The 1882-1890 Building
Frederick C. Withers, an architect renowned for his use of Victorian High Gothic and Gothic Revival styles, designed the 1882-83 building. The Jefferson Market Courthouse in Greenwich Village and Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C., are other examples of his work. The picturesque reading room is an excellent example of work dating from the latter part of Withers' career. When Collis Huntington took over the library in 1890, a local architect, William Anderson, added the rear part of the reading room and the two-story residence above it. Although larger than the original structure, its materials and design detail match those of the earlier building. Today the library is surrounded by a green iron fence. Large chestnut trees shade the area. The 1882-83 building, with the 1890 addition, was designated a New York City landmark in 1994.
Read more about this topic: Huntington Free Library And Reading Room
Famous quotes containing the word building:
“A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People ask why we have no typical architecture of the modern world, like impressionism in painting. Surely it is obviously because we have not enough dogmas; we cannot bear to see anything in the sky that is solid and enduring, anything in the sky that does not change like the clouds of the sky.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)