Irving Kane Pond

ľUNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Irving Kane Pond (1857-1939) and his brother Allen Bartlitt Pond (1858–1929) were Chicago architects, and leading partners in the prominent firm Pond & Pond, Martin & Lloyd. Irving Kane Pond designed the L. W. Rogers Building, headquarters of the American Theosophical Society in Wheaton, Illinois.

Autobiography

Personal life

Irving Kane Pond, 1876

Architectural work

Philosophy and style

The Ponds sought to create a modern American architecture without rejecting architectural stylistic traditions, but simplifying them through the emphasis of geometry and the inherent quality of building materials and construction. In that regard, the Ponds were strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, with the emphasis on honest materials used honestly.

Strong sense of social responsibility .....

Stylistically Irving Pond did not totally fit in one category or another. He stood in the role of an intermediary, halfway between the revolutionary aesthetics and technology of the Chicago School and the Prairie School and the taste for traditional architecture his clients often felt that precedent or literary aesthetics required. His architecture used traditional materials especially brick and employed traditional forms such as gable roofs, but his designs embraced a geometric simplicity with no embellishments — a tenet of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Gallery of architectural projects

The L. W. Rogers Building and similar structures

L. W. Rogers Building, 1926

• 
  Michigan Union, 1919
• 
  Purdue Memorial Union, 1924
• 
  Michigan State University Union, 1925
• 
  Kansas Memorial Union, 1927
• 
  Michigan League, 1929

Examples of other buildings

• 
  Highland Park Club House, 1891
• 
  Oregon Public Library, 1909
• 
  Manor House, Kenosha, WI, 1926

Other activities

Circus and acrobatics

Northwestern University Settlement House

Settlement House movement

The Pond brothers were strong supporters of the settlement house movement that developed in Chicago during the Progressive Era. They designed many facilities for Jane Addams' Hull House, a complex of thirteen buildings providing social services, child care, and adult education. Allen Bartlitt Pond served on the board of directors for Hull House.

The Northwestern University Settlement House at 1400 West Augusta was designed by Pond and Pond in 1901, and has been designated a Chicago Landmark.

Social clubs and memberships

Chicago Literary Club

Big Top Rhythms

Theosophical Society connections

Theosophist and architect Claude Fayette Bragdon (1866-1946) was a friend of Irving Kane Pond. In 1926, when the American Theosophical Society was planning its new national center in Wheaton, Illinois, Bragdon was asked to design it. He was then reorienting his career from architecture to stage design, so he declined. He recommended engaging Pond & Pond, Martin & Lloyd, the Chicago architectural firm headed by his friend Irving Kane Pond, and the Society followed his advice. The architects submitted two designs for consideration, and the Society's Board of Directors was evenly divided over which should be the finalist. President L. W. Rogers sent both drawings to Bragdon, who returned a telegram saying that his preference would be the "asymmetrical" design, and that is the one that was built. It is now called the L. W. Rogers Building. Pond wrote:

Bragdon referred his clients to me as one who could empathize with their ideas and minister to their needs. The building was built from our plans and at the laying of the corner stone, as well as upon other occasions, I had the prestige of meeting many of the internationally famous of the Cult [Theosophical Society], notably Annie Besant and the newly discovered messiah, Krishnamurti, a soulful eyed boy who was being led about as in a trance. . . I stood where it was indicated that I should stand until, when at a point in the ritual, I should step forward and lay the stone "plum" and "square" and "true." I stayed after the ceremony and helped the mason reset the stone properly. I found laiety (sic) and leaders to be a gentle lot and later learned that Krishnamurti had developed an individuality, which, probably, he had been at pains to conceal, and refused further to be exploited.

Pond can be seen at the cornerstone ceremony with Annie Besant in a 1926 silent film that is available on YouTube. He also presented Mrs. Besant with a tube, but the contents are not known.

Another Theosophist with whom Pond had some connection was the Chicago etcher Bertha Jaques. When her book A Country Quest was published in 1936, she gave a copy to Irving Kane Pond, bearing the inscription "To Irving K. Pond with best wishes. Bertha E. Jaques. Christmas 1936." It is possible that they met at the cornerstone ceremony in Wheaton, Illinois on August 29 ten years earlier, but otherwise they may have become acquainted through artistic or social groups. Both were heavily engaged in the arts and social activism, and they shared a love of Michigan, the subject of her book. The copy that she gave to Pond was donated with his library to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and is available at Hathitrust.

Writings

• The Meaning Of Architecture: An Essay In Constructive Criticism. Boston, Marshall Jones Company, 1918. 226 pages, illustrations. Available at Hathitrust and several versions at Internet Archive. A historical reproduction of the 1923 edition is available at Amazon.com.
• "Eliel Saarinen and his work a word of appreciation and greeting". 1923. Available at and [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008062880&seq=1 Hathitrust. Pages extracted from The Western Architect 32 no. 7 (July, 1923): 75-76 plus plates.
• A Day Under the Big Top, a Study in Life and Art. Chicago: Chicago Literary Club, 1924. 40 pages, with 4 diagrams. "Edition, five hundred and fifteen copies, printed for members of the club in the month of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-four." About circus and acrobatics. Available at Google Books and Hathitrust.
• The College Union. [New York], 1931. 16 pages. Limited availability at Hathitrust and Google Books.
• "Pullman - America's First Planned Industrial Town". Illinois Society of Architects. Monthly Bulletin vol. 18-19, nos. 12-1 (June-July, 1934): 6-8.
• Big Top Rhythms: A Study in Art and Life, written and illustrated by Pond. Chicago, New York, Willett, Clark and Company, 1937. 229 pages, illustrations.
• A Strange Fellow, and Other Club Papers, written and illustrated by Pond New York, Chicago, Priv. Print. by Willett, Clark and Company, 1938. 224 pages, illustrations. Available at Hathitrust, Open Content Alliance, and Internet Archive.
• The Autobiography of Irving K. Pond, written in the 1930s and published posthumously. Edited by Terry Tatum and David Swan. Oak Park, IL: Hyoogen Press, 2009.

Additional resources

Articles

• Szuberla, Guy. "⁨Irving Kane Pond: a Michigan Architect in Chicago" Old Northwest 5 no. 2 (Summer, 1979): 109-140.

Books

• Pond, Irving Kane. The Autobiography of Irving K. Pond: The Sons of Mary and Elihu ed.David Swan and Terry Tatum. Oak Park, Ill: The Hyoogen Press, 2009.

Archival collections

• The University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.
  • Pond Family Papers, 1841-1939. "Correspondence of Elihu B. Pond, editor of Michigan Argus, his sons, Chicago architects, Irving Kane and Allen Bartlit Pond, founders of firm of Pond & Pond, and other family members; include materials concerning family affairs, architectural projects, Jane Addams and the work of Hull House, European travels, politics especially as relates to period of the Civil War and the election of 1896; also photographs, architectural drawings and other visual materials."
• The Art Institute of Chicago: Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Pond and Pond Collection, c.1895-1938. "Correspondence, albums, black and white photographic prints, architectural drawings, and architectural reprographic prints."
• The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts, Chicago, Illinois.
  • American Circus Collection, 1891-1939. "Late 19th and early 20th century circus and theater related illustrations, publicity, programs, photographs and memorabilia" donated by Irving Kane Pond, 1939.
  • Chicago Literary Club records. Irving Kane Pond was active in this club, and its records include "weekly papers read by over 250 members, but also correspondence, minutes, a visitors' register, cashbook, and scrapbooks."
• Columbia University Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, New York.
  • Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue architectural drawings and papers 3460598. Materials related to Irving Kane Pond, Claude Bragdon, and many other architects.
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog Historic American Buildings Survey, Engineering Record, Landscapes Survey, Washington DC.
  • Junior League of Chicago, 1447 North Astor Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL
• The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Pond, Irving K. (Irving Kane), 1857-1939. "Correspondence to Seeler from architects, designers, and/or members of theAmerican Institute of Architects, both in Boston and Washington DC."