Tag: architecture

Celebrating an Architectural Masterpiece: The 100th Anniversary of the Harrison Rotunda at the Penn Museum

November 2, 2015 /

Penn Musuem lecture_rotunda

Sunday, Nov 8, 2:00 p.m.
Penn Museum, 3260 South Street
Free with Museum admission
http://www.penn.museum/

One of the grandest domes in the country, the Penn Museum’s Harrison rotunda, completed in 1915 and long home to an internationally renowned collection of Chinese art, soars an impressive 90 feet high. David Brownlee, Ph.D., Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor of the History of Art, shares his insights into the historical architectural significance of the rotunda and the auditorium that rests directly below. The completion of the rotunda, he notes, demonstrated the University’s great and modern rationality and its sustained commitment to its museum master plan, designed to accommodate infinite expansion of the museum as its collections grew. It also demonstrated the continued experimentation with architectural vocabulary by its very creative architects. Finally, it was assuredly a bravura display of the nearly magical structural capacity of the Guastavino vaulting system.  Alessandro Pezzati, Museum Senior Archivist, shares stories about the construction and opening of these iconic spaces.

Architectural Surprises of Upper East Falls (Queen Lane Manor) Walking Tour

September 9, 2015 /

2015-10-03 East Falls tour Queen Lane Manor Apt Bldg 2

Saturday, October 3, 11:00 a.m., Queen Lane SEPTA station

Free for Phila Chapter SAH members, $10 for their guests, payable on site.

Space is limited, registration is required at info@philachaptersah.org

Within a few blocks the upper or eastern part of East Falls, formerly known as Queen Lane Manor, contains excellent examples of a range of architectural styles: grandiose Beaux Arts, clean and crisp International, Art Deco, Georgian Revival, Gothic revival, Jacobean, and more. The history of the Queen Lane Manor district, The Oak Road, the Queen Lane Reservoir and Filters, and more, will also be discussed. Our guide Steven J. Peitzman, professor of medicine at Drexel University and a long-time architecture enthusiast, developed this tour for the East Falls Historical Society. We will also be joined by Ken Hinde, an authority on Philadelphia architecture and former Director of the Foundation for Architecture’s Tour Program.

The tour will start at the Queen Lane SEPTA station (Chestnut Hill West Line), 5319 Wissahickon Ave. at W. Queen Lane. If coming by train consult SEPTA schedules (www.septa.org). There is ample free parking on weekends at the station if coming by car. The tour will take about 2 hours. Comfortable walking shoes are advised. Bring water or refreshments if you wish, but rest rooms cannot be assured, so plan accordingly. Rain date will be Sunday, October 4. If the tour is moved to Sunday those registered will be emailed no later than 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, it will also be posted on the Phila Chapter SAH website www.philachaptersah.org under Chapter Programs.

CURATOR’S TALK AND TOUR

August 21, 2015 /

2015-09-10 Feats of Clay cropped

Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6:00 p.m.
The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania
Harvey and Irwin Kroiz Gallery, 220 South 34th Street

John curator’s Frank G. Matero and William Whitaker for a gallery talk and tour of the exhibition, “Feats of Clay: Philadelphia Brick and Terracotta.” This exhibition traces the rise of the brick and terra cotta industry in Philadelphia and its far reaching influences on American architecture and building technology.  The exhibition also seeks to raise the awareness and appreciation of the region’s wealth of historic brick and terra cotta architecture and long craft tradition, as well as their relevance to contemporary sustainable design.

Free and open to Philadelphia Chapter SAH members and their guests.  Registration requested at info@philachaptersah.org.

Vanna Venturi House for Sale

July 15, 2015 /

Vanna Venturi house 002

Robert Venturi’s groundbreaking design for his mother is one of the most influential buildings of the latter half of the 20th century. Named one of the “10 Buildings That Changed America” and widely considered the first post-modern building in the United States, to say it is notable among architects is an understatement. Many world-renowned building designers and critics have made pilgrimages to this residence hidden in the heart of Chestnut Hill.

For more visit http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8330-Millman-St_Philadelphia_PA_19118_M49270-07860?row=1

T. Roney Williamson and Oakbourne

May 15, 2015 /

2015-06-11 Oakbourne Mansion SAR_4954cropped
Thursday, June 11, Reception at 5:30 p.m., Talk at 6:30 p.m.
Oakbourne Park, 1014 S. Concord Rd, West Chester, PA

In 1882 James C. Smith of Philadelphia purchased 143 acres of land in Westtown Township, Chester County with an existing granite mansion. By 1884 the Smiths had enlarged and refurbished the mansion to replace their original summer house and named it “Oakbourne.”  The Queen Anne renovations are attributed to West Chester architect T. Roney Williamson (1852-1896).  Mr. Smith died in 1893 and willed the property to the Philadelphia Protestant Episcopal City Mission with the stipulation that it be used as a retreat for sick and convalescent white women, 23 years of age or older.  For more than 70 years the James C. Smith Memorial Home was opened to guests.  As many as 25 to 30 women convalesced there at any given time. By 1971, however, increasing operational costs forced the home to close its doors.  In 1974 Westtown Township purchased the land for use as a township park.

Our speaker, Jane E. Dorchester, is a historic preservationist, lecturer, local and architectural historian, and writer who has been working in the preservation field since 1983.  She has lectured on a wide variety of history–oriented topics, including “How To Research Your Historic Property,” “What Is Serpentine,” “Section 106 Review,” and “Gothic Revival, Second Empire, and Queen Anne Architectural Styles in Chester County.”

Join us for wine and refreshments at 5:30 p.m. to explore the exterior of this amazing house while the sun is out.  We’ll gather inside at 6:30 p.m. to hear about Oakbourne’s architect and his other work in the area.

$10.00 for Phila SAH members,
$15.00 for all others, payable on site.
Registration required by Sunday, June 7, at info@philachaptersah.org

Thanks to the Westtown Township Historical Commission for hosting this program.

There is no public transportation to Oakbourne, but we may be able to arrange a ride or a pick up at the Media or Paoli Regional Rail stations.  Please email info@philasah.org if you need a way to get to the program.

Narratives of Manners and Style: The Houses of Cross & Cross

May 15, 2015 /

2015-05-15 Cross & Cross

Winterthur Museum & Gardens
Tuesday, May 19 at 6:00 pm
Copeland Lecture Hall
5105 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, DE
Winterthur recommends using Mapquest for directions as Google Maps sometimes gives inaccurate directions.

Members $5. Nonmembers $15
Register by calling 1-800-448-3883.
Book signing to follow.

Join architect Peter Pennoyer and architectural historian Anne Walker, authors of the new book New York Transformed: The Architecture of Cross & Cross, for a look at two of the early 1900s’ most important but largely forgotten architects. Brothers John and Eliot Cross counted the country’s richest and most influential figures among their clients, yet they tended to gravitate toward an unpretentious luxury—a polite and historically embedded expression of their wealth. They designed several magnificent Colonial Revival houses in New York as well as country houses in fashionable areas such as Long Island’s North Shore and East End, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Far Hills, New Jersey. Most notably, they designed J. Watson and Electra Havemeyer Webb’s Brick House in Shelburne, Vermont (now part of the Shelburne Museum), Chestertown House in Southampton for H. F. du Pont, and the childhood home of famed decorator Sister Parish in Far Hills, New Jersey. Pennoyer and Walker will share gorgeous photos of these homes and insight into the people who lived there and will discuss the influences the Cross brothers used while designing each property

150th Birthday of the Wagner Free Institute of Science’s historic building

April 25, 2015 /

Wagner Free Inst Building 150th talk image 237-PR-026

PHILADELPHIA 1865: A CITY ON THE EDGE
Delivered by Bruce Laverty, Gladys Brooks Curator of Architecture at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Wednesday, May 20th, 2015, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
1700 W Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia

Join us for a lecture, cake competition, and member reception in honor of the 150th Birthday of the Wagner Free Institute of Science’s historic building.

Lecture:
In 1865 Philadelphia was a city on the edge; a city on the edge of grief; a city on the edge of growth; and a city on the edge of genius. That year saw Philadelphia’s joy of Northern victory dashed by the overwhelming shock and grief brought on by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Less acute, but even more sobering, was the growing realization in 1865 that Union victory and the abolition of slavery were by no means the end of race problems in the City of Brotherly Love. In 1865 Philadelphia commenced the most rapid physical growth in its history; by century’s end the built portion of the city had more than doubled in size. Finally, 1865 was the year when the genius of local entrepreneurs, both individually and collectively, through the efforts of scientific, benevolent, and educational associations, achieved the critical mass that launched Philadelphia into modernity.

Bruce Laverty, a life-long resident of Philadelphia and graduate of LaSalle College, has been Curator of Architecture at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia since 1983. He prepared that institution’s first catalog of architectural drawings. During his tenure at the Athenaeum, the architectural collection grew from 30,000 to more than 220,000 drawings and he oversaw the creation of nearly 8,000 Visual Materials records documenting them. He has served as curator for more than a dozen exhibitions at the Athenaeum and in 1998 he received the Preservation Achievement Award for his work as curator, editor and co-author of “Monument to Philanthropy: The Design and Building of Girard College, 1832-1848.”

Cake Competition:
For this event we will also be running a cake competition that gives entrants the opportunity to represent the Wagner in cake. Entries are being accepted until May 1st, 2015. All information about the competition, including deadlines and baking parameters, can be found on the Wagner’s website.

Reception:
Following the talk, at 7:30 pm, Wagner members are invited to join us for the Annual Member Reception. Members are welcome to bring one guest to the reception. Non-members and extra guests are asked to pay $10 to attend the event.

For more, visit the event page on the Wagner’s website.
http://www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org/syllabi%202014-15/Philadelphia1865.htm

Registration is encouraged but not required and can be done through Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/philadelphia-1865-a-city-on-the-edge-lecture-and-member-reception-tickets-9445428531

Vinyl, Plexiglas & Neon: Venturi, Scott Brown’s Transformation of St. Francis de Sales – a revealing history & conversation

April 14, 2015 /

2015-05-07 St Francis 03 bw

Thursday, May 7, 2015 @ 6:00 p.m.
Auditorium of St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church
4625 Springfield Ave., University City, Philadelphia
Free and open to the public.  No registration required.

In 1969, the Church of St. Francis de Sales – a landmark church in the Byzantine Revival style (Henry Dagit; 1907-08) – reopened after alterations that addressed changes to the Catholic Mass. Comprising elements built of vinyl, Plexiglas, and neon, the design by Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown was radical, controversial, and removed within a year by the parish. Now, after over 45 years, join us for a revealing conversation and tour about the project’s conception, execution, and the firestorm that ensued.

Landscape architect, Sue Weiler, will provide an introductory tour of the architecture of St. Francis de Sales, including its magnificent Guastavino dome; William Whitaker, curator of the Venturi, Scott Brown Collection at Penn’s Architectural Archives, will talk about the VSB design and the architecture of the period; and Father John McNamee, parish priest at the time of the change, will recall his role as pastor and client during a time of social change.

SAVE THE DATE FOR PHILA SAH SPRING PROGRAMS

April 12, 2015 /

The next Phila Chapter SAH program will be on the evening of Thursday, May 7.  A tour of the Church of Saint Francis de Sales at 46th & Springfield Avenue with a discussion of the controversial “neon halo” and other renovations designed by Venturi Scott Brown.  Chapter President Bill Whitaker is putting the finishing touches on the details which will be sent to Chapter members as soon as possible.

Also mark Thursday, June 11, on your calendar for a program at an amazing Victorian house, Oakbourne, in Westtown Twp, Chester County.  We’ll have a reception followed by a talk on the home’s architect T. Roney Williamson.  Details and registration information will be sent to Chapter members in early May.

Amazing Mid Century Modern Home For Sale

April 8, 2015 /

2015-04-08 Irv Stein 1958 Wallingford PA home

This wonderful 1958 mid century modern home, designed by architect and Philadelphia SAH member Irwin Stein, is for sale by the current owners who are looking for a buyer who will treasure it as much as they do. They are hosting an Open House on Sunday, April 12 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at 2 South Providence Road, Wallingford, PA.

Almost all of the original details are intact.  The 2600 square foot house has 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths and one half bath.  The attached 600 square foot office has four rooms and a powder room.  It can easily be converted to an apartment.

The home is situated on .75 acres of land, has two patios and in another week the yard will be filled with over 1,000 daffodils.  The interior boasts soaring ceilings, redwood paneling, tile and hardwood floors, ample natural light, two wood burning fireplaces, cove lighting and a gorgeous open staircase.  The home has been featured on the cover of Atomic Ranch Magazine, on houzz.com and apartmenttherapy.com and was voted one of Philly’s “Amazing Spaces” in Philadelphia Magazine.

For more info visit http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2-S-Providence-Rd-Wallingford-PA-19086/92240976_zpid/