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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Dominique M. Hawkins, FAIA
Anne & Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library
220 South 34th Street, Philadelphia
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The first impression I had of a Frank Furness building was as a college freshman at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1980s. As student in the Design of the Environment (DOE) program, many of our classes were conducted in what was then known as the Apse of the Furness Library, now the Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library, in the same space where Louis Kahn taught architecture in the 1960s and 1970s. We were the last class to complete our DOE studies in the Furness Library and when we left campus in May, the building was in sore need of attention. The red exterior was covered in a green haze of biological growth, an intermediate floor had been installed in the original reading room, and the interior surfaces were covered in grime and too many coats of paint. A building that only an aspiring preservation architect could love!
Designed by Frank Furness, the building was originally constructed as the University Library and Museum (1888-1891). The exterior of this quirky, asymmetrical building includes brick, sandstone, and terra cotta, unified in their red color. It is not until you are closer can you appreciate the textures, details, and ornament that adorn the building. Interior explorations inspired awe in the exuberant details on every surface and trepidation the first time walking through the glass-floored stacks at the south end of the building.
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In 1989, after working at John Milner Associates, I returned to Penn to as an architectural graduate student and the restoration of Furness was well underway. The project, led by Venturi, Rauch, and Scott Brown, transformed the building from a shabby campus stepchild to the grand dame it is today. When completed in 1991, the exterior glowed a fiery red in the setting sun, but true delight could be found at the interior. Light through stained glass windows filled the tower’s great gothic staircase and the intermediate floor had been removed from the four-story brick and terra cotta reading room, highlighting the basilica-like plan that inspired the hushed voices needed for higher learning.
In 1990, I began taking Historic Preservation classes to complement my architecture training and was one of the first of two dual degree graduates in 1992. I have never looked back.
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Dominique M. Hawkins, FAIA
Founder, Managing Principal, Preservation Design Partnership, LLC and Vice-Chair, Philadelphia Historic Preservation Task Force
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NEW VIRTUAL LECTURES
Watch from the safety and
comfort of your own home!
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TONIGHT! 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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