The following is a brief excerpt from Architect’s Digest, a quarterly periodical that features detailed coverage on projects and in-depth profiles of influential architects and designers. [Article originally published one year ago.]
Sumter: A Unique Vision
By Eniko Doma
A private high school that caters to the obscenely wealthy, Sumter Private Academy has earned international fame due its eclectic roster of successful alumnae. It has also gained worldwide attention for having been designed and built by the celebrated architect, Kregin Hahn, over a century ago.
The school’s founder, Ira Sumter, hired Hahn after rejecting the original architect’s design plan, deeming it to be “dull, rectangular, and prison-like.” Hahn was quick to win Sumter’s favor with his signature gothic architecture and, more importantly, the ability to adapt to his employer’s many eccentricities. Ira Sumter would frequently demand architectural changes during construction, ordering Hahn to add secret doors and hidden passageways to the rooms, with no known rationale or explanation given. Hahn, notorious for his combative and irritable personality, would uncharacteristically comply, despite it leading to significant delays on the project. Many who knew Hahn claimed that his work on the building’s construction had consumed him, and that he became obsessed with it on a personal level—one that would later have serious repercussions on his health.
At Ira Sumter’s insistence, gargoyles were to be placed on the north, south, and west sides of the building. She later demanded several be added to the east side as well. Hahn, in turn, contracted renowned Delgadan artist Sirio Balíst to design and sculpt the gargoyles. Made of corlite, an extremely expensive and difficult stone to work with, each statue required precision laser cutting and radenite tools to properly sculpt.
Despite their worldwide popularity, mutual respect for one another, and extensive work in gothic architecture, this would prove to be Balíst and Hahn’s only project together—both men died shortly after Sumter Academy’s completion.
Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Kuraikabe5211.
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