White, Stanford (1853–1906)

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An American architect with an eclectic style, Stanford White was a partner in the successful firm of McKim, Mead and White. White was originally intending to study painting, but was counseled to consider architecture. In 1872, after receiving a degree from New York University, he found work with the architectural practice of H. H. Richardson in Boston. Richardson had attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and his design process reflected that education. As an apprentice, White was exposed to Richardson’s Romanesque since Trinity Church was being constructed during his tenure in the firm. It was in Richardson’s office that he met his future partner, Charles Follon McKim. In 1878,
White traveled to Europe for a period of almost a year. Upon returning from Europe he joined McKim and Mead as a third partner, replacing the retiring William Bigelow. In a scandal that almost overshadowed his prolific architectural career, he was fatally shot at the age of fifty-three.

The following are a few of the projects for which he was the partner responsible; the Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, 1887, the New York Life Insurance Building, Omaha, Nebraska, 1890, Judson Memorial Church, Washington Square, 1888–1893, the Metropolitan Club built between 1892 and 1894, and Tiffany and Company in New York City, 1903–1906. Throughout his career, White designed numerous shingle style homes for the rich and famous. The precedent for his neoclassical architecture employed elements from the past, arbitrarily including Châteauesque, French provincial, Venetian, French and German Renaissance, in unique combinations and variations.

This example of a sketch by Stanford White is remarkably playful. Johann Huizinga and Hans-Georg Gadamer outline the philosophical aspects of play as having boundaries to sketch against, being representational, an all absorbing endeavor, conveying a method of learning and displaying a give and take of dialogue. Considering a definition of play, White found intelligibility in this image. He was quickly sketching the building’s form conceived in his mind’s eye while learning about the building in the process. As it emerged on the paper, he could visualize its potential. Play
also involves representation as White was imagining this project, he was seeing the building rather than the paper as a substitute (Wollheim, 1971). He was consciously accepting boundaries, never sketching anything other than the building, providing a ground plane and a sense of perspective. The verticals as possible columns on the porch have been sketched so quickly they have transformed from columns to resemble n’s and m’s. These lines seem to skip off the page in some instances and in other cases they appear continuous. This implies he could not stop long enough to lift the pencil off the page. As another aspect of play, White was engrossed in the action of the play, the dialogue of the ‘give and take.’ He could draw one line and it responded with another as his mind interacted with the image.
The sketch facilitating discourse shows a softer pencil lead over a first general outline. The latter demonstrative roof and balustrade are more forceful in an effort to obliterate the original roof expression. It is possible to surmise the areas of the design that most concerned him at the moment.

In a catalogue of projects by McKim, Mead and White, Leland Roth includes a project coordinated by White, the A. A. Pope Residence in Farmington, Connecticut. The building with its strong eave balustrade and taller central portion seems to strongly resemble this sketch by White. Roth indicates that the project was influenced by the Pope’s daughter Theodate who had architectural education and participated with the design. With this in mind, White’s sketch may also represent a mode of communication and discussion between two architects.