Constant-Désiré Despradelle

American architect

Constant Désiré Despradelle (May 20, 1862 – February 8, 1912) was a French born architect and professor of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who, through his teaching, influenced a generation of Beaux Arts style architects and helped to popularize this style throughout North America.

Born in Chaumont, France, Despradelle was admitted to the École des Beaux Arts at age twenty, was educated in the atelier of Jean Louis Pascal, and obtained his diploma in 1886. He won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1889. In 1893, Despradelle went to Boston, accepting a position as Professor of Design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Andrew R. Cobb. American architects who trained under him included Francis M. Miller, Ellis Lawrence, Marion Mahony, Ida Annah Ryan, Rose Standish Nichols and Raymond Hood. A contemporary anecdote in the MIT student paper The Tech may give some indication of his manner and personality: "The Lounge [a column in the paper] secured the services of Mr. Derby as interpreter, and thus equipped sought an audience with Professor Despradelles. After an excited conversation of about fifteen minutes Mr. Derby reported in full to The Lounge as follows, 'Mr. Despradelles says that Sunday is a curious American custom'." Despradelle was an architect of the early buildings and grounds of the University of California, and served on its advisory board. Despradelle continued to refine his design after the Exposition was over, and although the Beacon was never built, the strength of his final 1900 drawings "drew a great deal of attention and had a lasting impact" in the Francophone world. Those drawings retained by the French government from domestically hosted exhibitions were included in the 1908 Franco British Exhibition in London, a "tribute to [this] teacher of so many upcoming architects, but also recognition and understanding of Despradelle's creative vision."