Contact: Maridith Geuder
His designs include some of the most famous architectural landmarks of the nation--the Baltimore Cathedral, the original House and Senate chambers in the U.S. Capitol, and a proposed remodeling of the White House, among them. But while Benjamin Latrobe's work lives on, his name has remained relatively obscure.
Mississippi State University architectural historian Michael Fazio is on a crusade to change that, especially as it relates to the private homes Latrobe designed. And Fazio is gaining an international audience for his efforts.
A faculty member in MSU's College of Architecture since 1973, Fazio is the author of a forthcoming book published by the Johns Hopkins Press. "Inventing the American House: the Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe" is co-written with Patrick Snadon of the University of Cincinnati, formerly of MSU. The book, which will appear in 2005, is described by Preservation Magazine as a "long-awaited" study.
In addition to the recognizable national landmarks, Latrobe also designed a number of notable private homes. Only three remain in the United States--Decatur House in Washington, D.C., built for naval hero Stephen Decatur; Adena in Chillicothe, Ohio, built for Thomas Worthington, the state's first governor; and the Pope Villa in Lexington, Ky., built for Sen. John Pope.
This week [April 29 and 30], Fazio is speaking to an international gathering of about 80 at the Decatur House and will focus on Latrobe's contributions to domestic architecture. By invitation, he will provide an address for the annual meeting of Latrobe descendants from all over the world. Other speakers include Latrobe scholars such as the architectural historian of the White House.
In addition to his scholarly work about the architect, Fazio serves as an adviser to "Latrobe's America," a consortium of nine cultural institutions established in 2002 to preserve the Latrobe legacy.
"Latrobe was among the first generation of great architects in America, and is still among the greatest," Fazio said. "Thomas Jefferson brought him to Washington to work on public buildings, some of which are the nation's most notable landmarks."
Fazio's interests also have drawn the attention of architects in Germany, where he recently was invited by the U.S. Embassy to lecture to architects, chambers of commerce and others interested in preservation issues in the reunified country.
At presentations in Kiel, Berlin, Dresden, Weisbaden, and Munich, he learned that the approximately 500 people to whom he collectively spoke had some similar misconceptions and concerns, Fazio said.
"They had a presumption that we're a consumer culture and that we don't save our buildings," he noted. "They were impressed with what they saw and learned a great deal about our preservation efforts in this country."
Among the projects Fazio presented was his own historical work on Mississippi State's recently renovated Montgomery Hall, built in 1903, and on the Perry County Courthouse in New Augusta, restored following a fire that essentially decimated it.
Under the National Historic Preservation Act, the Secretary of the Interior maintains standards and guidelines for preservation of structures on the National Register of Historic Places, Fazio explained. "In Germany, there's the Venice Charter. The audiences I addressed discovered our standards are much more detailed."
The experience was a sobering one for Mississippi State's longest-serving member of the architecture faculty.
"Our nation hasn't had the kind of catastrophes Germany suffered during World War II that wiped out landmarks," he said. "And I was unprepared for the amount of devastation the Soviets had left behind."
Fazio received his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture at Auburn and Ohio State universities, respectively, and earned a doctorate in architectural history and urban development at Cornell University. He also is a co-author of the recently released "Buildings Across Time," a 600-page introduction to architecture of the world published by McGraw-Hill.