Background
Richard Michell Upjohn, the son of Richard Upjohn and Elizabeth (Parry) Upjohn, was born in Shaftesbury, England, and was brought to America in his second year.
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Richard Michell Upjohn
Edit ProfileEducation
He received a good education in private schools. In 1851-52 he studied in Europe.
Career
In 1846 Upjohn entered his father's office, where during his father's extended European trip in 1850 he had full charge. On his return from Europe he opened his own office but soon returned to his father's as a full partner (1853) and exercised a growing influence on the design.
During the sixties and seventies, it is sometimes difficult to determine which was the controlling mind. St. Thomas's Church, New York, is typical of the work of this period; its towers probably indicate the son's taste. Upjohn's work was less dominantly ecclesiastical than his father's. He was the architect of the Mechanics' Bank, New York (1858), one of the early buildings to use rolled-iron beams and brick floor arches; the building of the Newark Banking and Insurance Company, Newark, N. J. ; a large school in Hartford, Connecticut, and the first building for Trinity School, New York.
Among his noteworthy churches were the old Madison Square Presbyterian Church, New York; Park Church, Hartford, Connecticut; the Presbyterian Church and manse, Rye, N. Y. ; the De Lancey Memorial, Geneva, N. Y. ; St. Mark's Pro-Cathedral, San Antonio, Tex. ; and St. Paul's Cathedral at Fond du Lac, Wis.
The main entrance gateway of Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, is his design (1861); and it is probable that the Central Congregational Church, Boston, with its simple and exquisite 235-foot stone tower and spire, is his also.
Under the influence of Ruskin, Upjohn's work is often full of such "Victorian Gothic" mannerisms as polychromy and the dominance of the horizontal line. The Trinity School building, with its erratic detail and its rich plate tracery over flat-headed windows, is typical, and the lavish color and carving of the Hartford capitol, in which the modern eye often sees only the bizarre, is an excellent example of Ruskinian principles conscientiously applied.
Upjohn was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects from its beginning, and for two years a president of its New York chapter; he was also a member of the Institute's important committee for examining unsafe buildings. He lived in Brooklyn for most of his later life. Much interested in local history, he was one of the founders of the Long Island Historical Society.
Upjohn was an indomitable worker, making many of the office drawings himself. He retired gradually from the practice of architecture during the nineties, his interests becoming more and more financial; by 1895 his architectural career had ceased. Upjohn died in Brooklyn.
Achievements
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Upjohn became best known, much like his father, for his High Gothic Revival style of architecture. One of his best churches was the American church, St. John's, in Dresden, Germany. His most famous work was the state capitol at Hartford, Connecticut (1885), for which drawings were begun in 1872. The only such building in America to combine a dome with wings in a Gothic style, it presented problems of exceptional difficulty. Upjohn had intended to use a square tower, but the state authorities were unable to conceive of a capitol without a dome and forced him to design one; the resulting dome is, nevertheless, a brilliant adaptation.
Membership
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
Personality
In character Upjohn was reserved, in his later years almost a recluse. He was strong-willed, impulsive, at times hot-tempered.
Connections
On October 1, 1856, Upjohn married Emma Degen Tyng, daughter of the Rev. James H. Tyng, in Morristown, New Jersey. There were nine children, of whom the youngest became an architect.
References
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Born
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Died
March 3, 1903 (aged 74) -
Nationality
American