John Frederick Harbeson (30 July 1888 – 21 December 1986) was a rational classicist

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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 ...

and a long-time architecture professor at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He was a principal in the

design firm,

Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson H2L2 (for three decades, officially Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson) is an architecture firm in Philadelphia founded in 1907 by Paul Philippe Cret as The Offices of Paul Philippe Cret. In 1923, John Harbeson became Cret's partner, along ...

, successors to the office of

Paul Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylv ...

. Harbeson received a B.S. in Architecture from the

in 1910, and received an M.S. in Architecture the following year. During the summers while he was in school, Harbeson worked for architect

John T. Windrim John Torrey Windrim (February 14, 1866 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – June 27, 1934 in Devon, Pennsylvania) was an American architect. His long time chief designer was W. R. Morton Keast. He trained in the office of his father, architect J ...

. After graduation, he joined Kelsey and Cret to work on the design of the Pan-American Union Building in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. In 1923 Harbeson became Cret's partner, along with William J. H. Hough and William Livingston. In 1925 the firm was joined by Roy Larson. After Cret's death in 1945, the younger partners followed Cret's wishes and removed Cret's name from their masthead, continuing as Harbeson, Hough, Livingston, Larson. Harbeson is best known for his teaching at the University of Pennsylvania and respectively as one of the main teachers of the later seminal architect

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

. He served as Chair of the University's Department of Architecture from 1927 to 1935 and as Acting Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University from 1929 to 1930. In the early to mid-1920s, Harbeson authored a series of articles in the architectural journal, ''Pencil Points'', on the Beaux-Arts method of architectural education (as coordinated through 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.Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense produ ...

on the Burlington's ''

Pioneer Zephyr The ''Pioneer Zephyr'' is a diesel engine, diesel-powered trainset built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington Route. The trainset was the second internal combustion-po ...

'' in 1934. Drawing on his ''Pioneer Zephyr'' experience, in 1936 he led the firm through the design project of the Burlington's ''

Denver Zephyr The ''Denver Zephyr'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. In peak years it ran to Colorado Springs. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The ''Denve ...

''. Harbeson was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

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

in 1934. In 1955 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, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1957. He served as President of the Academy from 1959 to 1962.

References

* , * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harbeson, John Frederick 1888 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American architects Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Architects from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty Fellows of the American Institute of Architects American people in rail transportation