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The architectural firm of Kiehnel and Elliot was established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1906. Richard Kiehnel (1870–1944) was the firm's senior partner. He and the firm did substantial work in Florida.
Kiehnel was born in Germany. He studied at the University of Breslau, Germany and the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. Kiehnel's first commission in the Miami area was in 1917 and he opened the firm's Miami office in 1922. 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. 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. 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 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.
Notable buildings
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