Tag: Photography

Phila Chapter SAH: Two Tours at Temple

A Tour of the Exhibit “Learning to See: Denise School Brown”
with Pablo Meninato, Associate Professor of Architecture, Tyler School of Art
followed by a
Tour of Temple’s New Charles Library
with Kate Wingert-Playdon, Associate Dean, Tyler School of Art
Tuesday, June 29 from 4:00 p.m. to approx.. 6:00 p.m.

Charles Library (photo courtesy of Temple University)

This will be a live, in-person event.
As mask regulations are subject to change quickly, you should bring a mask just in case one is required.

This is a free event that was originally open only to current Phila Chapter SAH Members.  BUT WE NOW HAVE A FEW SPACES OPEN FOR NON-MEMBERS.
Advance registration is required at info@philachaptersah,org. no later than Monday, June 28.  Please email that address with any questions.

Please arrive at Temple Contemporary Tyler School of Art, 2001 N 13th St, Philadelphia, by 3:45 p.m., the tour will begin promptly at 4:00 p.m.

Denise Scott Brown is regarded as among the most influential architects of the twentieth century; through her architecture, planning, theoretical writing and mentorship she and her late partner, Robert Venturi are credited with changing the course of American Architecture.

One of the guiding principles underlying this new trajectory is a non-judgmental way of looking at and responding as designers to the everyday built environment. This “Learning From . . .” approach is vividly conveyed in the photography of Denise Scott Brown.

The photos on display document Scott Brown’s travels, inspirations and interests through the lens—from the rural vernacular of South Africa to the beauty and banality of European cities, to the significance of pop culture in the American built environment, like the Las Vegas Strip, through its gas stations, billboards, roadside stores, signs, advertisements and more

If you can’t join our tour, “Learning to See: Denise Scott Brown,” will be on exhibit at Temple Contemporary through September 19, 2021.

Temple’s Charles Library opened for the start of the fall 2019 semester. This state-of-the-art learning center is transforming the campus with its striking design and sophisticated technology. It’s the most modern library in Pennsylvania and one of the most significant new libraries in North America. It’s a place where all Temple students and faculty, regardless of discipline, can study, learn, create and collaborate.

The library boasts an impressive collection of high-demand volumes available in traditional stacks, and additional books available via an automated storage and retrieval system known as the BookBot. Located underneath Charles, the cutting-edge technology increases usability, allowing for more open space in the library where faculty and students can gather and work, while still providing easy access to the library’s extensive collection.

Sited at the intersection of two major pedestrian pathways, Polett Walk and Liacouras Walk, and at the nexus of Temple’s Main Campus, Charles Library anchors a new social and academic heart for the university’s diverse student body of over 39,000.

Woven into the fabric of North Philadelphia, the building sits just one block off of Broad Street, the connecting artery to the city. Within its dynamic urban context, Snøhetta’s design, developed in collaboration with Stantec, reinterprets the traditional typology of the research library as a repository for books, integrating the building with a diversity of collaborative and social learning spaces. And in offering more than double the amount of study spaces than its 1960s predecessor, Paley Library, the 220,000-square-foot Library anticipates welcoming over 5 million annual visitors.

LEARNING TO SEE: REVISITING DENISE SCOTT BROWN’S WORK AND IDEAS

With AIA National President Peter Exley and Carolina Vaccaro, Scholar and Curator
Thursday, April 22, at 4:00 p.m.
Free and open to all via this Zoom link:
https://temple.zoom.us/j/95425410506

This is the third talk in SAH Philadelphia’s The Elusive Philadelphia School; The Many Guises of Philadelphia’s Modernism lecture series. Keep your eye on our website for future talks in this series www.philachaptersah.org

“Denise Scott Brown: ‘Learning to See’” will be on exhibit at Temple Contemporary from May 20 through September 19, 2021.

Denise Scott Brown is regarded as among the most influential architects of the twentieth century; through her architecture, planning, theoretical writing and mentorship she and her late partner, Robert Venturi are credited with changing the course of American Architecture.

One of the guiding principles underlying this new trajectory is a non-judgmental way of looking at and responding as designers to the everyday built environment. This “Learning From . . .” approach is vividly conveyed in the photography of Denise Scott Brown.

The photos on display document Scott Brown’s travels, inspirations and interests through the lens—from the rural vernacular of South Africa to the beauty and banality of European cities, to the significance of pop culture in the American built environment, like the Las Vegas Strip, through its gas stations, billboards, roadside stores, signs, advertisements and more. (https://www.archdaily.com/959625/learning-to-see-denise-scott-brown)

In advance of the show’s opening, SAH Philadelphia, in conjunction with the Tyler Department of Architecture is pleased to bring together two prominent architect/scholars in their own right, who learned from, and were profoundly influenced by, their formative experiences with Venturi Scott Brown and their associates.

Peter Exley, FAIA, AIA President, co-founder of the Chicago based firm architectureisfun: Peter Exley has established an internationally-recognized, award winning practice of architecture for children, families and communities elevating the standards of design for learning and play environments. He worked at Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates in the late 1980’s.

Carolina Vaccaro is an architect and scholar based in Rome, Italy, and has published multiple works around this topic. Vaccaro worked at the office of Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates in the 1980s. She is the scientific curator and designer of the “Denise Scott Brown: ‘Learning to See’” exhibition at Tyler Contemporary.

We hope you will join us for what promises to be a lively and revealing discussion.

The photography of Denise Scott Brown has been featured in a variety of shows and publications, including:

Aperture
(https://aperture.org/editorial/denise-scott-brown-las-vegas/

Graham Foundation
http://www.grahamfoundation.org/public_exhibitions/3878-las-vegas-studio-images-from-the-archives-of-robert-venturi-and-denise-scott-brown

Carriage Trade, N.Y.
https://carriagetrade.org/Denise-Scott-Brown-Photographs

Arch Record / Venice Biennale
http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/11824-view-master-the-world-as-seen-by-denise-scott-brown

WILLIAM RAU’S PHILADELPHIA

“Old store Race St. Wharf, Phila.” Race Street at Delaware Avenue, ca. 1880-1900. Library of Congress.

The Oliver Evans Society for Industrial Archeology, the Philadelphia Chapter Society of Architectural Historians and the Wagner Free Institute of Science invite you to

A Glass Lantern Slide presentation by Martha Capwell Fox, Historian and Archives Coordinator for the National Canal Museum, a program of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor

Wednesday, December 5 at 6:00 p.m.
The Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 W Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia

Reception to follow.

$15 per person for members of The Oliver Evans Society for Industrial Archeology, the Philadelphia Chapter Society of Architectural Historians and the Wagner Free Institute of Science and their guests, $20 for all others.

ALL TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE, NO ADMISSIONS AT THE DOOR.  Select ticket from drop down menu below, then click Add to Cart button.


Ticket Price




Using the Wagner’s vintage glass lantern slide projector Martha will present a program featuring 19th-C views of Philadelphia by famed photographer William H. Rau, (January 19, 1855 – November 19, 1920).  Born in Philadelphia, at the age of 13, he started doing photographic work for his future father-in-law, William Bell, a medical and survey photographer for the federal government. In 1874, with Bell’s recommendation, Rau joined an expedition to Chatham Island in the South Pacific to photograph the Transit of Venus. After returning, Rau worked for the Centennial Photographic Company, the official photographers of Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition. After the exposition, he joined his father-in-law’s stereo card studio, which he purchased in 1878. He operated this studio in partnership with his brother, George, until 1880. From that point into the 20th-C he traveled the world making photographs on commission for numerous groups.  He spent a significant portion of the 1890s doing photographic work for both the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and published collections of his railroad photos in 1892 and 1900.  He was the official photographer for the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 and the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland the following year.  His work is now included in the collections of several prominent museums, libraries and archives around the world.

The National Canal Museum’s collection of Rau glass lantern slides was a gift from Professor Charles Best, who was chair of the engineering department at Lafayette College.  There are over 1200 slides in his collection, but we will see about 80 of the best of Philadelphia.

Martha Capwell Fox has been with the National Canal Museum for six years, but has a three decades-long relationship with the Museum through former Director Lance Metz. She graduated from American University with a dual degree in International Relations and History.  She spent most of her career in publishing; working at National Geographic and was a senior editor at Rodale Press.  She has published seven books, four Arcadia books on local  Lehigh Valley history, and YA histories of swimming, auto racing and Vatican City.  Her latest book, “Geography, Geology, and Genius:  The Industrial History of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor” is in production and should be out by the end of the year.

The talk will take place in the historic Lecture Hall of the Wagner Free Institute of Science and is followed by a reception in the Museum.

About the Wagner: Founded in 1855, the Wagner Free Institute of Science is dedicated to providing free public education in science. Its programs serve all ages and include evening science courses—the oldest free adult education program in the country—lectures, field trips and children’s lessons. The Wagner is also committed to preserving and interpreting its National Historic Landmark building, designed by John McArthur, which opened in 1865. The building houses a Victorian-era lecture hall, a library, and three-story exhibition hall displaying more than 100,000 natural history specimens. The site is virtually unchanged since the 1890s. The Wagner today is both an educational institution that teaches contemporary science, and a historic site that presents a time capsule of Victorian science. It is open to visitors Tuesdays – Fridays, 9 AM to 4 PM, year-round, and offers an array of evening and weekend programs throughout the year. It is located at 1700 W. Montgomery Avenue, a few blocks from Temple University’s main campus and the Temple-Cecil B. Moore Broad Street Line station.

PALAZZOS OF POWER: CENTRAL STATIONS OF THE PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC COMPANY, 1900-1930

2017-04-13 PECO Allegheny Ave District Off

An exhibition and book talk by by Joseph E. B. Elliott and Aaron V. Wunsch
Harvey and Irwin Kroiz Gallery, Architectural Archives
Lower Level of the Fisher Fine Arts Library
220 South 34th Street, University of Pennsylvania
Exhibition: March 20 – June 14, 2017
Reception and Book Talk: Thursday, April 13, 6:00 .p.m.
Free and open to the public.  No registration required.

This exhibition explores a series of colossal neoclassical power stations erected by The Philadelphia Electric Company between 1900 and 1930.  Presented through the photographs of Joseph E. B. Elliott (Professor of Art, Muhlenberg College) and scholarship of Aaron V. Wunsch (Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation, University of Pennsylvania), the show accompanies their recently released book, Palazzos of Power (Princeton Architectural Press): https://www.amazon.com/Palazzos-Power-Stations-Philadelphia-1900-1930/dp/1616895004

 

Palazzos of Power: Central Stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company, 1900-1930: A Lecture and Book Signing

palazzos-cover_

with author Aaron V. Wunsch and photographer Joseph E. B. Elliott
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Center for Architecture + Design, 1218 Arch Street, Philadelphia
Lecture 6:00-7:00 p.m., Reception & book signing 7:00-8:00 p.m.

“If it isn’t Electric, it isn’t Modern.” Such was the slogan of the Philadelphia Electric Company, developer of an unprecedented network of massive metropolitan power stations servicing greater Philadelphia at the turn of the twentieth century.  These once-brilliant sentinels of civic utility and activity were designed to convey ‘solidity and immensity’ in an age of deep public skepticism.  They now stand vacant and decaying, a blight in the eyes of city planners and a beacon to urban explorers.  Join Aaron Wunsch, assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, and Joseph Elliott, renowned photographer and Professor of Art at Muhlenberg College, as they discuss the first book on the buildings and machines that made possible the electrification of the United States.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.

This event is free, but registration is required at
http://aiaphiladelphia.org/events/palazzos-power-central-stations-philadelphia-electric-company-1900-1930-0

Sponsored by AIA Philadelphia’s Historic Preservation Committee, the Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance, the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Association for Preservation Technology, the Philadelphia Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians, and the Oliver Evans Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology.

Pennsylvania Modern Architecture Juried Photo Exhibit

uncommon-modern-exhibit-betsy-manning-sm-300x196

As part of The State Museum and Archives’ 50th anniversary commemoration, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is hosting a juried photo exhibit at The State Museum focusing on Pennsylvania’s wide variety of modern architecture. Featured will be submissions of photographs that display examples of mid-20th century architecture constructed in Pennsylvania between 1930 and 1980. Entries may depict exteriors, interiors, and/or details of roadside architecture, schools, religious buildings, homes, commercial structures, recreational sites and other modern buildings. Entries will be received online through June 30, 2015. The exhibit will open to the public on Sunday, October 25, 2015, and close February 28, 2016.

We are currently seeking submissions via www.callforentry.org, a professional art entry website. Entries will be accepted through June 30, 2015.

For more information and a complete list of official rules to enter the juried exhibit visit http://statemuseumpa.org/pennsylvania-modern-architecture-photo-exhibit/

Jurors:
Dennis Hockman, Editor-in-Chief, Preservation magazine, and Senior Director, Editorial+Creative, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, D.C.

Betsy Manning, Philadelphia-based photojournalist and featured photographer in the special exhibit
“UnCommon Modern: A Pennsylvania Glossary of Midcentury Architecture,” now on display at The State Museum through April 26, 2015.  For details visit http://statemuseumpa.org/changing-exhibit/uncommon-modern-pennsylvania-glossary-midcentury-architecture/

David Oresick, Executive Director, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh