Office of the Supervising Architect James A. Wetmore

1 office of supervising architect

1.1 mcadoo classification
1.2 world war i
1.3 post-war era

office of supervising architect

in 1911, became executive officer supervising architect, james knox taylor. eo, put him in charge of non-technical operations of office, under taylor, , under successor oscar wenderoth took on in 1912. period in 1912 after resignation of taylor, wetmore acting supervising architect until wenderoth relocated washington.

wenderoth resigned in april 1915 return private practice in firm specialized in designing bank interiors. following wenderoth s departure in 1915, wetmore named acting supervising architect. held position twenty years, until retirement in 1933. believed position temporary until architect selected supervising architect. however, had thorough understanding of operation of office , worked architects accounted remaining in position. although outsiders did not understand why lawyer running office, duties administrative; supervising architects did not require him trained one. during of tenure, louis a. simon responsible direction of of actual design work. simon suceeded wetmore head of office.

wetmore interested in architecture, , influenced government building design promoting standardization. in collaboration william gibbs mcadoo, secretary of treasury 1913–1918, buildings designed scale, materials , finishes directly reflected location, prominence , income . push standardization of public building design in conflict tarsney act, permitted private architects design federal buildings after being selected in competition under supervision of supervising architect. act, under several taylor-era buildings designed, repealed in 1913 felt designing buildings government architects efficiently cause desired standardization.

as supervising architect, spoke society of constructors of federal buildings. addressed 1917 annual convention reporting treasury department completed plans , contracts public building every 4 days , each building has averaged cost of $50,000. noted 90% of these post offices.

mcadoo classification

buildings designed specific criteria. class building 1 on major street of major city, surrounded expensive buildings, , expected generate @ least $800,000 in revenue. these buildings have marble or granite exteriors, marble interiors, ornamental bronze, , other similar fixtures.

a small post office revenue of under $15,000 made of brick, standard wood windows , doors , appear ordinary . critics felt system make public buildings plain.

world war i

during world war i, of work of office stopped due priorities of war. construction postponed except completion of building under construction, , of new facilities such hospitals, quarantine , immigration stations aided war effort. @ mcadoo s direction, wetmore tried keep staff many lost armed forces , other agencies..

post-war era

construction resumed, although costs had escalated , buildings not constructed @ costs estimated before war. work did proceed , demand new buildings increased. wetmore serving under new treasury secretary,

andrew w. mellon. mellon, wetmore, interested in architecture, kept wetmore in acting position because had been ably performing duties several years . wetmore continued advocate use of government architects, in opposition private architects wanted able work on federal projects. said use of private architects appropriate in exceptional cases.