Henry Hobson Richardson is considered one of America's greatest
architects He was born in 1838 in Louisiana. After graduating from Harvard, he continued
his studies in Paris, where he learned the discipline and thought that is necessary for
architecture. Upon returning to the United States, after the Civil War, he began making
his mark on American Architecture. His vision was eventually labeled the
"Richardsonian" school. This vision mixed the Romanesque architecture of old
with a newly fueled vision that was all his own. His work ranged from religious, Trinity Church in Boston, to commercial, the now demolished Marshal Fields Building in Chicago.
The Allegheny
courthouse in Pittsburgh is an example of Richardson's fusion of an older style, French
Second Empire architecture, with his more modern picturesque style. Richardson was perhaps
Olmsted's best friend after the Civil War. They collaborated on a number of projects,
namely the Buffalo State Hospital and Niagara Square in Buffalo. One reason that the two
worked well together was their mutual admiration for each others abilities and their
shared drive toward perfection. The two also shared the idea that until the design was
finished, whether the building was built or the park was open to the public, the design
process was always open to change and update. Richardson died in 1886.