Background
Clarke, Gilmore David was born on July 12, 1892 in New York City. Son of Gilmore and Johanna F. (Knubel) Clarke.
consultant engineer Landscape architect
Clarke, Gilmore David was born on July 12, 1892 in New York City. Son of Gilmore and Johanna F. (Knubel) Clarke.
Cornell University; Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Cornell University College of Engineering. Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Born in New York, he went to Cornell University to study landscape architecture and civil engineering, graduating in 1913 with a Bachelor of Surgery degree. After World War I, during which he served as an engineer in the United States. Army, he served on several architectural commissions, ranging from local to federal level In 1934 he became a consultant for the New York City Park Department under parks commissioner Robert Moses.
The following year, he teamed up with Michael Rapuano (1904 – 1975), founding the firm of Clarke & Rapuano.
From 1935 to his retirement in 1950 he taught landscape architecture at Cornell University, where he was the Dean of Architecture from 1939 on. Clarke designed the landscape architecture of the 1939 New York World"s Fair, and he and his firm of Clarke & Rapuano were also deeply involved in the design of the 1964 New York World"s Fair, which were both held at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
Foreign the 1964 exhibition, Clarke designed the Unisphere, and his company designed many of the fountains and statues in the park, as well as the "Garden of Meditation" exhibit. Clarke was also appointed the landscape architect and engineer for the Garden State Parkway.
He had closely worked with Robert Moses and combined the examples of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Merritt Parkway to give the highway an efficient and beautiful appearance.
In addition to his practice in New York, Clarke was appointed in 1932 to the United States. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, District of Columbia, and served as its chairman from 1937 to 1950. He led the Commission in opposition to several controversial issues during this period, including the design of the neo-classical Jefferson Memorial by John Russell Pope, the siting of the new Pentagon complex near Arlington Cemetery, and the construction of the so-called "Truman Balcony" within the south portico of the White House. He was awarded Brown Medal in 1945 and was a member and Special Committee chairman for the American Academy in Rome from 1944-1945.
In 1944, Clarke was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1946.
Clarke retired from his firm in 1972 and later consulted on the construction of the United Nations Headquarters. He also became a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History.
He died aboard the ship Royal Viking Star on a cruise off the coast of Denmark.
Served from Lieutenant to captain 6th Engineers, 3d Division United States Army, World War, 1917-1919. Fellow American Society Landscape Architects (president 1949-1950), Royal Society Arts, Franklin Institute (life). Member American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Institute Arts and Letters, American Institute Consultant
Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers (life).
Member American Institute of Architects, National Academy of Design, Societe Francaise Doctorate’Architecture de Jardins, Tau Beta Pi. Clubs: Metropolitan (New York City), Century (New York City).
Married Emma Elizabeth Vought, August 16, 1917. Married Mary Elizabeth Sprout, July 11, 1941 (deceased. Married Dolores Nancy Bedford, April.
Children: Elizabeth Nelson (Mistress Peter Tower), Edward Perry, Doris Jean (Mistress Maurice C. Bond).