The Progressive Architecture Of Frederick G. Scheibler, Jr

Preface

fi5 Preface I FIRST ENCOUNTERED the buildings of frederick G. Scheibler, Jr., when visiting my future wife in Pittsburgh. She took me to see two buildings near her apartment that had caught her eye: two stucco apartment buildings decorated with birds and mushrooms. Since that time we have been eleven years together, living among Scheibler's buildings . They are good and captivating neighbors. This study of architect Frederick G. Scheibler, Jr., is addressed to the academic and the enthusiast, the architect and the student, the preservationist and the property owner-all those who, like us, have been drawn to Scheibler's buildings. The work expands significantly upon previous efforts to address this subject . A critical essay with illustrations, few of which have been previously published, addresses the career, work, and significance of the architect, placing him for the first time within the larger context of the architects and architecture of his times. A catalogue of works is the most complete attempt thus far at compiling a catalogue raisonne; it expands and corrects previous efforts and includes a list of common misattributions . The first substantial Scheibler bibliography also appears here. This book is monographic in its scope; but it still leaves ample room for additional scholarship in the interpretation of the work and in the likely discovery of additional commissions for the catalog. I hope that it will inspire such investigations. In this study I have not questioned the normative presumption of the turn-of-the-century progressive architectural movements, that is that they were in fact progressive. Though the International Style modernism that ultimately resulted from their progress has been partly discredited in recent years, the progressive impetus need not be discredited on account of its offspring. In fact, ironically, these turn-of-thecentury progressive movements have recently garnered extraordinary attention and acclaim, even as modernism has been decried. Modernism was a natural outgrowth of these movements and, I believe, a noble and necessary experiment; and I am not at all abashed to say that Scheibler's Vilsack Row was his most progressive-as it was his most modern--design , though other Scheibler projects may more fully represent the values of our current postmodern times. One such value is a respectful historicism that results in a preservationist ethic. Scheibler himself provided the lesson for why we must always build anew; but simple cultural respect requires us to value the progressives of each age. Thus far Scheibler's known buildings have suffered primarily from a nonlethal but regrettable combination of neglect and artistic compromise, committed under the twin guises of ignorance and improvement. Soon, no doubt, a key work by Scheibler will face total destruction. I hope that this book may serve to encourage the owners of xi xii Preface Scheibler properties to value what they have and to choose maintenance and restoration over decay and compromise. It may also serve to apprise the community at large of one man's invaluable bequest to its streets and neighborhoods. Thus we may all assure a sufficient inheritance for the future. I am grateful to the staffs of many repositories including the Archives of Industrial Society of the University of Pittsburgh Libraries, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Builders Exchange, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, the Spruance Library of the Mercer Museum, the Wilkinsburg -Penn Joint Water Authority, and public libraries and courthouses and other government repositories throughout Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Many people tolerated my persistent presence and fielded my inquiries into Scheibler minutiae. I am also grateful to my own repository and employer, the Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives and Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, for necessary support and encouragement. And I am grateful to property owners, residents, and other informants , who welcomed me in from their doorsteps or responded to my mail or telephone inquiries. My thanks to Scheibler family members Mildred Kilham, and Milton and Diane Zimmer and family, whose enthusiasm for this work was a great encouragement . Thanks also to Fred Bruckman, Gary Cirrincione , Kasey Connors, Michael Eversmeyer, Jane Flanders, David Golden, Lockwood Hoehl, Andrew Jamrom, Marianne Kolson, Terry Necciai, Ann Paul, Henry Pisciotta, Richard Schoenwald, Thomas Sutton , Gary Thomas, James D. Van Trump, Franklin West, and David Wilkins for various and key contributions to the cause. Special thanks to Gillian H. Belnap, whose own study of Scheibler's multifamily projects provided the impetus for a full-length study, who inadvertently bluffed me into doing that study, and who roundly and...