William Frederick Lamb (November 21, 1883 – September 8, 1952), was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, chiefly known as one of the principal designers of the Empire State Building.

Biography

Lamb joined the New York architecture firm

Carrère & Hastings Carrère (; oc, Carrèra) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ...

in 1911, shortly after returning from Paris, where he earned a diploma at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

. Lamb became a partner in 1920; the firm would be known as Shreve & Lamb from 1924 to 1929 and thereafter as

Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, founded as Shreve & Lamb, was an architectural firm, best known for designing the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1931. History The firm was founded in 1920 as ...

. Lamb's notable projects include the Empire State Building, the Standard Oil Building, 521 Fifth Avenue, the Forbes Magazine Building, and the General Motors Building in New York City; the Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Building in Washington, D.C.; and academic buildings for the Connecticut College for Women, Williams College, Cornell University, and Wesleyan University. In addition to his studies at the École des Beaux Arts, Lamb received a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1904 and did graduate work at the School of Architecture,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, from 1904 to 1906. Lamb received an honorary doctorate from Williams College in 1932; other honors include two gold medals from the Fifth Avenue Association (1930, 1931), a medal from the Architectural League of New York (1931), and a medal of honor from the New York Chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(1932). He was a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

, the Art Commission of the City of New York, the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City.U.S. Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...

from 1937 to 1945, including as vice chairman from 1941 to 1945.Thomas E. Luebke, ed., ''Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts'' (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 547. In 1942 he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1950. The firm also designed 521 Fifth Avenue, the Forbes Magazine Building, the Standard Oil Building, and the Bankers Trust Building and worked with H. Craig Severance on

40 Wall Street 40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau Street (Manhattan), Nassau and William Street (Manhattan), William streets in the Financial District, Manh ...

in New York. He also designed the

Reynolds Building The Reynolds Building is a Art Deco skyscraper at 51 E. 4th Street in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina with of space. It was completed in 1929 and has 21 floors. For much of its history the building served as headquarters for R. J. ...

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

He died in New York on September 8, 1952.

References

;Bibliography *Tauranac, John. ''The Empire State Building'', St. Martin's Griffin, New York (USA), , 1995; pp. 102–4.

External links

''Structurae''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, William Frederick 20th-century American architects 1883 births 1952 deaths Architects from New York City Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Williams College alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Empire State Building Skyscraper architects Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters