Interviewer: Mr. Hoban! How are you today?
James Hoban: I'm doing swell thank you for asking.
Interviewer: So I asked you to come here today so I could ask a few questions about your life Mr. Hoban. I was interested in the work you did during your lifetime, so if you don't mind we will begin.
Interviewer: So just as a starter, could you tell me about the time and place that you lived?
James Hoban: Oh that's an easy one, I can remember my birthplace as if it was yesterday. I was born in 1758 in Desart, Ireland near County Kilkenny. Life was pretty normal but our meal usually had potatoes in it.This is due to the fact that there was a famine before I was born that killed 400,000 people.
I was raised in Desart until I was twenty years old, that's when I moved to America. My life in Desart was pretty well. I had a good education and lived in a nice community.
Interviewer: So, what events in your early life made you interested in the arts?
James Hoban: Well, I don't know what convinced me but I had studied under Thomas Ivory, he was an architect, so I guess I just wanted to follow in his footsteps. I had gone to the Dublin Society's Drawing School. I received the Duke of Leinster's medal for my architectual drawings. I also received an advanced student placement during my school years.
I feel that Thmas inspired me to pursue architecture because he built many things for himself and others. I wanted to have that satisfaction in building great buildings for the greater good, and amazing ones for the world. I looked up at him standing on his own achievements and wanted to be up there with him and many other great architects.
Interviewer: Well, that sounds like an amazing person you had to watch you as you grew.
James Hoban: I did, he was an amazing man.
Interviewer: So my next question is, what role did your mentors have in your develpoing interest in art?
James Hoban: Well, as I said before, I looked up to him as not only a teacher but as a father. He built many things and I wanted to do the same. So I was taught under him and my teachers at the Dublin Society's Drawing School.
I knew that architecture could build a great sum of money when a project is over, so I had wanted to pursue this career so I could give my family an easy trip when I had passed. I loved the work and the work he inspired me to do, and I never regret a single moment of the long six years I studied with him.
Interviewer: That is wonderful, it sounds like you had an amazing teacher in your life, I think he really inspired you to do great things. Now, what was the waorld of art like when you entered this particular field?
James Hoban: Well, there weren't that many people who pursued the art of building houses. People wanted to build vast barracks, churches and school buildings. I pursued that when I had moved to America.
I had looked up to other people other than my mentors. One of these people is Thomas Burgh, he built the Trinity College Library, and the Royal Barracks, so he is a very prestigious architect. I had always wanted to have my name up on a school building or a hospital like many other architects.
Interviewer: That sounds like you had many heroes as a kid, but achieving these goals must have been hard. What were some cultural and economic situations that affected your work?
James Hoban: Everything would have been great economically if there wasn't the famine before I was born. The famine caused many deaths and a major resource of our land to be taken. So we lost a lot of money. That means less money to float around while I was living in Ireland. But since I was still in my studies I didn't really worry all that hard. And since I had planned to go to America I didn't worry about the economic structure. I had gone to America to build a new life with my newfound skills. I was fine during my architecture life.
In the 18th century there was a spur of architecture in Ireland. I guess I had clung onto it when I was growing up. I moved to America to spread my art in architecture. Many people wanted to acheive this kind of fame in my field of art so, I guess I wanted it also.
Interviewer: That sounds like a great thing to have, the right to be able to claim the fame of designing a famous building. So on to my next question. What were your major accomplishments and methods you had used in your art?
James Hoban: Well, of course one of my major accomplishments would be designing the White House in America. It would be the best piece of work I had ever done. People would gather around to look at the heart of the country I had emirated to and feel happy that their new country has a home.
I had entered the competition thatpicked the design of the building for the capitol. I had used the methods that Thomas Ivory showed me. I didn't think much of it. But when they told me I won I had gotten to work right away.
Interviewer: What were some of the key opportunities that you had that led to turning points in your life?
James Hoban: I feel that a key point is when I received the Duke of Leinster's medal, I had felt great about the drawings so much I pursued my career to that field. I also think that when I officially became an apprentice under Thomas Ivory was a key turning point.
A grand opportunity for my career was when I won the competition for the capitol design. That I think was the greatest turning point in my life. The great privelige of being the person to design such a grand building is amazing.
Interviewer: What were some roadblocks that you had along the way in your career?
James Hoban: I think a major roadblock was the loss of Thomas Ivory. In 1779 I lost not only a mentory but a great friend. I believe his death to be the greatest roadblock in my life. I had just worked with him for such a long time and his death hit me very hard.
Another roadblock in my career was the burning of my dear White House. I had spent such a long time designing and building it. I'm glad at least it lived for 18 years.
Interviewer: How did your work impact the world of art?
James Hoban: I myself think that I inspired and lit the path for many foreign architects by showing that a simple man from a different country can make such a big change in a new one. This meaning that I think the construction of the White House allowed many people to want to be an architect like me. I also have a memorial near my birthplace so at least Ireland know's who I was.
But I really hope that I helped many people pursue their dreams like Thomas Ivory helped me. I want to light the path for a new generation of artists in the field of architecture so that there may be large cascades of buildings and art. I want to see a brighter future that was built on my life.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hoban
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ireland_(1691%E2%80%931801)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Desart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ivory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Ireland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Ireland
http://www.whitehousehistory.org/construction-of-the-white-house/james-hoban-architect-of-the-white-house
http://www.whitehousehistory.org/construction-of-the-white-house/james-hoban-architect-of-the-white-house/irish-roots
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc31.htm
World History Book. Pg. 299 Irish Famine
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