Person:George Danforth (4)

Danforth, George Edson
June 10, 2007

George Edson Danforth, 90, of Chicago, passed June 5. He studied with Mies Van Der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology and George became the Professor and Director of the Department of Architecture. He received many honors, awards and was a member of the FAIA. He retired in 1980. He was a world traveler and loved music. He is preceded in death by his parents, Edson and Fleeta and leaves behind several cousins, godchildren and many dear friends. Memorial Service to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations to Edson and Fleeta Endowed Scholarship Fund or George E. Danforth Endowed Traveling Fellowship Fund, College of architecture IIT 3360 S. State St. Chicago, IL 60616. Arrangements by Cremation Society of Illinois, info. 773-281-5058.

Architect studied with Mies van der Rohe; Went on to teach at IIT
Chicago Sun-Times, Jun 11, 2007 by Esther J. Cepeda

GEORGE DANFORTH: 1916-2007

Staff Reporter/ecepeda@suntimes.com

In the early 1940s George Danforth, a young student of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, awed by the master of modern architecture's extensive personal art collection, asked his teacher how he could ever hope to be surrounded by such beauty.

As the story goes, Mies van der Rohe replied, "Go without lunch for a month."

Mr. Danforth did. He eventually bought a small Picasso etching, starting his own expansive collection of fine art and furniture that he proudly displayed in his home -- itself a historic Mies van der Rohe edifice, according to longtime friend Franz Schulze.

"He had a brilliant collection of art, in addition to being an author, architect, teacher and a distinguished administrator," said Schulze.

Mr. Danforth died of natural causes Tuesday in the nursing home where he'd resided since he suffered a debilitating stroke four years ago.

George Edson Danforth was born Dec. 3, 1916, and raised an only child in LaHarpe, Kan., where he studied piano under the instruction of his mother. He moved to Chicago in 1936 to study architecture as an undergraduate under Mies van der Rohe at the Armour Institute of Technology now known as the Illinois Institute of Technology.

SERVED IN NAVY

While attending IIT, Mr. Danforth worked as draftsman in the architectural office of Mies van der Rohe from 1939 through 1944. He had earned his undergraduate degree in 1940 and finished his graduate degree in 1943.
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He also taught at IIT from 1941 until 1953, with a break from 1944-1946 when he served in the U.S. Navy.

Mr. Danforth maintained a private architecture practice in Chicago starting in 1949. In this period he designed for museums and other institutions, most notably Lincoln Park Zoo's Great Ape House and Crown-Field Education and Administration Building in the late '70s.

He eventually retired from the Danforth, Rockwell, Carow firm in 1980.

In addition to his busy practice, Mr. Danforth also maintained an academic career, teaching at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland from 1953 to 1959. Mr. Danforth served as director of the Architecture School at IIT from 1959 to 1975. His specialty: the work of his legendary mentor, Mies van der Rohe.

'MADE FRIENDS FOR LIFE'

In 1986, at age 69, Mr. Danforth gave an extensive interview recounting his time with the master whose design hallmarks featured large open spaces, clearly ordered structural frameworks and steel and glass surfaces.

"I knew [Mies van der Rohe] so well and for so long . . . he was a slightly more distant personality to to get to know," he said to interviewer Pauline Saliga, then executive director of the Society of Architectural Historians. "Mies was never the 'warm' person. . . . Some people were put off by it, yes, who could not understand that you could be working with someone and not have the man say something every five minutes. He often didn't say anything for hours."

But in addition to being a preeminent Mies van der Rohe scholar, Mr. Danforth, a lifelong bachelor, was a man of many talents who made friends easily.

"He loved, cherished any kind of creativity if he thought it was genuine and heartfelt," said Jack Hakman, a longtime friend.

"His mother his first piano teacher. He loved jazz as well as classical. One of his fondest loves was cabaret music of the '30s, '40s, '50s -- Noel Coward, Bobby Short and Mabel Mercer.

"He loved traveling," said Hakman. "He'd meet people along the way in his travels and always made friends for life. He had three godchildren -- one in Athens, one in England and one in Mexico. It was typical of George to have wonderfully scattered colleagues and friends."

Memorial services are pending.