Celebrating National Historic Preservation Month
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May is National Historic Preservation Month.
To celebrate, the Preservation Alliance asked 31 historic preservation leaders in Philadelphia to name a building that has inspired them and why. We invite you to watch this space daily and hear from leaders in the local preservation movement as they reveal the historic buildings that have inspired them.
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Meaghan Finney
Architects Building
117 South 17th Street, Philadelphia
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I’ve always loved The Architect’s Building at 17th and Sansom, originally built as an office tower in 1930. It was the result of over a dozen architectural firms who jointly designed the building, among them names like Cret and Harbeson, which they envisioned as a center for the building trades in Philadelphia. Many of those firms designed office space for themselves within the building, too, and moved in after it opened – you can find amazing sketches of Cret’s offices and some historic interior photos online through
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
.
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The Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA had their headquarters on the 24th floor so it really was a hub for the city’s architectural community at the time.
It’s an excellent example of Art Deco, which is what prompted me to take notice in the first place, but it’s the history I found behind it that really grabbed me. In 1930, the Great Depression was just kicking off; 30th Street Station had just opened; design for the jarringly modern PSFS Building was about to get underway. It would have been a fascinating time and place to be a fly on the wall. After several years of neglect, the building was developed in 2009 as a hotel and although much of the interior had already been lost, some of the public spaces and the exterior were sensitively restored – including the tiled elevator lobby, complete with the historic pneumatic tube system. That project achieved LEED Certification, proving the adaptive reuse of historic buildings can absolutely align with modern sustainable design goals.
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Meaghan Finney
Co-Chair, AIA Philadelphia Historic Preservation Committee
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NEW VIRTUAL LECTURES
Watch from the safety and
comfort of your own home!
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Tuesday, May 5, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Olympia, Icon of the Navy
Presented by John Brady
During thirty-three years as an active naval vessel
Olympia
came to symbolize both the glories of nationalism and their price.
Olympia
played a part in many of the events that came to define the 20
th
century, the battle of Manila Bay, WWI, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the introduction of radio to the Navy to name a few. The wide variety of roles she played made her a symbol of the Navy itself and now makes her one of the most important historic sites in the country with lessons to teach us on subjects ranging from guerilla conflicts to pandemics.
John Brady is President and CEO of the Independence Seaport Museum, the stewards of
Olympia
, and will lead us through a discussion of why this ship matters now, 125 years after her first commissioning.
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Wednesday, May 6, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Yesterday's Aftermath: Philadelphia's Epidemics and the Built Environment
Presented by The Carpenter's Company of the City and County of Philadelphia and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
Join us for this FREE event as Inga Saffron moderates a discussion on the impact of Philadelphia's epidemics on the built environment.
The Carpenters' Company and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia present Inga Saffron in discussion with David Barnes, Jane E. Boyd and George Wohlreich on the history of Philadelphia's epidemics.
Inga Saffron writes architectural criticism for The Philadelphia Inquirer. This panel is inspired by her March column "Philadelphia Has Endured Plagues Before. It Adapted and Became a Better Place." Saffron has maintained her column in the Inquirer's "Home and Design" section since 1999 and has written for the Inquirer since 1984.
- David Barnes, PhD, is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Jane E. Boyd, PhD, is an independent exhibit developer and was the historical curator for the Mütter Museum's recent exhibit "Spit Spreads Death: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Philadelphia."
- George Wohlreich, MD, MA, is President and CEO of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
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Tuesday, May 12, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Boathouse Row: Untold Stories of a Philadelphia Icon
Presented by Dotty Brown
Digging into 150 years of archives for her book,
Boathouse Row, Waves of Change in the Birthplace of American Rowing
, Dotty Brown, a former editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, discovered quirky and fascinating stories behind the façade of these 19
th
century houses. She will reveal some of them, including: how one of Philadelphia’s best known architects came to build on Boathouse Row; its ties with two of the city’s 19
th
century firehouses; why Thomas Eakins’ early work focused on rowers; and the battle women fought for a house of their own in the all-male venue. Dotty blogs about the Row and its history on her website:
www.BoathouseRowTheBook.com
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Tuesday, May 19, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Art Deco in Philadelphia
Presented by Dr. David Brownlee
,
Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor of 19th Century European Art,
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia contributed an exhilarating chapter to the history of "Art Deco," the colorful, invented modern style that offered an exciting alternative to the austere functionalism in the 1920s and 30s. The quintessential style of the Jazz Age, Art Deco brought brilliant color to the decoration of the Art Museum, introduced exotic motifs (including Mayan and Spanish Colonial) to the city's new skyscrapers, and contributed zig-zagging ornament to our radio stations and "automat" restaurants. It was also one of the components of the brilliant stylistic synthesis created by George Howe and William Lescaze in the era's greatest landmark, the PSFS Building.
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