During the span of the nineteenth century, there were many architects who made a large impact in American history; one being Henry Hobson Richardson. Richardson was born in Louisiana at the Priestly Plantation on September 29, 1838. However, he only had lived a short life, dying at the age of 47 and being able to dedicate 21 years to his career as an architect. Richardson is one of the most well known and important architects of his time in 19th century America, being responsible for half of the top ten choices when “American Architect and Building News” took a poll. Being so popular and inspirational to other architects, his style later became known as “Richardsonian Romanesque”. When he was older, he attended Harvard University in Boston first aiming towards becoming a civil engineer until he decided to become an architect. Richardson later went to Paris to attend an architectural university called École des Beaux Arts. Because of the civil war, his family didn't have the resources to back him anymore so he wasn't able to finish his training. He was, however, the second American to attend École des Beaux Arts, leading the way for many more Americans to later train there. After he returned to America, he went on to designing a large amount of buildings that became important to the American culture in the 1800s.
Citations
"Henry Hobson Richardson." Famous Architects. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2009.
"Henry Hobson Richardson." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2009.
