Gordon Bunshaft
Early Life and Education
Gordon Bunshaft was born on May 9, 1909, in Buffalo, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a poultry wholesaler. From a young age, Bunshaft showed a talent for drawing and a strong, determined personality. He attended Lafayette High School in Buffalo, where he was known for his artistic abilities.
After high school, he enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study architecture. He was a brilliant and ambitious student, and he received both his bachelor’s degree (1933) and his master’s degree (1935) from MIT. During his time at the university, he was awarded the Rotch Traveling Fellowship, which allowed him to travel and study in Europe from 1935 to 1937.
His travels in Europe were a formative experience. He was deeply impressed by the works of the early modern masters, particularly Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. He was drawn to their use of new materials, their functional clarity, and their rejection of historical ornamentation. He returned to the United States with a strong commitment to the principles of modernism.
In 1937, after a brief period of unemployment, he was hired by the industrial designer Raymond Loewy. However, he soon left to join the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). He began as a junior designer in SOM’s New York office, which was then a relatively small and unknown firm.
His career was briefly interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After the war, he returned to SOM and quickly rose through the ranks to become a partner in 1949. He would remain at SOM for his entire career, and he would become the firm’s most famous and influential design partner.
Architectural Philosophy and Career
Gordon Bunshaft’s architectural philosophy was a powerful and uncompromising form of corporate modernism. He was a devoted follower of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and he believed in an architecture of structural clarity, geometric precision, and elegant simplicity. He was a master of the glass and steel skyscraper, and his work came to define the look of corporate America in the post-war era.
Bunshaft was not a theorist or a writer; he was a pragmatist and a builder. He was known for his gruff, no-nonsense personality and for his single-minded focus on creating high-quality, well-designed buildings. He was a master of working with large corporate and institutional clients, and he was able to convince them to invest in a new and modern form of architecture.
His career was synonymous with the rise of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Under his design leadership, the New York office of SOM became one of the largest and most successful architectural firms in the world. Bunshaft was the driving force behind many of the firm’s most iconic and influential projects.
His philosophy was rooted in the belief that a building should be a clear and rational expression of its structure and its function. He was a master of the curtain wall, and he used glass and steel to create buildings that were light, transparent, and elegant. He was also a master of the public plaza, and he often set his buildings back from the street to create generous and welcoming open spaces.
In the 1960s, Bunshaft’s work began to evolve. He started to explore a more monumental and sculptural style, and he became a master of using precast concrete to create powerful and expressive forms. His work from this period is often associated with the Brutalist movement, but it always retained a sense of classical order and proportion.
Bunshaft was also a major collector of modern art, and he believed in a close collaboration between architects and artists. He was instrumental in commissioning major works of public art for his buildings, including sculptures by Isamu Noguchi and Henry Moore.
He was a complex and often contradictory figure. He was a corporate architect who was also a passionate art collector. He was a pragmatist who was also a perfectionist. He was a team player who was also a dominant and often intimidating personality. But there is no denying his immense talent and his profound impact on the architecture of the 20th century.
Notable and Famous Works
Gordon Bunshaft’s portfolio includes some of the most iconic and influential buildings of the mid-20th century.
Lever House (1952) in New York City is his most famous and influential work. The 24-story skyscraper was the headquarters for the soap company Lever Brothers. The building was a radical departure from the heavy, masonry-clad skyscrapers of the past. It was a shimmering, blue-green glass box, with a thin, elegant curtain wall and a generous public plaza at its base. The building was a huge success, and it set a new standard for corporate architecture in America.
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (1963) at Yale University is one of his most powerful and original works. The library is a windowless, jewel-like box that is designed to protect the rare books from the damaging effects of direct sunlight. The building’s facade is a grid of precast concrete and thin, translucent marble panels. During the day, the marble glows with a soft, amber light, and at night, the building becomes a luminous beacon on the campus.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (1974) in Washington, D.C., is another of his major cultural projects. The museum is a massive, donut-shaped, Brutalist building of exposed concrete that is raised on four massive pilotis. The building’s unusual form has made it a distinctive and sometimes controversial landmark on the National Mall.
The Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company Building (1954) in New York City was a revolutionary new type of bank building. It was a transparent, glass-walled building that was designed to be open and welcoming to the public. The building’s vault was placed on display in the window, a powerful symbol of the bank’s security and transparency.
The Solow Building (1974) in New York City is one of his most elegant and refined skyscrapers. The 50-story tower has a dramatic, curving facade of dark glass and steel that creates a powerful and sculptural presence on the Manhattan skyline.
The National Commercial Bank (1983) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is one of his most important late works. The 27-story, triangular tower is designed to respond to the harsh desert climate. The building has massive, solid travertine walls on its east and west facades to block the sun, and a large, central, sky-lit atrium that brings natural light into the interior.
Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Gordon Bunshaft received numerous awards and honors for his work. In 1988, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, along with the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The jury citation praised him for his “unswerving dedication to the principles of modern architecture” and for his “significant influence on the design of buildings and urbanism in this century.”
His legacy is that of a master of corporate modernism. He was one of the most important and influential architects of the post-war era, and his work helped to shape the look of cities across America and around the world.
He was a key figure in the development of the modern glass and steel skyscraper, and his design for Lever House was one of the most influential buildings of the 20th century. He was also a master of a more monumental and sculptural form of modernism, and his concrete buildings are some of the most powerful and expressive works of the Brutalist movement.
He was a complex and often difficult man, but his talent and his dedication to his craft were undeniable. He was a true believer in the power of modern architecture to create a more rational, more beautiful, and more efficient world. He was one of the last of the great modernist masters, and his work is a testament to the enduring power of his vision. Gordon Bunshaft died on August 6, 1990.