John Van Wie Bergamini

Last updated April 12, 2019

John Van Wie Bergamini (August 12, 1888 – January 15, 1975) was an American missionary architect who worked for the American Episcopal Mission in China, Japan, the Philippines and Africa.

Early life and education

Born in Athens, New York in 1888. Bergamini studied first at the Cooper Union, between 1908 and 1911 at the Columbia University School of Architecture, and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Athens is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 4,089 at the 2010 census. The town of Athens has a village also called Athens. The town is on the eastern end of the county.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union or The Cooper Union and informally referred to, especially during the 19th century, as 'the Cooper Institute', is a private college at Cooper Square on the border of the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Inspired in 1830 when Peter Cooper learned about the government-supported École Polytechnique in France, Cooper Union was established in 1859. The school was built on a radical new model of American higher education based on founder Peter Cooper's fundamental belief that an education "equal to the best technology schools [then] established" should be accessible to those who qualify, independent of their race, religion, sex, wealth or social status, and should be "open and free to all".

Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Established in 1754, Columbia is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It is one of nine colonial colleges founded prior to the Declaration of Independence, seven of which belong to the Ivy League. It has been ranked by numerous major education publications as among the top ten universities in the world.

Architectural career

In 1911 he was commissioned by the Congregational Church to design and build a two-story brick mission hospital in Shanxi, China.^[1] He stayed in China until 1920 when he was appointed official architect of the Episcopal Church in the Far East. During his architectural career he was credited with the design of over 200 churches, hospitals, schools and residential structures in China, Japan, the Philippines, Liberia, Mexico and the United States.

Shanxi is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋", after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn period.

His 1929 membership for the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects was sponsored by Antonin Raymond, Robert D. Kohn and Samuel Bishop.^[2] Bergamini obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Yale University in 1934

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image. The AIA also works with other members of the design and construction team to help coordinate the building industry.

Antonin Raymond, born as Antonín Reimann, was a Czech American architect. Raymond was born and studied in Bohemia, working later in the United States and Japan. Raymond was also the Consul of Czechoslovakia to Japan from 1926 to 1939, in which year the Czech diplomacy was closed down after the occupation of the European country by Nazi Germany.

Robert D. Kohn was an American architect most active in New York City.

Active in Hankou, China, where in advance of Japanese air raids in 1937 he supervised construction of air raid shelters at St. Hilda's School for Girls.^[3] Interned with his family in Baguio, Luzon as a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

Hankou(Chinese: t 漢口,s 汉口,p Hànkǒu), formerly romanized as Hankow (Hangkow), was one of the three towns whose merging formed modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han flows into the Yangtze. Hankou is connected by bridges to its triplet sister towns Hanyang and Wuchang.

Baguio, officially the City of Baguio and popularly referred to as Baguio City, is a mountain resort city located in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It is known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines, owing to its cool climate since the city is located approximately 4,810 feet above mean sea level, often cited as 1,540 meters in the Luzon tropical pine forests ecoregion, which also makes it conducive for the growth of mossy plants and orchids.

Luzon is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It is ranked 15th largest in the world by land area. Located in the northern region of the archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as well as Quezon City, the country's most populous city. With a population of 53 million as of 2015,, it is the fourth most populous island in the world containing 52.5% of the country's total population.

Notable buildings

Principal works include:

St. Margaret's School, Tokyo (1932), chapel and school facilities.
St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo (1933) main building. Chapel interior succeeding the work of Antonin Raymond
The National Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St. Mary and St. John in Quezon City.

St. Lukes International Hospital Hospital in Tokyo , Japan

St. Luke's International Hospital is a general and teaching hospital located in the Tsukiji district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan.

Quezon City is the most populous and a highly urbanized city in the Philippines. It was founded by and named after Manuel L. Quezon, the 2nd President of the Philippines, to eventually replace Manila as the national capital. The city was proclaimed as such in 1948. However, since practically all government buildings are still in Manila, many functions of national government remained there. Quezon City held the status as the official capital until 1976 when a presidential decree was issued to designate Manila as the capital and Metro Manila as the seat of government.

Family

Married Clara Dorothy Hawke in 1919. Father of five children including American historian and author David Bergamini.

David Howland Bergamini was an American author who wrote books on 20th-century history and popular science, notably mathematics. Bergamini was interned as an Allied civilian in a Japanese concentration camp in the Philippines with his mother, father and younger sister for the duration of World War II.

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References

↑ "Obituary" (PDF). New York Times. November 17, 1975. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
↑ "Application for Membership" (PDF). www.public.aia.org. The American Institute of Architects Archive. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
↑ Liu, Judith (2011). Foreign Exchange: Counterculture behind the Walls of St. Hilda's School for Girls, 1929–1937. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. p. 167. ISBN 1611460042.

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[1] "Obituary" (PDF). New York Times. November 17, 1975. Retrieved 21 December 2014.

[2] "Application for Membership" (PDF). www.public.aia.org. The American Institute of Architects Archive. Retrieved 21 December 2014.

[3] Liu, Judith (2011). Foreign Exchange: Counterculture behind the Walls of St. Hilda's School for Girls, 1929–1937. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. p. 167. ISBN 1611460042.