| William
Van Alen was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1883. While he attended Pratt
Institute in Brooklyn, he worked in the office of Clarence True. He also
worked for several firms in New York, before he won the 1908 Lloyd Warren
Fellowship which allowed him to study in Europe. In Paris, Van Alen studied
in the atelier of Victor Laloux at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
In 1911,
Van Alen returned to New York, where he formed a partnership with H. Craig
Severance. The partnership became known for its distinctive multistory
commercial structures which abandoned the historic formula of base, shaft,
and capital. The partnership dissolved around 1925 and Van Alen continued
to practice on his own in New York.
Van Alen
is best known for his design of the Chrysler Building, often praised as
the greatest example of Art Deco style skyscrapers and the perfect monument
to American capitalism. Although the Chrysler Building is now highly regarded,
his career suffered after its completion due to accusactions made against
him by the powerful client, William P. Chrysler. He died in 1954.
Adolf K Placzek. Macmillan Encyclopedia
of Architects. Vol. 1. London: The Free Press, 1982. ISBN 0-02-925000-5.
NA40.M25. |
William Van
Alen
and his wife at the 1931
Beaux-Arts-Ball at which
leading architects dressed up
as their own buildings. |
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