The design of the building reflects architecture of present and past periods. The undecorated, towering, utilitarian planned building has borrowed elements from Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic Architecture.  

Los Angeles Central Library

Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue gave Hildreth Meière her first major architectural commission, the decoration of the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences. She intuitively grasped the collaborative role that Goodhue required. Her job was to enhance his vision of a building by depicting an iconography in visually striking symbols that would convey the building’s purpose and be integral to the architecture. The iconography of the dome is the History of Science as Known in 1922. On the pendentives, Meière depicted the Four Elements. Lastly, Meière decorated the arch soffits or undersides of the arches symbols of the Four Ancient Academies of Science: Accademia dei Lincei, Rome; the Royal Society of London; Académie des Sciences, Paris; and Museum of Alexandria, together with examples of their achievements. For the Accademia dei Lincei, Rome, Meière depicted Volta’s electric pile and Galileo’s telescope; for the Royal Society of London, Newton’s prism and Watt’s steam engine; for the Académie des Sciences, Paris, Daguerre’s camera, and the flask in which Pascal weighed air; and for the Museum of Alexandria, pyramids and and the great lighthouse of Alexandria.2Goodhue died in April 1924, just days before the dedication of the National Academy. Meière readily acknowledged her debt to him:<blockquote>Goodhue believed that the great building would result from the architect who had found the right sculptor and the right painter....he had no regular painter, and he said to me when I first worked for him, ‘I’ve been looking for you for years.’ I only did three jobs for him, but the association with him and his ideas were a determining factor in my work and career.<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/hildreth-meiere?name=Hildreth_Meiere">[1]</a></blockquote>

National Academy of Sciences

Seals of the Four Ancient Academies of Science + History of Science as Known in 1922 + Four Elements

By 1872 St Barts was large enough to build a new church on Madison Avenue and 44th Street designed by James Renwick, in the Lombardic style.&nbsp;

The building was embellished in 1902–1903 with a triple French Romanesque Revival portal by Stanford White. This stone relief above the entrance to the church depicts a number of Biblical scenes. On the frieze between the doors, New Testament stories are shown: Kings from the East arrive, next is the flight into Egypt, and finally, the betrayal of Jesus and John the Baptist. Old Testament figures--Isaiah and Elijah--are shown in the niches.

By the turn of the century, it had developed significant problems and the Church undertook a new building.&nbsp;

The original Portico's architect Bertram Goodhue modified his design in response to the requirement that the old church portal, beloved by the parishioners, be preserved, with its bronze doors, from the Madison Avenue building and re-erected on the new site.

This Byzantine-style church incorporates a 1903 French Romanesque portal from its previous Madison Ave. location. Designed by Stanford White and funded as a memorial for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the portal features Renaissance-inspired sculpture and ornate brass doors. There are stained glass windows by Hildreth Meire and the city's largest pipe organ. The community house was constructed later by Goodhue's firm after he had died. It cost $5.4 million in 1930. Famous congregants included Lillian Gish and her mother. But by the 1980's many of the parishioners had moved away. The Church needed money and collaborated with a developer who was going to purchase the air rights and erect a tower over the Community House. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court.

St. Bartholomew's Church 

2nd Location

1st location - A plain church

St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

 This Byzantine-style church incorporates a 1903 French Romanesque portal from its previous Madison Ave. location. Designed by Stanford White and funded as a memorial for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the portal features Renaissance-inspired sculpture and ornate brass doors. There are stained glass windows by Hildreth Meire and the city's largest pipe organ. The community house was constructed later by Goodhue's firm after he had died. 

Located inside of St. Vincent Ferrer Church.

Located inside St. Vincent Ferrer Church.

Above the entrance to the French Gothic church of St. Vincent Ferrer.

Despite his modest upbringing in Connecticut, Bertram Goodhue managed to forge an extremely successful architectural career. &nbsp;Extremely talented, he began drawing as a child and filled sketchbooks. &nbsp;He spent a few years in Boston where he met Ralph Adams Cram who would become his partner. &nbsp;before moving to New York to apprentice. &nbsp;There he learned drafting and design. &nbsp;One of the most interesting aspects of his design is the breadth and range of styles. &nbsp;Most architects find their voice relatively early and almost always work in the same style. &nbsp;Goodhue was different. &nbsp;His early buildings were Gothic. &nbsp;He travelled extensively: to Mexico and the South and even to Persia. He began to develop a Spanish Colonial Style for the Panama-California Exposition and the other buildings he designed in California. &nbsp;Some of the later work is considered Romanesque. &nbsp;He died quite suddenly&nbsp;

A description of The Chapel of Intercession and its history.

Bertram Goodhue

SITES

DRAWINGS