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Male, US, born 1904-09-11, died 1993-06-27
Associated with the firms network
Bittman, Henry W., Architect and Engineer; Graham, John and Company, Architects and Engineers; Jones, Ahlson and Thiry, Associated Architects; Jones, Ahlson, Thiry, Sproule and Sturtevant; Jones, Bouillon, Thiry and Sylliaasen, Architects; Thiry and Shay, Architects; Thiry, Paul, AIA, Architect
Résumé
Student Summer Intern, John Graham and Company, Seattle, WA, c. 1926.
Student Summer Intern, Henry Bittman, Architect, Seattle, WA, c. 1928.
Principal, Paul Thiry, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1929-05/1934, 1945-1951.
Partner, Thiry and Shay, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1935-1941.
On 02/15/1942, Thiry indicated that he practiced alone in Room #544 of the Skinner Building in Seattle. (See Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 176, accessed 04/23/2022.)
Partner, Jones, Bouillion, Thiry, and Syliaasen, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1942-1944.
Principal, Paul A. Thiry, FAIA, Architect, 1951-c. 1988.
Professional Service
A brief society page column of 06/10/1935 appeared in the Seattle Times that referred to "Mr Paul Thiery" [sic] indicated that he attended a club-sponsored cruise with a Miss Dorothy Wolfe; the article referred to him as "the well-known architect." (See "College Club Guests Cruise 'To Nowhere,' Seattle Times, 06/10/1935, p. 16.)
Thiry joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Seattle Chapter, in 1940. He completed a 15-week course, Camouflage School, Camouflage Division, Office of Civilian Defense, University of Washington, 10-12/1942. Seattle Chapter President, American Institute of Architects, Seattle, WA, 1951-1953. When surveyed in 1955 and 1962, Thiry indicated himself a Registered Architect in WA, CA, and UT.
Principal Architect, Seattle World's Fair (Century 21), Seattle, WA, 08/13/1958-1962. The Seattle Post-Intelligencerreported in its edition of 08/14/1958: "The Century 21 Exposition and Civic Center development project will be planned under the direction of Paul Thiry, Seattle architect. The Seattle World Fair Commission and the Civic Center Advisory Commission met yesterday and voted to hire him as the primary architect for the project. Both groups met separately and both unanimously decided to hire Thiry. Thiry was chosen from a field of 35 men being considered for the post. Architects from Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and several other cities had also been under considertation for the post." (See "Exposition Picks Architect," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 08/14/1958, p. 1.)
Chair, AIA Committee on the National Capitol Building, Washington, DC, 1963.
Member, National Capital Planning Commission and the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, 1963-1975. In 04/1964, this committee consisted of Nathaniel A. Owings, Chair, Frederick Gutheim, Douglas Haskell, Frederick L. Holburn, Dan Kiley, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Chloethiel Smith, Ralph Walker, William Walton and Thiry.
Member, Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), Board of Directors, 1967-1970.
Professional Awards
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1951.
Chancellor, AIA College of Fellows, 1962-1964.
Recipient, AIA Citation for Community Design, 1965.
Academician, National Academy of Design, New York, NY, 1967. (See "Academicians: Architects," National Academy of Design 162nd Annual Exhibition, March 24-April 29, 1987, [New York: National Academy of Design, 1987], n.p.)
Recipient, AIA, Seattle Chapter Medal, 1984. The AIA Seattle Chapter awarded Thiry the first AIA Seattle Medal (along with architect Paul Hayden Kirk [1914-1995]).
College
Dipl., Ecole Americaine des Beaux-Arts, Fontainebleau, France, Summer 1927, studying with Jacques Carlu (1890-1976); Carlu was both the Director of the American School of Fine Arts in Fontainbleau and a Professor of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA.
B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, 1928.
College Awards
Thiry was elected to Tau Sigma Delta in 1926, and won an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Student Medal, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1928.
Relocation
Paul Albert Thiry, Sr., was born in Nome, AK, but spent his youth in the Puget Sound area. He was educated at the Saint Martin's School in Lacey, WA (now known as "Saint Martin's University"), an all-boys boarding school founded by Benedictine monks in 1895. This order, based at Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN, had as its patron saint, Saint Martin of Tours (326-397).
On 04/11/1935, Thiry gave his address as 1017 Minor Avenue in Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California; NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, accessed 04/23/2022.)
Thiry reported an address of 330 North 35th Street, Seattle, WA, in 1942. (See Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 176, accessed 04/23/2022.)
In 1960, Thiry and his wife had a residence at 1017 East Blaine Street in Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016, accessed 04/23/2022.) The architect remained at this address in 1992. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 04/23/2022.)
Thiry last lived in the 98104 zip code of Seattle, WA
Parents
His father, Hippolyte Thiry , a French mining engineer working for a Belgian company, brought the family to Nome, AK, to represent its interests there.
His mother, Louise G. Schwaebel, moved Paul and herself to Seattle, WA, and started a women's clothing store selling contemporary French designs. According to MOHAI Collections Specialist for Costumes and Textiles, Clara Berg, she was known as "Madame Thiry," and was also a fashion designer. In the early 1950s, Paul Thiry would design textile patterns and had them mass produced for a short time.
In 1942, Louise Thiry resided at 1111 Boren Street in Seattle. (See Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 176, accessed 04/23/2022.)
Spouse
Thiry was married to Mary P. Thomas (born 09/06/1911 in Seattle, WA-d. 12/13/1986 in Seattle, WA) on 10/26/1940 in Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmcvol85_739, accessed 04/23/2022.) The architect, Roger Gotteland (1914-1999), was one witness at the marriage ceremony.
In 1946, Mary Thiry was the Director of the Seattle Visiting Nurse Service District Committee. (See “Anniversary of Visiting Nurses Due,” Seattle Times, 02/10/1946, p. 42.)
Children
The Thirys had two children: Paul Thiry, Jr., (born 10/20/1942 in Seattle, WA) and Pierre Phillippe Thiry (born 09/1946 in Seattle, WA). Both sons attended the University of Washington, Seattle (UW), during the 1960s.
Paul Thiry, Jr., would also become an architect, practicing in Seattle.
Pierre Thiry married Cristi S. Stammen on 11/21/1980 in Seattle, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc470747, accessed 04/23/2022.) Pierre worked as an instructor at the City College of San Francisco.
Biographical Notes
In 1923, Thiry was listed as being part of the Bachelors' Club in Seattle; the group staged a dance in 11/1923, for which he was on the organizing committee.
During a lull in construction due to the Depression, Thiry traveled around the world in 1934-1935. In Paris, he visited with the Swiss architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), known as "Le Corbusier." Thiry had his interest stoked in Modern architecture following this meeting, and he designed one of the earliest Modern houses in Seattle (Thiry House #1, 1935-1936) for his mother and himself soon after his return. Thiry also traveled to Asia, visiting site in Japan and China. Between 04/11/1935 and 04/26/1935, Thiry traveled between New York, NY, and the Port of Los Angeles, aboard the S.S. President Taft. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California; NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, accessed 04/23/2022.)
On 02/15/1942, at the age of 37, Thiry stood 5-feet, 11-and-1/2-inches tall and weighed 164 pounds. He was Caucasian, with a light complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. (See Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Washington, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 176, accessed 04/23/2022.)
When surveyed in 1955, the architect indicated that he had made three excursions to Europe.
The Thiry Family traveled from Mexico to Los Angeles aboard a Pan American Airways plane on 11/03/1956. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels and Airplanes Arriving At San Pedro, California.; NAI Number: 2945735; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2009; Record Group Number: 85, accessed 04/23/2022.)
In 11/1961, Paul and Mary Thiry traveled in Brazil, visiting Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. He arrived on 11/23/1961, and was in the country until at least 11/28/1961. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016, accessed 04/23/2022.) The couple likely flew home on 11/28/1961, and changed planes in Trinidad before arriving aboard Pan Am Flight #204 to New York on 11/30/1961. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Number: 2848504; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A3998; NARA Roll Number: 610, accessed 04/23/2022.)
The Thiry Family endowed the "Paul Albert Thiry, Sr., AIA Scholarship Fund" at the University of Washington.
SSN: 531-38-3327.
PCAD id: 1619
