Background
Paul Phillippe Cret was born in 1876 in Lyons, France.
Paul Phillippe Cret was born in 1876 in Lyons, France.
He began architectural study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in his native city, and after a supplementary course at the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts was awarded his diploma.
He arrived in the United States to accept the position of Professor of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, and remained a member of the faculty until 1907, when he resigned to launch an architectural career. His first important commission was the Pan American Union Building at Washington, D. C., designed in association with Albert Kelsey and erected between 1907 and 1910. Later he collaborated with the firm of Zantzinger, Borie & Medary on a number of outstanding public buildings, among which were the Central Public Library at Indianapolis, 1913-16; Detroit Institute of Arts, 1921; and the Valley Forge Memorial Arch, 1910, in Philadelphia.
During the latter phase of his career Mr. Cret maintained an independent office, and his works in that period added renown to his already high profes¬sional reputation. These included the Integrity Trust Building, 1929: the Rodin Museum, 1932, and the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia; the Federal Reserve Bank Building in Washington, 1935-37; the Folger Shake- peare Memorial Library in Washington, 1932 (A. B. Trowbridge, Associate Architect); and at West Point, N. Y„ the Academic Building and Gymnasium. He also served as a member on the Board of Architects of the 1933 Chicago Exposition, and personally designed the U. S. Memorial Hall of Science. Later, in 1940 he was appointed to the Federal Fine Arts Commission entrusted with the task of passing on the approval of all Government Buildings being considered for erection.