Image Credit: Jack E. Boucher, photographer. EAST FACADE AS SEEN FROM EIGTH AND MARKET STREETS – Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, Twelfth & Market Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA. 1985. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
Presented by Craig Lee, art history Ph.D. candidate at the University of Delaware and Philadelphia Chapter SAH 2018 George B. Tatum Annual International Conference Fellow
Tuesday, October 2 at 6:00 p.m.
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 219 S 6th St,
For Philadelphia Chapter SAH Members and their guests only, please register at info@philachaptersah.org
Initially dismissed as a visual blight, outdoor advertising structures rose with the twentieth-century’s new skyscrapers in the United States and soon came to overlook the urban realm, provoking intense public and professional debate about the changing nature of the American cityscape. Their transformational effect led to a range of responses across the country from new restrictive building codes and civic lawsuits to their embrace in architectural designs and urban depictions. Please join Craig to explore the history of rooftop billboards, illuminated spectaculars, and other forms of commercial signage on top of buildings in relation to the aesthetic politics of the American skyline