Charles Bulfinch

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(b. Boston, Massachusetts 1763; d. Boston 1844)

Charles Bulfinch was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1763. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in mathematics and perspective, he travelled through Europe studying architecture. Upon his return to Boston, he established a professional architecture practice in which he attempted to translate English town-planning and European architecture into an American setting.

The city of Boston appointed Bulfinch as permanent Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and as Police Superintendent. Under his direction, both the infrastructure and civic center of Boston were transformed into a dignified classical style that became increasingly detached from its European sources.

In 1818 Bulfinch succeeded Latrobe as the architect for the U.S. capitol, which had been burned by the British in 1814. In this capacity, he continued to develop an American neoclassical style of physical simplicity and refinement. With academic precision, he redirected both the form and the materials of neoclassic architecture to achieve a comprehensive blending of aesthetic and structural needs.

Bulfinch died in Boston in 1844.

See also Thornton-Latrobe-Bulfinch, Shepley and Bulfinch

References
Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8230-2539-X. NA40.I45. p31.

Randall J. Van Vynckt. International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture. London: St. James Press, 1993. ISBN 1-55862-087-7. NA40.I48 1993.

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