William Lescaze

William Edmond Lescaze (March 27, 1896 – February 9, 1969) was a Swiss-born American architect, city planner and industrial designer. He is ranked among the pioneers of modernism in American architecture.

Early life and education

Lescaze was born in Onex, Switzerland. He studied at the Collège Calvin and at the École des Beaux-Arts, before completing his formal education at the ETH Zurich, where Karl Moser was a teacher, receiving his degree in 1919.

Career Lescaze contributed to the post-World War I reconstruction effort in Arras,

In 1923, he was offered a modeling job and moved to New York City where he set up his business. His first major work was the design of the Oak Lane Country Day School outside Philadelphia.

In 1927, he designed the Sutton House Apartments project in New York City. Income from the project allowed him to move back to New York City. The wood and metal model was donated to the MOMA in 1994. In 1935, William Lescaze established his own architecture firm, Lescaze & Associates. In 1939 he designed a futuristic "House for 2089" that included a helipad on the roof.

Lescaze was also the design lead for the 1937 Williamsburg Houses in Brooklyn, a pioneering 20-building modernist housing project modeled on European examples. He later taught industrial design at the Pratt Institute (1943–1945). Among his built works were the CBS West Coast studios Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard (1938).

Lescaze also designed the office building at 711 Third Avenue, the city and municipal courts building in the Civic Center in Manhattan, and the High School of Art and Design. From 1949 to 1959, he served at the State Building Code Commission 1932: PSFS Building, (today: Loews Philadelphia Hotel) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1934: Roy Spreter Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1934: William Lescaze House and Office, 211 East 48th Street, Manhattan, New York City The house was the first to use glass blocks in New York. 1935: Raymond C. and Mildred Kramer House at 32 East 74th Street, Manhattan, New York City 1936: Magnolia Lounge, Dallas, Texas 1937: Alfred Loomis house, Tuxedo Park, New York 1938: CBS Columbia Square Studios, Los Angeles, California 1938: Williamsburg Houses, Brooklyn, New York City 1941: Norman residence, 70th Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City 1960: Manhattan Civil Court, Civic Center, Manhattan, New York City 1961: Manhattanville Houses, New York City 1962: Church Center for the United Nations, United Nations Plaza and 44th Street, Manhattan, New York City 1963: Brotherhood in Action Building (today: David M. Schwartz Fashion Education Center, Parsons The New School for Design), Manhattan, New York City 1971: Metro North Plaza, New York City

Honors 1951: Named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) In Geneva, a street, the chemin William-Lescaze, was named after him.