"The rendering is a means to an end; the end is architecture."

January 6, 2008 2:53 AM

Hugh Ferriss: Delineator of Gotham. Through his charcoal renderings of dramatic, imaginary skyscrapers in early 1900s New York City, Ferriss influenced the aesthetics of numerous architects with his bold compositions.
posted by Blazecock Pileon (12 comments total)

Wow, nice post, Blazecok Pileon. the Hugh Ferris work is fabulous in and of itself, but I am really digging on the awards and the AIP site - although I wish AIP allowed for enlarging the thumbnails and had links to some of the artists and firms, grrr. There are more award galleries, both for this year and for prior years - lovely stuff, thank you.
posted by madamjujujive at 5:41 AM on January 6

Apartments on Bridges is the winner for me. I want to live there.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:19 AM on January 6

Brilliant! I can see alot of Metropolis in these drawings. I wish that there actually was a gleaming stalagtite-skyscraper dedicated to the study of philosophy...
posted by Spacelegoman at 6:32 AM on January 6

awesome post, Blazecock Pileon. I like this work in progress. So inspiring.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 6:47 AM on January 6

Beautiful work, I really enjoyed that.

Not all those buildings are imaginary. on the flickr set, there's a drawing of Union Terminal in Cincinnati, or something very similar.
posted by Mcable at 7:42 AM on January 6

These are beautiful! Thanks so much!
posted by honest knave at 7:46 AM on January 6

Wonderful post Blazecock. Didn't know about Hugh Ferriss. Astonishing how much impact and how many people he influenced with his marvelous futuristic art deco vision. I had no idea. And what amazes me is how many emotions he evokes with his dramatic black and white drawings. They're so atmospheric. He has a flair for drama, as if each of the drawings has a sound track or were a still in a movie.

So many places, views and renowned aspects of NYC come to mind looking at his great drawings, like the inside of Grand Central Station, Lincoln Center, the big library on 42nd Street, Rockefeller Center, the UN building, the Flatiron building, the World Trade Center. Gee, most of the city and with the art deco aspect lots of train stations of other countries too.

What a delightful eye opener. Thank BP.
posted by nickyskye at 8:08 AM on January 6

Flat-out awesome. That flickr set also had a Ferriss drawing of Taliesin West which is now my favorite rendering of that place.
posted by notsnot at 8:33 AM on January 6

I love the blend of art deco and streamline moderne. The drawings remind me of Albert Speer, but less totalitarian and evil.
posted by StrangeTikiGod at 11:27 AM on January 6

Thanks for this. He's like a 20th century Piranesi.
posted by Termite at 12:53 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

It's unfortunate he didn't devote some of his attention to parking garages. Have to put all those cars somewhere. Fantastic drawings but I find it difficult to ignore the desolate and unfriendly cities that were the usual result of these sorts of ideas actually being put into practice. Thanks for the post BP.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 4:34 PM on January 6

It's amazing how some of those drawings remind me a lot of actual buildings: UN Building, Lincoln Center, Post Office on Lexington Ave & 44th St, Building on Treasure Island which was to be the original SF Airport, Times Square, SF Bay Bridge (Umm). It's a pity the flickr set doesn't have more information, like descriptions.

And who wouldn't like to be so influential that even their doodles are considered noteworthy?
posted by CG at 2:45 AM on January 7