19 Facts About Raymond Hood

Raymond Mathewson Hood was an American architect who worked in the Neo-Gothic and Art Deco styles.

Raymond Hood is best known for his designs of the Tribune Tower, American Radiator Building, and Rockefeller Center.

Raymond Mathewson Hood was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on March 29,1881, to John Parmenter Hood and Vella Mathewson.

In 1899, seeking more opportunities to pursue an architectural education, Raymond Hood enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At MIT, Raymond Hood studied under Constant-Desire Despradelle, a prominent proponent of the Beaux-Arts style.

Raymond Hood excelled at creating meticulously rendered architectural drawings, and after graduating worked as a draftsman for Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson.

In June 1904, Raymond Hood returned to Pawtucket before leaving for Europe with the intention of studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Raymond Hood failed his first attempt at the entrance exam in October 1904 though was accepted after his second attempt in 1905.

Raymond Hood's capstone diplome project at the Ecole was a city hall for Pawtucket, his hometown.

In 1911, Raymond Hood returned to the US, taking a job at the office of Henry Hornbostel in Pittsburgh.

In 1916, Raymond Hood designed an ambitious plan for downtown Providence; the project's defining feature was a 600 feet civic tower, whose pedimented base occupied the entire southern edge of Exchange Place.

In 1922, New York architect John Mead Howells, who had met him at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, invited Raymond Hood to become his partner in the Chicago Tribune building competition in which Howells had been invited to compete.

The neo-Gothic design submitted by Howells and Raymond Hood won the competition beating the designs of prominent competitors, including Eliel Saarinen, Walter Gropius, and Adolf Loos.

The design proved pivotal in Raymond Hood's career, catalyzing his emergence as a preeminent architect of the era.

Raymond Hood did not consider himself an artist, but saw himself as "manufacturing shelter", writing:.

Raymond Hood frequently employed architectural sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan both for architectural sculptures for his building and to make plasticine models of his projects.

Raymond Hood is believed to have coined the term "Architecture of the Night" in a 1930 pamphlet published by General Electric.

Raymond Hood died at age 53 due to arthritis and was interred at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Raymond Hood's buildings were featured in works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Diego Rivera, and Berenice Abbott, and Samuel Gottscho.