Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872 – July 10, 1933) was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator, and

scenic designer Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation * Airwave Scenic, an Austr ...

Life and career

Joseph Urban was born on May 26, 1872, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He received his first architectural commission at age 19 when he was selected to design the new wing of the Abdin Palace in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Tewfik Pasha Mohamed Tewfik Pasha ( ''Muḥammad Tawfīq Bāshā''; April 30 or 15 November 1852 – 7 January 1892), also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt and the Turco-Egyptian Sudan, Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the s ...

. He became known around the world for his innovative use of color, his pointillist technique, and his decorative use of line. He designed buildings throughout the world from Esterhazy Castle in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

to the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York. Urban studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Karl von Hasenauer. In 1890, he and his brother-in-law, Heinrich Lefler, were among the founders of the Hagenbund. Urban's early work with illustrated books was inspired by Lefler and, together, they created what are considered seminal examples of children's book illustration. Urban immigrated to the United States in 1911 to become the art director of the Boston Opera Company. He was already an accomplished international architect, illustrator and theatre set designer with over 50 productions from his home Vienna Royal Opera, the Champs-Elysées Opera, and

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. By applying points of primary colors side by side on the canvas backdrops he was able to create and light theatre sets of vivid color reminiscent of the works by Monet or Seurat. In 1914, he moved to New York City, where he designed productions for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

and the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

; he continued to design for Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. until 1931.

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

was an important client and supporter. He also co-produced with Richard Ordynski Percy MacKaye's "Community Masque" '' Caliban by the Yellow Sands''. Beginning in 1917, he was frequently engaged as stage designer by the

of New York City. In all he created set designs for 47 new productions at the house through 1933. His many designs provided the opera company with a cohesive production style throughout the tenure of General Manager Giulio Gatti-Casazza. Many of Urban's settings remained in the company's repertoire into the 1950s. Soon his sets and innovative lighting caught the eye of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., who hired him to design the ''Follies'' in the 1920s. Urban went to work creating a stunning night-club with glass balconies, a moving stage, and rainbow lighting effects. This Danse de Follies soon became a blend of ideas and talent before serving in the Follies theatre. Urban had success after success in his creating of the Follies' sets, and

, a media tycoon, took notice and wanted to hire Urban to work on his films starring Marion Davies, his mistress, and previous Follies starlet. Hearst came to an understanding with his friend Ziegfeld that Urban's work for him would not interfere with any of the Follies productions. Urban worked on 25 films over the years. Urban died July 10, 1933, of a heart attack at his apartment at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan, where he had been convalescing following surgery in May.

Legacy

Urban was one of the originators of the American

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style. Extant buildings include the

Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( , ) is a resort and National Historic Landmark on a barrier island in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It spans 126 rooms and built on of land. Since 1985, it has been owned by Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of t ...

, The Bath and Tennis Club, and The Paramount Theater all in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

;

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

building in New York City; and the base of the Hearst Tower in New York City. The stage lighting gel Roscolux Urban Blue #81, still used today, is named for him.

Work

Architecture and interior design

This partial list omits unrealized projects. * 1900: Wohn- und Bürohaus Wien 8, Buchfeldgasse 6 (with Hermann Stierlin) * 1902: Villa Goltz, Wien 19, Grinzinger Straße 87 * 1903: Villa Wiener, Wien 13, Veitingergasse 21 * 1904: Exhibition space, Austrian Pavilion,

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

, St. Louis, Missouri * 1907: Villa Redlich, Wien 19, Kreindlgasse 11 * 1907: Wohnhaus, Wien 19, Krottenbachstraße 11 * 1907: Villa Max Landau, Semmering, Südbahnstraße 83 * 1910: Villa Dr. Mair, Scheiblingkirchen, Kreuzackergasse 43 * 1920: Sherman Hotel Panther Room, Chicago * 1922:

Wiener Werkstätte The Wiener Werkstätte ("Vienna Workshop"), established in 1903 by the graphic designer and painter Koloman Moser, the architect Josef Hoffmann and the patron Fritz Waerndorfer, was a productive association in Vienna, Austria that brought to ...

showroom, New York City * 1925: C.C. Lightbown House, 4839 Colorado Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, Permit #7278, March 10, 1925, cost $25,000. * 1926:

, Palm Beach, Florida * 1926: Demarest Little Castle, Palm Beach, Florida * 1926: Paramount Theatre, Palm Beach, Florida * 1927: Anthony Biddle residence, Palm Beach, Florida * 1927: Bath and Tennis Club, Palm Beach, Florida * 1927: Ziegfeld Theatre, New York City * 1926–27: St. Regis Hotel Roof Garden * 1928: Hotel Gibson Roof Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio * 1928: Bossert Hotel, Grill Room, Brooklyn * 1928: Bedell Store, New York City * 1928–29: William Penn Hotel, Urban Room, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * 1929: International Magazine Building, New York City * 1929: Central Park Casino * 1929: Metropolitan Museum of Art 11th annual exhibition of American Industrial Art * 1929: The Gingerbread Castle, Hamburg, New Jersey * 1930:

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

, New York City * 1929–31: Atlantic Beach Club, Long Island, New York * 1931: Park Avenue Restaurant, 128 E 58th Street * 1932: Congress Hotel, Joseph Urban Room, Chicago, Illinois * 1929: Urban Room, Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* 1933: Katherine Brush Apartment * 1933: Color scheme for the Century of Progress International Exposition

Book illustrations

* 1905: ''Grimm's Märchen'' * 1907: ''Kling-Klang Gloria'' * 1911: ''Andersen Kalender'' * 1914: ''Marienkind''

References

* * * *

External links

Finding aid to the Joseph Urban papers
at th
Joseph Urban's Stage Design Models and Documents Project
Columbia University
Cinema Treasures on Urban
Photographs

*

History, photos, and video of the Gingerbread Castle in Hamburg, New Jersey. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, Joseph 1872 births 1933 deaths 20th-century American architects American scenic designers Austrian scenic designers Opera designers Artists from Vienna Architecture firms based in New York City Architects from New York City American people of Austrian descent Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Mar-a-Lago