Paul (Philippe) Cret

He stu­died at the Lycee of Vourge at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Lyon. In 1896 he won the Paris prize and stu­died for the next seven years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was awar­ded the Rouge­vin prize and the Grand Medal of Emu­la­tion in 1901, se­cond prize at the Con­cours Chen­avard, and the gold medal at the Salon des Champs Ely­sees in 1903. He came to the United Sta­tes in 1903 as Pro­fes­sor of De­sign at the Uni­ver­sity of Penn­syl­va­nia. He de­si­gned the me­mo­rial arch at Val­ley Forge, Penn­syl­va­nia; the Pan-American Union Buil­ding, the Fog­ler Shake­speare Li­brary, and the Fe­deral Re­serve Board Buil­ding, all in Wa­shing­ton, D. C.; and pu­blic buil­dings in Phil­adel­phia, Bos­ton, Chi­cago, and Al­bany. He was one of the Mu­ni­ci­pal Art Jury in Phil­adel­phia and was in charge from 1904 to 1907 of ar­chi­tec­tu­ral teaching at the Penn­syl­va­nia Aca­demy of Fine Arts. He was a mem­ber of the So­ciete des Ar­chi­tects Di­plo­mes, the So­ciety of Beaux-Arts Ar­chi­tects, the T-Square Club of Phil­adel­phia (Ho­no­rary Pre­si­dent), and the So­ciety of Ar­chi­tec­tu­ral His­to­ri­ans.

Born and edu­ca­ted in France, he began his for­mal ar­chi­tec­tu­ral trai­ning at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in his na­tive city of Lyons. He came to the United Sta­tes to ac­cept the po­si­tion of Pro­fes­sor of De­sign at the Uni­ver­sity of Penn­syl­va­nia where he re­mai­ned on fa­culty until 1907 when he re­si­gned to com­mence his pro­fes­sio­nal prac­tice. The Pan Ame­ri­can Union Buil­ding (1910) in Wa­shing­ton, D.C., de­si­gned in as­so­cia­tion with Al­bert Kens­ley, was Cret's first im­portant com­mis­sion. In col­la­bo­ra­tion with the firm Zant­zin­ger, Borie and Me­dary, he exe­cu­ted a se­ries of out­stan­ding pu­blic buil­dings in­clu­ding the In­dia­na­po­lis Cen­tral Pu­blic Li­brary (1913-16), De­troit In­sti­tute of Arts (1921), and the Val­ley Forge Me­mo­rial Arch (1910). Cret's de­sign ca­reer also in­clu­ded a num­ber of War Me­mo­ri­als erec­ted in France fol­lo­wing the frist World War. He won the A.I.A. Gold Medal in 1938.

Cret stu­died at the Lyce of Vourge at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Lyon. In 1896 he won the Paris prize and stu­died for the next seven years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was awar­ded the Rouge­vin prize and the Grand Medal of Emu­la­tion in 1901, se­cond prize at the Con­cours Chen­avard, and the gold medal at the Salon des Champs Ely­ses in 1903. He came to the United Sta­tes in 1903 as Pro­fes­sor of De­sign at the Uni­ver­sity of Penn­syl­va­nia. He de­si­gned the me­mo­rial arch at Val­ley Forge, Penn­syl­va­nia; the Pan-American Union Buil­ding, the Fog­ler Shake­speare Li­brary, and the Fe­deral Re­serve Board Buil­ding, all in Wa­shing­ton, D. C.; and pu­blic buil­dings in Phil­adel­phia, Bos­ton, Chi­cago, and Al­bany. He was one of the Mu­ni­ci­pal Art Jury in Phil­adel­phia and was in charge from 1904 to 1907 of ar­chi­tec­tu­ral teaching at the Penn­syl­va­nia Aca­demy of Fine Arts. He was a mem­ber of the Socit des Ar­chi­tects Di­plo­mes, the So­ciety of Beaux-Arts Ar­chi­tects, the T-Square Club of Phil­adel­phia (Ho­no­rary Pre­si­dent), and the So­ciety of Ar­chi­tec­tu­ral His­to­ri­ans.