Stanford White is remembered for the density, diversity, and sheer visual energy of the ornament with which he enriched his architecture, while the buildings themselves are both strikingly original and at the same time reassuringly familiar. The first observation forms the basis of Sam White’s most recent book, “Stanford White in Detail” (Monacelli Press, 2020), which explores his great-grandfather’s dazzling use of ornament with close-up photography by Jonathan Wallen. In a lecture titled “Memory & Imagination”, Sam steps back from those tightly framed images to consider the larger sources of Stanford White’s inspiration for those extraordinary designs, ranging from the voluptuous interiors of the Villard Houses to the exuberance of his Gould Memorial Library in the Bronx.
Samuel G. White, consulting partner at PBDW Architects, has practiced architecture since 1974. His diverse portfolio of educational, institutional, and residential projects focuses on designs that introduce new interventions to historic settings in ways that both reinforce and reinterpret their contexts. Recently completed work includes a new net-zero energy dormitory for the Center for Development Economics at Williams College, expansion of Saint David’s School in New York City, restoration of the cast-iron facades of 462 Broadway, and rehabilitation of the historic Bay Head Yacht Club in New Jersey. He is a National Academician and a trustee or advisor to a number of preservation and arts organizations. In addition to Stanford White in Detail he is the author of The Houses of McKim, Mead & White; McKim, Mead & White: The Masterworks; Stanford White: Architect; and Nice House. Mr. White lectures regularly to museum and preservation groups.
