This sketch sheet by Cass Gilbert, dated February 3, 1912, is titled “Institutional structures by Gilbert” in the Library of Congress, although it has both public and commercial buildings. Gilbert’s description at the bottom is better: “These buildings are now in the office in various stages from Preliminary sketches to nearing completion.”
My favorite note on the sheet by far, is on the 26-story building in Philadelphia that dominates the right side of the page. The words “Bubble Burst” accompany the big X drawn over the sketch. Most of the others are readily recognizable. The bottom row, from the left, has: the Woolworth Building (noted as in contract), Union Central Life Insurance in Cincinnati (in contract), the [First] State National Bank in Newark (in contract), a mystery building, the “Helena Hotel” appears to be the Placer Hotel in Helena MT, the Philly cancellation, and the Ives [Memorial] Library in New Haven. The sketches above, from the upper left are Oberlin College (although it’s not clear which of the buildings that Gilbert worked on there is represented by that sketch), the New Haven Station (in working drawings), the St. Louis [Public] Library (in contract), the Arkansas Capitol (in contract), the Beverly [Massachusetts Public] Library, and the [University of] Texas Library (in contract). The mystery building isn’t anything obvious and the combination of Gilbert’s handwriting and a thick pencil make the name impossible (for me, anyway) to read. It’s K-squiggle-squiggle. Maybe the second letter is “i”, maybe the last letter is “y.” The only thing I found that’s even close is the Kelcey Building in Trenton, but that’s half the size listed.
I’m curious as to why Gilbert created this page. It’s not something that an architect would be likely to show a client, with the rough sketches and contract information. I wonder if he was pondering some management decisions, such as whether to hire more help, and doodled the buildings as he made a list of projects.
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