Cret, Paul Philippe, 1876-1945

Paul Philippe Cret (1876-1945) was born in Lyon, France. École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1903. Professor, University of Pennsylvania, and architect in Philadelphia, 1903-1937. Major works include Indianapolis Public Library, 1914-1917; Delaware River Bridge, Philadelphia, 1920-1926; Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, 1928-1932; Federal Reserve Board Building, Washington, 1935-1937.

Cret was a French-born architect of the Beaux-Arts school who practiced primarily in the United States, with an office in Philadelphia. He was also a professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He became a U.S. citizen in 1927.

Architect, artist.

In July 1919, the Detroit City Charter established the Detroit Institute of Arts as a municipal department to be administered by a four-member Arts Commission. As one of its first priorities, the Arts Commission took up the task of planning a new museum on a previously acquired property on Woodward Avenue. Paul Philippe Cret (1876-1945), a Philadelphia architect, was appointed consulting architect in November 1919 and architect in 1921. A native of Lyons, France, Cret was trained at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts and Atelier Pascal in Paris. His major works before the Institute project, the Pan American Union Building in Washington, D.C. and the Indianapolis Public Library, had launched his career as a major architect in the United States. At the time of his appointment as museum architect, Cret became associated with the firm of Zantzinger, Borie and Medary, though he remained the primary designer of the museum building. Before proceeding to preliminary drawings, Cret studied the literature and analyzed museum functions in terms of planning and design. A Preliminary Report on Plans For The New Museum was submitted to the Arts Commission on January 20, 1920 followed by a second Report on Plans (which accompanied the presentation of drawings). Ground was broken on the Institute project on June 22, 1922, and construction continued for approximately five years. The building was dedicated and opened to the public on October 7, 1927. In recognition of the excellence of his work, Cret was awarded the Medal of Honor of The Architectural League of New York (1928) for The Detroit Institute of Arts.

Paul Phillippe Cret was born in Lyons, France on October 23, 1876, and educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyons and Paris. He came to the U.S. in the early 1900s, and enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a ScD. in 1913. He continued his education and received an M.A. from Brown University in 1929 and a Doctor of Arts from Harvard in 1940. He served as a professor of design at the University of Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1937 and, through the firm he also headed, was responsible for the design of many prestigious buildings throughout the U.S. and the world. He died in Philadelphia on September 8, 1945.

Architect; Philadelphia, Pa. Born in France. Architect of Folger Shakespeare Library, Detroit Institute of Arts.

Cret was born in Lyons, France, and educated at the École des Beaux-Arts, in Lyons and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He cam to the U.S. some time afterward, and earned an ScD. at the University of Pennsylvania (1913), an M.A. from Brown University (1929), and a Dr.Arts from Harvard (1940). He served as a professor of design at the University of Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1937 while heading a firm which was responsible for the design of many important buildings throughout the U.S. and the world.

Born in Lyon, France in 1876, Paul Cret attended the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1897-1903. Upon graduation, he accepted a teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania where he taught until retiring in 1937. During his tenure as a professor in design, the architectural program enjoyed a nationwide reputation for excellence.

Cret established a successful practice in Philadelphia specializing in the design of public buildings. His firm was particularly adept at garnering commissions through architectural competitions. Among such commissions were the Pan-American Union Building (1907-1917) in Washington, DC and the Indianapolis Public Library (1914-1917). His designs represent the height of the Beaux-Arts movement in the United States, characterized by the symmetrical, axially disposed plans with elevations articulated by historicist detailing derived from antiquity and the Renaissance. This style was found appropriate to monumental public buildings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Cret was a master with Beaux-Arts principles of design, but his true genius was in his ability to synthesize this style with the new modernist values.

Cret's most productive years were between 1919-1930. He received commissions for war memorials and bridges, such as the Delaware River Bridge (1920-1926). In 1928 he joined the planning commission for Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition of 1933. It was the public buildings, most notably the Detroit Institute of Arts (1919-1927) with its innovative galleries designed in styles appropriate to the art on display that established Cret as one of America's foremost architects.

In 1930, Cret was retained by the University of Texas as consulting architect for the development of a master plan for the Austin campus. By 1931 the creation of the Permanent University Fund, based on oil income for state lands allowed the University to begin construction on the buildings that were, up to that time, ideas on paper. During the next fifteen years, Cret continued his comprehensive building design for the University of Texas' Austin campus. Cret died in 1945, but his firm, which changed its name to Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson, continued his work, focusing on the completion of the buildings facing the south mall. The firm is known today as H2L2 Architects/Planners.

-Lila Knight

Paul Cret was born in Lyon, France and studied at the Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. In 1903, the School of Fine Arts of the University of Pennsylvania offered him the position of Professor of Design. He was the dominant force in architectural education there until is retirement in 1937, and he had a profound impact on an entire generation of American architects. He employed many of his students in his own firm, and four of his students (John F. Harbeson, William J.H. Hough, William Henry Livingston, Sr., and Roy Frank Larson) became full partners. They continued the firm on Cret's death as Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson, later known as H2L2.

Cret had an important national practice and designed major museums, libraries, government buildings, academic buildings, monuments, bridges, and city and campus plans. In and near Philadelphia, he designed the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Washington Memorial Arch at Valley Forge, the Barnes Foundation, the Rodin Museum, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and the Federal Reserve Bank among other buildings, monuments, bridges, and planning projects. Major projects beyond Philadelphia include the Pan American Union (Washington, DC), Indianapolis Public Library, Detroit Museum of Arts, Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, DC), Federal Reserve Board Building (Washington, DC), University of Texas at Austin, and monuments in Europe for the American Battle Monuments Commission and the Pennsylvania Battle Monuments Commission.

Paul Cret was born in Lyon, France and studied at the Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. In 1903, the School of Fine Arts of the University of Pennsylvania offered him the position of Professor of Design. He was the dominant force in architectural education there until is retirement in 1937, and he had a profound impact on an entire generation of American architects. He employed many of his students in his own firm, and four of his students (John F. Harbeson, William J.H. Hough, William Henry Livingston, Sr., and Roy Frank Larson) became full partners. They continued the firm on Cret's death as Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson, later known as H2L2.

This collection comprises a reference file on topics related to architectural design and construction, maintained by the office of Paul Philippe Cret and continued by his successor firm Harbeson Hough Livingston and Larson (later H2L2). That firm donated the file to the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1969. The collection was transfered to the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania in 2005.

Philadelphia architect who specialized in the design of public buildings.

Born in Lyon, France in 1876, attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1897-1903), taught at the University of Pennsylvania (1903-1937), retained by the University of Texas at Austin as a consulting architect for the development of a master plan for the campus (1930-1945).