Calvert Vaux (original) (raw)
Calvert Vaux
- A Chronology of Important Events in His Life ("Vaux" rhymes with "talks")
Olmsted & Vaux in Buffalo, NY
| 1824 | Born in London, England |
|---|---|
| Apprenticed under London architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham and joins firm at conclusion of apprenticeship | |
| 1850 | Introduced to Andrew Jackson Downing, a well-known American designer and writer, who was an architect to join him in a design and architectural practice he was forming in Newburgh, New York. |
| 1851 | Partnered with Downing |
| 1852 | Downing was killed in a fire which destroyed a Hudson River steamboat |
| Vaux practices architecture in Newburgh for a total of 7 years, and then practices in New York City | |
| 1856 | Married Became U. S. citizen |
| 1857 | Published "Villas and Cottages," an influential pattern book. |
| 1858 | City of New York opened a contest to design a new park. Vaux offered to work with a then little known Frederick Law Olmsted, who was to be the Superintendent of the park. Eventually, their plan, entitled "Greensward," was chosen as the winner. Much to chagrin of Vaux, the untrained Olmsted was subsequently named Architect-in-Chief of Central Park, while Vaux was his assistant, later being named Consulting Architect. |
| 1858-1878 | Vaux and Olmsted worked on the construction of the park 1858 to 1863, and then again from 1865-1878 |
| 1865 | Vaux commissioned to design Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Vaux and Olmsted form Olmsted, Vaux and Company |
| Olmsted, Vaux and Company designs first suburbs of Chicago, Riverside, Illinois, regarded as the country's first major suburban residential community. | |
| 1868 | Olmsted, Vaux and Company designs a park system for Buffalo, NY. It was the first plan for an interconnected park system to be implemented by an American city. Vaux designs several structures for The Parade (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Park), The Park (Now Delaware Park), and The Front (now Front Park) The Parade: The Parade House, 1875 (destroyed by fire, 1876.)The Park: Boat House, 1875 (enlarged soon after construction; demolished in 1899.)The Park: Park Superintendent's House (or, The Farmstead), 1875 (demolished, 1950.)The Park: Boat Landing Seating, 1875 (demolished, circa 1950?) The Park: Summer House(or, Spire House), 1875 (demolished, circa 1950?) The Park: Rustic Bridge, 1875 (demolished) The Park: Viaduct (over Delaware Street), 1875 (rebuilt and enlarged by the Works Progress Administration.)The Front: Music Stand, 1875 (not constructed.) |
| 1871 | Olmsted, Vaux and Company design grounds of New York State Hospital for the Insane in Buffalo, NY |
| 1872 | Olmsted, Vaux and Company dissolved |
| Vaux and architect George Kent Radford form a new firm | |
| 1880 | Samuel Parsons, Jr. joins Vaux and Radford as an associate (and later partner) Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mold design the first Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1895 | While visiting his son in Brooklyn, Vaux died of drowning |