The architectural firm of Kiehnel and Elliott was established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1906. The firm did substantial work in Florida, and moved to Miami in 1922.[1] From 1926, it was known as Kiehnel, Elliott and Chalfant.[2]
Richard Kiehnel (1870–1944) was the firm's senior partner. He was born in Germany and studied at the University of Breslau and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.[3] Kiehnel's first commission in the Miami area was in 1917 and he opened the firm's Miami office in 1922.[4] He supervised the construction of El Jardin, the earliest known Mediterranean Revival work remaining in Miami. Designing the mansion for John Bindley, President of the Pittsburgh Steel Company, Kiehnel departed from the Mission style that had only recently made its appearance in Florida and provided an elaborate antiquity for the house by using aging techniques to get the desired effect.[5][6] Kiehnel introduced Mediterranean Revival to Pinellas County through his designs of the Rolyat Hotel in Gulfport, Florida (now part of Stetson College of Law) and the Snell Arcade in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Kiehnel advanced to Art Moderne styling in the Carlyle Hotel on Miami Beach and the 1924 Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on the Miami River, the first Art Deco building in the area.[7] He also designed the Annie Russell Theatre, a Romanesque Revival building on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park.
Kiehnel was active in his profession. He was a member of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects since 1906 and a member of the national body from 1913. He was a charter member of the Florida South chapter and its president in 1930-1931[8] From 1935 to 1942 Kiehnel was the editor of Florida Architecture and Allied Arts magazine.
A number of Kiehnel's and the firm's works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[9][10]
- ^ "Kiehnel & Elliott: A Brief Survey of the Firm's Miami Projects". Learning from Miami. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ "Kiehnel and Elliott". Allegheny West. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ [1]"German-born and educated Richard Kiehnel (1877-1944) and his partner John Blair Elliott (b. 1868) were commissioned to design the school."
- ^ Kiehnel 1938
- ^ Rodriguez 1982. p. 89
- ^ Patricios 1994. p. 177
- ^ Patricios 1994. p. 176
- ^ Kiehnel 1938.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Maria Tempkin (September 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Miami Shores Thematic Group".