The Architecture of Francis Palmer Smith, Atlanta's Scholar-Architect

FrancisPalmerSmithwastheprincipaldesignerofAtlanta-basedPringleandSmith,oneoftheleadingfirmsoftheearlytwentieth-centurySouth.Smithwasanacademiceclecticwhocreatedtraditional,history-basedarchitecturegroundedintheteachingsoftheÉcoledesBeaux-Arts.AsTheArchitectureofFrancisPalmerSmithshows,SmithwascentraltotheestablishmentoftheBeaux-ArtsperspectiveintheSouththroughhisacademicandprofessionalcareer.AfterstudyingwithPaulPhilippeCretattheUniversityofPennsylvania,SmithmovedtoAtlantain1909toheadthenewarchitectureprogramattheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology.HewouldgoontotrainsomeoftheSouth’smostsignificantarchitects,includingPhilipTrammellShutze,FlippenBurge,PrestonStevens,EdIvey,andLewisE.CrookJr.In1922SmithformedapartnershipwithRobertS.Pringle.InAtlanta,Savannah,Chattanooga,Jacksonville,Sarasota,Miami,andelsewhere,Smithbuiltofficebuildings,hotels,andArtDecoskyscrapers;buildingsatGeorgiaTech,theBaylorSchoolinChattanooga,andtheDarlingtonSchoolinRome,Georgia;GothicRevivalchurches;standardisedbottlingplantsforCoca-Cola;andhousesinarangeoftraditional“period”stylesinthesuburbs.Smith’sloveofmedievalarchitectureculminatedwithhis1962masterwork,theCathedralofSt.PhilipinAtlanta.Ashiscareerdrewtoaclose,ModernismwasestablishingitselfinAmerica.Smith’sownmodernaestheticwasevidencedinthemorepopulistmodernofArtDeco,butheneverembracedtheabstractmachineaestheticofhighModern.RobertM.CraigdetailstheroleofhistoryindesignforSmithandhisgeneration,whobelievedthatarchitectureisanartandthatornament,culturalreference,symbolism,andtraditioncommunicatetoclientsandobserversandenrichthelivesofboth.