Lewis F. Pilcher,

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Peñas de Aya, small mountain range in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ...

(1871–1941), was an American academic and architect active in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. With William G. Tachau, he was a partner of

Pilcher and Tachau Pilcher and Tachau was an American architectural firm in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century New York City, and was the predecessor firm of Tachau and Vought.Nancy L. Tod“New York's Historic Armories: An Illustrated History” (Alban ...

, the predecessor firm of

Tachau and Vought Tachau and Vought was an American architectural firm active in the mid-twentieth-century New York City that specialized in mental hygiene hospitals. It was established in 1919 as the successor to the architectural firm of Pilcher and Tachau by Wil ...

.Nancy L. Tod

''New York's Historic Armories: An Illustrated History'' (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2006), p.268 He was a professor of art at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

. He subsequently was a

state architect Many national governments and states have a public official titled the state architect or government architect. The specific duties and areas of responsibility of state architects vary, but they generally involve responsibility for the design and ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

.Karen Van Lengen and Lisa Reilly.''

: An Architectural Tour.'' The Campus Guide Series. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004), p.80

Biography

Pilcher attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

from 1889-1890, and graduated from the

Columbia School of Architecture The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is also home to the Masters of Science program in Advanced Architectur ...

in 1895. He began his career working for Brooklyn architect Mercein Thomas, then started his own practice with former classmate W.G. Tachau. In 1901 Pilcher won a competition to design the Troop C Armory in Brooklyn, which set the state for his later term as State Architect of New York, in which position he would design several armories across the state. He went on to design the armories in Troy, Albany, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Ithaca. Through his connections at Vassar, Pilcher designed the nine-story North Residence (1907), renamed in 1915 as

Jewett House Jewett House (formally Milo Jewett House and formerly North Hall) is a nine-story Tudor architecture, Tudor-style dormitory on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York. Built in 1907 to ac ...

. The structure is composed of a four-story U-shaped arms block, which frames a quad-side court, and is attached to a rear eight-story tower that incorporates a 30,000-gallon water tank. The structure extensively used steel and concrete structural components faced with red

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

and

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

ornamentation. The high level of decorative work, including

crenellation A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

s, grotesque terracotta faces and animals was incongruous to Vassar’s restrained red brick-with-sandstone-trim Quad dormitories and was nicknamed “Pilcher’s Crime.” The structure failed to attract donors who would have attached their name and it was instead renamed in honor of the college’s first president, Milo P. Jewett. His partner, William G. Tachau, went on to a more successful career in the architectural firm of

Works

*Jewett House (1907, formerly North Residence before 1915) *

Troop C Armory A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

*The

Kingsbridge Armory The Kingsbridge Armory, also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory, is a decommissioned armory at Jerome Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It was built in the 1910s, from a desi ...

in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

*The

Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club The Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club is a private yacht club located in Mount Arlington, Morris County, New Jersey, United States, in the northwestern part of New Jersey, on the small peninsula of Bertrand Island along the state's largest lake, Lake Ho ...

, Mount Arlington, New Jersey * New York State Drill Hall, aka

Barton Hall Barton Hall is an on-campus field house on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is the site of the school's indoor track facilities, ROTC offices and classes, and Cornell Police. For a long time, Barton Hall was the larges ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, Ithaca, New York, 1917

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilcher, Lewis Vassar College faculty Architects from New York (state) Companies based in Manhattan Defunct architecture firms based in New York City People from Poughkeepsie, New York 1871 births 1941 deaths