Benno Janssen (March 12, 1874 – October 14, 1964) was an American architect.

Childhood, education and career

Benno Janssen was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Oscar Janssen and Thekla Susenbeth. Janssen studied at the University of Kansas. In 1899, he began working in architecture in Boston, Massachusetts. He also continued his studies at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

. In 1902, Janssen headed for Paris, France, and further studied 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 ...

. In 1905, he returned to the United States to work in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, for the architectural firm MacClure & Spahr. Janssen left that firm, along with

Franklin Abbott Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...

, to form their own partnership in 1906, Janssen & Abbott, which remained active until Abbott's retirement in 1918. Janssen next joined with

William York Cocken William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

in 1922, and together they started the architectural firm Janssen & Cocken.

Architectural work - commercial

He is best known for monumental buildings such as the Pittsburgh Athletic Association (1911), the

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

(1915 - now Alumni Hall of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

), William Penn Hotel (1916 and again in 1928), Mellon Institute (1937), the Longue Vue Club (1923), Rolling Rock Club and Stables (1928 - near Ligonier, Pennsylvania), the T.W. Phillips Gas & Oil Company ( Butler, Pennsylvania), the Keystone Athletic Club (1929 - now Lawrence Hall of Point Park University), and the Washington Crossing Bridge (Pittsburgh), also called the 40th Street Bridge (1924).

Architectural work - residential

Janssen also designed many fine residences, including the country estate of George Calvert (1912); the Lee L. Chandler House (1924) in Shadyside; Elm Court, the estate of B.D. Phillips in Butler, Pennsylvania (1929); as well as

Fox Chapel Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is an affluent suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown. The borough continually garners national prominence and is home to many of the wealthiest and most powerful ...

's Frank B. Ingersoll House (1931) and ''La Tourelle'', the

Edgar J. Kaufmann Edgar Jonas Kaufmann (November 1, 1885 – April 15, 1955) was an American businessman and philanthropist who owned and directed Kaufmann's , Kaufmann's Department Store, in Pittsburgh. He is also known for commissioning two modern architectural ...

house (1923). Janssen received many Kaufmann commissions over the years. The prevailing architectural motif of these Benno Janssen homes was a picturesquely irregular configuration of buildings rambling around a central courtyard. Other features these homes shared include: complex slate roofs with many gables, large groups of rectangular windows, rich oriel and bay windows, interesting chimney treatments, and intricately carved stone detailing. Many of Janssen's buildings also boast museum-quality wrought-iron by noted

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

artisan Samuel Yellin. Janssen collaborated with Yellin for 25 years, resulting in gracious iron details in his most important projects.

Personal life

Benno Janssen married Edith Patton, the daughter of Central Pennsylvania businessman and future State Senator Alexander Ennis Patton and Mary Boynton Dill, on December 28, 1889, in

Curwensville Curwensville is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Altoona on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Coal mining, tanning, and the manufacture of fire bricks were the industries at the turn of the 20th century. ...

, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. The Janssens were the parents of Mary Patton Janssen, Benno Janssen, Jr. and Alexander Patton Janssen. Janssen retired in 1939 and died in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...

, October 14, 1964.

Photo gallery of works

File:BuhlBuildingPittsburgh.jpg, Buhl Building at 204 Fifth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh (1913) File:KaufmannsStoreClockMacys.jpg, Kaufmann's department store in downtown Pittsburgh, designed by

Charles Bickel Charles A. Bickel (1852 – 1 February 1921) was a prominent architect practicing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bickel was born to a well-to-do family of Columbus, Ohio who sent him to Europe for six years to prepare him for a career in archit ...

in 1898, with an addition done by Janssen & Abbott in 1913 File:Rogers CAPA.jpg, Rogers School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Pittsburgh (1914) File:GeorgeJ.SchmittHouse.jpg,

George J. Schmitt House George J. Schmitt House located at 7120 Ohio River Boulevard in Ben Avon, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was built in 1916. The house, designed by Janssen & Abbott, was added to the List of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic ...

, designed by Janssen & Abbott (1916) File:William.Penn.Hotel.jpg, William Penn Hotel (1916 & 1928) File:Eberlyhallside.jpg, Alumni Hall (1921), now Eberly Hall at the University of Pittsburgh File:LongueVueClubandGolfCourse.jpg, Longue Vue Club (1923), in

Penn Hills Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Penn Hills is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 41,059 as of the 2020 census. Penn Hills is the second-largest municipality in Allegheny County, after Pittsburgh. History In 178 ...

. File:FortiethStreetBridge.jpg, Fortieth Street Bridge, Pittsburgh (1924) File:Bellefield Hall Pitt.JPG, The Y.M.H.A. (1926), now Bellefield Hall at the University of Pittsburgh File:WestinghouseAirBrakeCompanyGeneralOfficeBuilding.jpg, Westinghouse Air Brake Company General Office Building in Wilmerding, PA, designed by Frederick J. Osterling in 1890, with additional designs done by Janssen & Cocken in 1927 File:Lawrence Hall.jpg, Keystone Athletic Club (1929), now Lawrence Hall at Point Park University File:20th Century Club Pittsburgh.jpg, 20th Century Club (1930) File:FalkSchool.jpg, Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School building (1931) at the University of Pittsburgh

References

* *Family information courtesy of ''AnGenealogy'' by Angelynn Jane Rainbow on rootsweb.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Benno 1874 births 1964 deaths American people of Dutch descent 19th-century American architects Architects from Pittsburgh 20th-century American architects University of Kansas alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni