Title: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO OLD MAIN HALL
Location Current Site: Boulder CO UNITED STATES
Creator Personal Name: Dimick,Erastus H.
Creator Assoc Person Biography: Undergraduate Architecture student enrolled in independent study course with Lynn Lickteig in Fall 1996
Creator Assoc Person Name: Midyette-Seieroe & Assoc., Rodriguez,Vincent
Creator Assoc Person Role: Associate, Photographer
Date.Creation: ca. 1876-1876
Subject.Image Description: Auditorium theater seating, balcony
Creator.Personal Name Label: Dimick,Erastus H.
Description.Image Comments: Auditorium Seating Woodworking
Source.Acquisition Date: 1998-01-13 00:00:00
Style/Period: Second Empire
Style/Period Description: SECOND EMPIRE (1859 - 1870s) The Second Empire Style is also called the Mansard Style or Second Empire Baroque, because it revived the forms of Baroque architecture, especially 17th and early 18th century French churches and palaces, including those of architect Francois Mansart. In the United States, it has been called both the Mansard Style and the General Grant Style because of its popularity for public buildings during that President's term, 1869-77. Second Empire refers to a political era, the reign of the French Emperor Napoleon III (1852?1870), whose building campaign transformed Paris. The remodeling of the Louvre (1852?1857) brought back into vogue the mansard roof, which has two slopes, the lower one being very steeply piched. Other distinctive characteristics include symmetry, projecting pavilions each with its own mansard roof, highly sculptural facades articulated with paired columns, and superimposed columns each set of which is only one story high. The first major Second Empire building in the United States was the Corcoran Gallery (1859?1861) in Washington, D.C. by James Renwick. Subsequently, many public buildings, including federal buildings, state capitals, county courthouses, and city halls, were designed in what was considered to be the most fashionable style of its time. The availability of mass circulation magazines in this period popularized Parisian fashion. The mass production of cast-iron ornament and columns facilitatied its use from coast to coast. Second Empire Style houses were also popular. These were frequently of wood rather than masonry, and are distinguished by their mansard roofs with dormers, round or segmental arched windows, or other details derived directly or indirectly from early 17th century France or from 19th century European revival of it.
Subject Image View Type: Interior, general view
Creator.Biography: ERASTUS H. DIMICK. Dimick was born in Burlington, VT in 1852, the son of an architect and contractor of the same name. He moved to Colorado in 1874, and settled in Boulder. Dimick designed Old Main Hall, the first and only monumental structure on the University of Colorado campus when it opened in 1876. In 1879, Dimick moved to Leadville, Colorado. When he died in 1892, his son, Herbert C. Dimick, continued the profession. Herbert designed the Carnegie Library, now the Heritage Museum (1904), and the Taylor House (1895), both in Leadville. Sources: CU Heritage Center; Thomas J. Noel, Buildings of Colorado, New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. (Cathleen Norman, 1999)
ID Number.Former Image Accession VISC: 34902
Date.Image: 1996
Rights Description: Copyright owned by The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate, and the photographer. All rights reserved.
Date.Restoration Circa: ca.
Creator.Comments: U.S. Architect
Source.Requestor Full Name: Lickteig, Lynn
ID Number.Former Digital Accession VISC: 2904
Collection Name: Architecture and Planning Collection
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