Louis Clemens Spiering (May 8, 1874 — March 9, 1912) 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 ...

and architecture professor based in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri, who worked on building designs for the

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

of 1904 and other local commissions. He died at the age of 37.

Family and education

Louis Clemens Spiering was born in St. Louis in 1874, the middle of three children of Theresa (Bernays) Spiering and Ernst Spiering, a violinist and orchestra conductor. His elder brother

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

became a violinist, and his maternal grandfather was

Karl Ludwig Bernays Karl Ludwig Bernays (November 21, 1815 – June 22, 1876), baptized Ferdinand Cölestin Bernays and also known as Charles Louis Bernays, was a German journalist and associate of Karl Marx. Emigrating to the United States in the late 1840s, he ...

, a German-born Marxist journalist who changed his name to Charles Louis Bernays when he emigrated to St. Louis. Spiering attended Webster Public School and then was sent to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Germany, for schooling at the

Realgymnasium ''Gymnasium'' (; German plural: ''Gymnasien''), in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being '' Hauptschule'' (lowest) and '' Realschule'' (middle). ''Gymn ...

, from which he graduated in 1891. After two semesters studying architecture at the Berlin Royal School of Technology, he returned stateside to take up a position with

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

architect William A. Otis. In 1895, Spiering returned to Europe to enter 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 Paris, from which he graduated in 1902. Along the way, he won a prize in sculpture at the

École des Arts Décoratifs École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sa ...

, and he studied in the

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art o ...

of Noel-Marcel Lambert, the architect in charge of restoration at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. Although the Beaux-Arts style came to signify a type of neoclassicalism in architecture, a critic was later to observe of Spiering that what he gained from his Paris training was actually a "freedom to design in whatever format he thought appropriate to the circumstances."

Architectural career

In 1902, Spiering returned to St. Louis and took up a position as assistant to E. L. Masqueray, the chief of design for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, better known as the

. For the succeeding eighteen months, Spiering worked on a wide range of elements for the fair, including the general layout of the grounds and specific buildings such as the Palais du Costume, the wireless telegraph tower, the express office, the

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

building, and the restaurant pavilions and colonnades on Art Hill. He was also Superintending Architect for the French and Austrian governments' buildings. Spiering opened his own practice in 1903. Among his local commissions were a new building for the Artists Guild (commissioned in 1907), the Soulard Branch Library (commission won in a design competition in partnership with

George W. Hellmuth George William Hellmuth (1870-1955) was an American architect based in St. Louis, Missouri. Hellmuth educated at the Missouri School of Mines and worked in a practice with Louis Spiering. He also worked with his brother Harry at the firm Hellmut ...

), and the Sheldon Memorial Building for the St. Louis Ethical Society, now a concert hall. He also set up a design studio in the then-new architecture program at the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...

and ran evening classes for working draftspeople. He was a member 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 ...

. Spiering fell ill in 1910 (possibly of

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a r ...

) and never completely recovered, dying two years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiering, Louis C. 1874 births 1912 deaths 20th-century American academics 20th-century American architects American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts American expatriates in Germany Architects from Chicago Architects from St. Louis Educators from St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis faculty