT is that we were to be like monks. It was like an order. What Mies did is that he thought of it as a war for saving our souls or the battle for the saving of architecture. Late in his life he once said, "I've showed them how to do it. I am winning the war for architecture." Why he thought of it in terms of war, I don't know. It took me a long, long time to understand that Mies's battle was with ideas. I had to go back and look at the early work of the Bauhaus. I felt at some point I had to do that because I was not catching someone in an off-guard moment, I was catching someone who had been fully formed by the whole history of the modern movement... Mies was a man who did not give ground easily. He was a man who had about four buildings that he tried to make into icons of his time. These four buildings were always done the same way, until you realized that he changed the printing on them and he changed the way they were perceived. But they were always the same. I realized that there were four buildings. Finally, he got everyone to believe that these were really important buildings. And they were." (pp. 11-12) Additional Resources Related archival materials in the R&B Archives Funding for this oral history was provided by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Additional funding for the electronic presentation of this transcript was provided by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council..

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Jewish Dimensions in Modern Visual Culture: Antisemitism, Assimilation, Affirmation
Fairfield University DigitalCommons@Fairfield History Faculty Book Gallery History Department 2009 Jewish Dimensions in Modern Visual Culture: Antisemitism, Assimilation, Affirmation Rose-Carol Washton Long Matthew Baigell Milly Heyd Gavriel D. Rosenfeld Fairfield University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/history-books Copyright 2009 Brandeis University Press Content archived her with permission from the copyright holder. Recommended Citation Washton Long, Rose-Carol; Baigell, Matthew; Heyd, Milly; and Rosenfeld, Gavriel D., "Jewish Dimensions in Modern Visual Culture: Antisemitism, Assimilation, Affirmation" (2009). History Faculty Book Gallery. 14. https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/history-books/14 This item has been accepted for inclusion in DigitalCommons@Fairfield by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Fairfield. It is brought to you by DigitalCommons@Fairfield with permission from the rights- holder(s) and is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 12 Gavriel D. Rosenfeld Postwar Jewish Architecture and the Memory of the Holocaust When Daniel Libeskind was named in early 2003 as the mas- ter planner in charge of redeveloping the former World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, most observers saw it as a personal triumph that tes- tifi ed to his newfound status as one of the world’s most respected architects.
[Show full text]
School of Architecture 2010–2011
BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY Periodicals postage paid New Haven ct 06520-8227 New Haven, Connecticut School of Architecture 2010–2011 School of Architecture 2010–2011 BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY Series 106 Number 4 June 30, 2010 BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY Series 106 Number 4 June 30, 2010 (USPS 078-500) The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, is published seventeen times a year (one time in May and October; three times in June and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and a∞rmatively and September; four times in July; five times in August) by Yale University, 2 Whitney seeks to attract to its faculty, sta≠, and student body qualified persons of diverse back- Avenue, New Haven CT 0651o. Periodicals postage paid at New Haven, Connecticut. grounds. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against Postmaster: Send address changes to Bulletin of Yale University, any individual on account of that individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, PO Box 208227, New Haven CT 06520-8227 status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era, or other covered veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation Managing Editor: Linda Koch Lorimer or gender identity or expression. Editor: Lesley K. Baier University policy is committed to a∞rmative action under law in employment of PO Box 208230, New Haven CT 06520-8230 women, minority group members, individuals with disabilities, special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, and other covered veterans.
[Show full text]
Architecture Program Report 7 September 2015
ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM REPORT FOR THE NATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL ACCREDITATION BOARD 7 SEPTEMBER 2015 THE IRWIN S. CHANIN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE THE COOPER UNION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART NADER TEHRANI, DEAN ELIZABETH O’DONNELL, ASSOCIATE DEAN The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union Architecture Program Report September 2015 The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Architecture Program Report for 2016 NAAB Visit for Continuing Accreditation Bachelor of Architecture (160 credits) Year of the Previous Visit: 2010 Current Term of Accreditation: From the VTR dated July 27, 2010 “The accreditation term is effective January 1, 2010. The Program is scheduled for its next accreditation visit in 2016.” Submitted to: The National Architectural Accrediting Board Date: 7 September 2015 The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union Architecture Program Report September 2015 Program Administrator: Nader Tehrani, Dean and Professor Chief administrator for the academic unit in which the Program is located: Nader Tehrani, Dean and Professor Chief Academic Officer of the Institution: NA President of the Institution: William Mea, Acting President Individual submitting the Architecture Program Report: Nader Tehrani, Dean and Professor Name of individual to whom questions should be directed: Elizabeth O’Donnell, Associate Dean and Professor (proportional-time) The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union Architecture Program Report September 2015 Section Page Section 1. Program Description I.1.1 History and Mission I.1.2 Learning Culture I.1.3 Social Equity I.1.4 Defining Perspectives I.1.5 Long Range Planning I.1.6 Assessment Section 2.
[Show full text]
NEA Chronology Final
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS 1965 2000 A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS President Johnson signs the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, establishing the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, on September 29, 1965. Foreword he National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act The thirty-five year public investment in the arts has paid tremen Twas passed by Congress and signed into law by President dous dividends. Since 1965, the Endowment has awarded more Johnson in 1965. It states, “While no government can call a great than 111,000 grants to arts organizations and artists in all 50 states artist or scholar into existence, it is necessary and appropriate for and the six U.S. jurisdictions. The number of state and jurisdic the Federal Government to help create and sustain not only a tional arts agencies has grown from 5 to 56. Local arts agencies climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and now number over 4,000 – up from 400. Nonprofit theaters have inquiry, but also the material conditions facilitating the release of grown from 56 to 340, symphony orchestras have nearly doubled this creative talent.” On September 29 of that year, the National in number from 980 to 1,800, opera companies have multiplied Endowment for the Arts – a new public agency dedicated to from 27 to 113, and now there are 18 times as many dance com strengthening the artistic life of this country – was created. panies as there were in 1965.
[Show full text]
The 150 Favorite Pieces of American Architecture
The 150 favorite pieces of American architecture, according to the public poll “America’s Favorite Architecture” conducted by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Harris Interactive, are as follows. For more details on the winners, visit www.aia150.org. Rank Building Architect 1 Empire State Building - New York City William Lamb, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon 2 The White House - Washington, D.C. James Hoban 3 Washington National Cathedral - Washington, D.C. George F. Bodley and Henry Vaughan, FAIA 4 Thomas Jefferson Memorial - Washington D.C. John Russell Pope, FAIA 5 Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco Irving F. Morrow and Gertrude C. Morrow 6 U.S. Capitol - Washington, D.C. William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter FAIA, Montgomery C. Meigs 7 Lincoln Memorial - Washington, D.C. Henry Bacon, FAIA 8 Biltmore Estate (Vanderbilt Residence) - Asheville, NC Richard Morris Hunt, FAIA 9 Chrysler Building - New York City William Van Alen, FAIA 10 Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Washington, D.C. Maya Lin with Cooper-Lecky Partnership 11 St. Patrick’s Cathedral - New York City James Renwick, FAIA 12 Washington Monument - Washington, D.C. Robert Mills 13 Grand Central Station - New York City Reed and Stern; Warren and Wetmore 14 The Gateway Arch - St. Louis Eero Saarinen, FAIA 15 Supreme Court of the United States - Washington, D.C. Cass Gilbert, FAIA 16 St. Regis Hotel - New York City Trowbridge & Livingston 17 Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York City Calvert Vaux, FAIA; McKim, Mead & White; Richard Morris Hunt, FAIA; Kevin Roche, FAIA; John Dinkeloo, FAIA 18 Hotel Del Coronado - San Diego James Reid, FAIA 19 World Trade Center - New York City Minoru Yamasaki, FAIA; Antonio Brittiochi; Emery Roth & Sons 20 Brooklyn Bridge - New York City John Augustus Roebling 21 Philadelphia City Hall - Philadelphia John McArthur Jr., FAIA 22 Bellagio Hotel and Casino - Las Vegas Deruyter Butler; Atlandia Design 23 Cathedral of St.
[Show full text]
Oral History Interview with Keith Sonnier, 2009 September 22- October 20
Oral history interview with Keith Sonnier, 2009 September 22- October 20 Funding for this interview was provided by the U.S. General Services Administration, Design Excellence and the Arts. Contact Information Reference Department Archives of American Art Smithsonian Institution Washington. D.C. 20560 www.aaa.si.edu/askus Transcript Preface The following oral history transcript is the result of a recorded interview with Keith Sonnier on 2009 September 22 – 2010 January 19. The interview took place at Sonnier's studio in New York, NY and was conducted by Avis Berman for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. This interview is part of the Archives of American Art's U.S. General Services Administration, Design Excellence and the Arts oral history project. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability by the Archives of American Art. The reader should bear in mind that they are reading a transcript of spoken, rather than written, prose. Interview AVIS BERMAN: This is Avis Berman interviewing Keith Sonnier for the Archives of American Art, GSA Oral History Project on September 22, 2009, in his studio in New York City. And I start the same way with everyone. Would you please state your full name and date of birth? KEITH SONNIER: My name is Keith Sonnier. Actually born James Keith Sonnier. Born in 1941, 31st of July. AVIS BERMAN: Okay. When did you stop using your first name? KEITH SONNIER: I always used my middle name. I don't know why, but I just always did. AVIS BERMAN: Mm-hmm. [Affirmative.] KEITH SONNIER: I have two other brothers and we all have middle names and first names.
[Show full text]
Download Issue
(L The Best in Scholarship from Cambridae The Idea of Europe From Antiquity to the European Union ~1~~ Anthony Pogden, Editor Thisbook addresses the questionof whatit means,and has meant, to be "European," covering the period from Antiquity to the end of the ~~I twentieth century. ~~~~W~~~I Woodrow Wilson Center Press Series Copublished with the Woodrow Wilson Center 0-521-79171-5, Hardback, $65.00 0-521-79552-4. Paperback. $23.00 O)lii) ~I Second Metropolis Pragmatic Pluralism in Gilclecl Age Chicago, Q%~) Silver Age Moscow, and Meiji Osalta BlairA.Ruble By comparing North America's, Russia's, and Japan's "second cities"-- Chicago, Moscow, and Osaka--Second Merl-opol~sdiscloses the extent to which social fragmentation, frequently viewed as an obstacle to democratic development, actually fostered a "pragmatic pluralism" that nurtured pluralistic public policies. Woodrow Wilson Center Press Series 0-521-80179-6 Hardback 835.00 Books in the Woodvow Wilson Centev Press Series ave available to Woodvow Wilson Associates at a 20% discount. s~ · ·ru ~s~:cclla: Booksfor Insightand Understanding ;:~he P~~ed~States 2 nnd ~i:at~ ( 1~~000~ ~l)gnniggii(~~ TheUnited States and Originsof Terrorism RogueStates and Pclkiston,1947-2000 I'1~·,~~~,~·i~··'n,~~'~~···?s,~,,~~, U,S,Foreign Policy Diro,c-l~n,~tctl .-i Ilies C~,~,tni~l,ilc~~,clfie~·,l~e C~,ltl 1·I~1,· DennisKux editedby Wolter Reich RobertS.Litwak ~,c·~~~~l;,,·cll,~onl(,)~CI~ll,c·~· Lngl,clc~· "A nlust-rcnd for anyone who "l~aises the I-i$]lt qllcstions "l'ul-suels] the patholo~n~ of seeks to ~lnderstand the comples I·egarding;l tl-uly complrs anci terrorisln throug]l tile cencurics U.S.-l'akistan relatiollship." yet vrl-y timely sul?ject." ...A f~scinating amount of --AmbassadorThomas 1~.
[Show full text]
Nature Versus Culture: Lower Manhattan Land Art by Charles Simonds, Walter De Maria, and Alan Sonfist Farrar Fitzgerald CUNY City College
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Master's Theses City College of New York 2017 Nature Versus Culture: Lower Manhattan Land Art by Charles Simonds, Walter De Maria, and Alan Sonfist Farrar Fitzgerald CUNY City College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Follow this and additional works at: http://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses Part of the Museum Studies Commons Recommended Citation Fitzgerald, Farrar, "Nature Versus Culture: Lower Manhattan Land Art by Charles Simonds, Walter De Maria, and Alan Sonfist" (2017). CUNY Academic Works. http://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/689 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the City College of New York at CUNY Academic Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of CUNY Academic Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Nature Versus Culture: Lower Manhattan Land Art by Charles Simonds, Walter De Maria, and Alan Sonfist Farrar Fitzgerald Adviser: Professor Ellen Handy May 2017 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts of the City College of the City University of New York Table of Contents 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….…1 2. Ruinous Architecture, Charles Simonds’ Dwellings………..…….………………….….14 3. Displacing Culture, Walter De Maria’s New York Earth Room…………………………28 4. Too Natural, Alan Sonfist’s Time Landscape………………….………………………...41 5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….56 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………..59 Figures……………………………………………………………………………………65 i Introduction In the twilight of the postwar years’ economic boom and rapid urban transformation, three site-specific land art works were installed within blocks of each other in lower Manhattan (fig.
[Show full text]
2012Architecture.Pdf
NEWS RELEASE American Academy of Arts and Letters Contact: Cody Upton 633 WEST 155 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10032 [email protected] www.artsandletters.org (212) 368-5900 THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS ANNOUNCES 2012 ARCHITECTURE AWARD WINNERS New York, March 20, 2012 — The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the recipients of its 2012 architecture awards. The Academy’s architecture awards program began in 1955 with the inauguration of the annual Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, which is awarded to a preeminent architect from any country who has made a significant contribution to architecture as an art. In 1991, the Academy began giving Arts and Letters Awards (formerly called Academy Awards) to honor American architects whose work is characterized by a strong personal direction. An additional award category was created in 2003 to honor an American from any field who has contributed to ideas in architecture through any medium of expression. The Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture Kathryn Gustafson of $5000 recognizes an architect of any nationality who has Seattle, Washington made a significant contribution to architecture as an art. London, England Three Arts and Letters Awards of $7500 each recognize Marlon Blackwell American architects whose work is characterized by a strong Fayetteville, Arkansas personal direction. Elizabeth Gray & Alan Organschi New Haven, Connecticut Michael Maltzan Los Angeles, California One Arts and Letters Awards of $7500 recognizes an Hilary Ballon American who explores ideas in architecture through any New York, New York medium of expression. The winners were chosen from a group of 40 individuals and practices nominated by the members of the Academy.
[Show full text]
Ejournals @ Oklahoma State University Library
The Architecture of Ethics: Stanley Tigerman Emmanuel Petit Chicago-born Jewish architect Stanley Tigerman wouldn’t mind to be portrayed as a sort of freethinker and even libertine of the architectural discipline while, paradoxically, constructing himself as the defender of ethics in architecture. He is somebody who insists that what architects do with physical architecture is important but that ultimately the architecture of the ‘here and now’ is a mere scaffold to support ideas that exceed the sphere of art and that lie beyond the expressive possibilities of architecture. Philosophy has institutionalized a series of major figures—the positive philosophers—who constitute the foundation of the field as we have come to define it: Plato, Kant, Hegel, and the like; but it also draws its vitality from their dialectic counter-parts: the anti-philosophers—Socrates, Kierkegaard, Bataille—i.e. those thinkers, who don’t play by the rules, and who (some would claim) have no business being counted as a part of the discipline of philosophy. These anti-philosophers, however, He Wanted are indispensable to making philosophy move. If to become an given the choice, Tigerman would certainly side “ with the anti-philosophers ... constructing himself architect when he as a sort of anti-architect, who cannot leave the discipline because it is what fuels his resistance— read Ayn rand’s the resistance to all these fantasies of perfection, fountainhead. it synthesis and performance—of “do-good-ism” made him furious! in the world. He insists that he wanted to become an architect when he read Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. ” It made him furious! If your hope is to save the world, build the largest shelter for homeless people, like Stanley did with his Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, or found a school for socially responsible and environmentally conscious design (like he did with Eva Maddox when they founded Archeworks in Chicago in 1994).
[Show full text]
University Village
Landmarks Preservation Commission November 18, 2008, Designation List 407 LP-2300 UNIVERSITY VILLAGE, 100 and 110 Bleecker Street (aka Silver Towers I & II, 98-122 Bleecker Street and 40-58 West Houston Street) and 505 LaGuardia Place (aka 487-507 LaGuardia Place and 64-86 West Houston Street). Built 1964-67; I. M. Pei & Associates, architect; James Ingo Freed, chief designer. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan, Block 524, Lot 1 and Lot 66, in part, beginning at the southwest corner of Lot 1 and extending northerly along the western property line of Lot 1 coincident with the easterly side of LaGuardia Place 248 feet; then easterly along a section of the northern property line of Lot 1 that runs parallel to Bleecker Street 124 feet; then northerly 130.18 feet along a section of the western property line of Lot 1 that parallels LaGuardia Place; then easterly along the northern property line of Lot 1 and a section of the northern property line of Lot 66 coincident with the southerly side of Bleecker Street 302.24 feet; then southerly and parallel to Mercer Street 336.52 feet; then easterly and parallel with West Houston Street 9.92 feet; then southerly and parallel with Mercer Street to the southern property line of Lot 66; then westerly along a section of the southern property line of Lot 66 and the southern property line of Lot 1 coincident with the northerly side of West Houston Street 437.35 feet to the point of beginning. On June 24, 2008 the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of University Village and the proposed designation of the related Landmark site.
[Show full text]
A Course of Lectures on Translation Theory and Practice for Institutes and Departments of International Relations)
Guennadi E. Miram, Valentina V. Daineko, Lyubov A. Taranukha, Marina V. Gryschenko Aleksandr M. Gon BASIC TRANSLATION (a course of lectures on translation theory and practice for institutes and departments of international relations) PART I Edited by Nina Breshko Kyiv-2001 Language for Special Purpose Series PREFACE When a language is taught to students of non-linguistic specialties - so-called Language for Special Purpose (LSP) - this fact is usually taken into account by the authors of language manuals and results in special manuals either intended for a particular profession (for example, English for Law Students) or covering a range of similar occupations (e. g., Technical English, Financial English, etc.). As a rule, LSP Manuals focus students attention on peculiar professional vocabulary and phrasing, comprise training text materials pertaining to particular profession and explain grammar rules and stylistic patterns conspicuous for certain professional speech variety. Also, LSP Manuals include numerous translation exercises involving texts of specific professional orientation. Although translation is part and parcel of any LSP Manual, however, with several rare exceptions (e. g., Military Translation Manual by L. Nelyubin et al.) there are no translation manuals specifically intended for students of non- linguistic specialties and this Manual is an attempt to fill the gap. We think that there are several reasons that might justify our venture. First and most of all, translation is an effective tool that assists in matching language communication patterns of the speakers of different languages in a specific professional field, especially such communication-dependent one as international relations. This aspect of translation teaching becomes even more important under the language development situation typical of New Independent States such as Ukraine.
[Show full text]

James Ingo Freed (1930­2005)

James Ingo Freed (19302005)