New Jersey
Charles Isaac Berg (1856-10/12/1926) New York, New York (F.A.I.A.)
A partner of the original firm of Cady, Berg & See, he was born and
educated in Philadelphia, and studied architecture in the Atlier Andre at the
Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. After returning to New York, Berg began
his career in partnership with J. Cleveland Cady, and Milton See in
the firm with which he was connected for many years. One of
the most important of the firm's early commissions was the old Metropolitan
Opera House (opened in 1883), followed by the first building
of the group at the American Museum of Natural History. Later in his
practice, Berg was commissioned to design a number of commercial structures
in New York, the most important of which was the Gillender Building.
Erected in 1887 on a lot 25 feet by 73 feet, at the corner of Wall and Nassau
Streets, it was twenty stories in height, and one of the first Sky=scrapers
in the city, standing until several years after Berg's death when it wa
razed to make way for the Bankers' Trust Building. Among his other works
were the Charles Building, on Madison Avenue at 43rd Street, the Windsor
Arcade and the Hotel Touraine, the latter of French design, built on Fifth
Avenue at 39th Street. In 1915, he was appointed Consulting Architect of the
President's Palace at Havana, Cuba, his last important commission before
he retired, due to illness, in 1926.
An active member of the New York Chapter, A.I.A. for many years, Berg served as Secretary for three terms, and later was made a Fellow of the Institute. He was also affiliated with other professional organizations, including the Architectural League of New York, and the Beaux Arts Society of Architects.