Читать книгу A guide book of art, architecture, and historic interests in Pennsylvania - Various Authors - Страница 10

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Architecture should comprise beauty, fitness, and stability. It is classified by various styles from the past, necessarily developed by modern characterists. Eras of great national vigor invariably express themselves architecturally, by means of great scale. To illustrate, the Pyramids at Gizeh and the great temple at Karnak mark the zenith of Egyptian civilization; the Parthenon echoes the halcyon days of Greece; Imperial Rome boasted the Baths of Caracalla and the Colosseum; the glorious Renaissance in Italy culminated in the grandeur of St. Peter’s Church; and the consecration and craftsmanship of Gothic builders crashed to earth with the lofty vaulting of Beauvais. Also consider, in chronological order, the buildings of our own time, they present a mute record of the ever-increasing virility of the nation; in the lacelike tower of the Woolworth Building, piercing the blue heaven for a thousand feet, we read the tremendous advance and limitless possibilities of the country whose dreams become realities. Among the early Colonial or Georgian buildings are, Carpenters’ Hall, Chestnut Street below Fourth; Christ Church, Second Street above Market; Hamilton Mansion in Woodlands Cemetery, Thirty-ninth Street and Woodland Avenue; Independence Hall, group, Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth; Old Swedes’ Church (Gloria Dei), Swanson Street near Front and Christian Streets; Pennsylvania Hospital, Eighth and Pine Streets; St. Peter’s Church, Third and Pine Streets.

Egyptian. Synagogue Adath-Jeshurum, Broad and Diamond Streets; Indiana limestone; architects, Thomas, Churchman, and Molitor.

Classic. Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets. Interior classic; brick; built, 1850; architects, LeBrun & Runge; the audience room is very large, modeled after celebrated opera houses in Europe; plan of the balconies is now considered obsolete, but the general effect is undeniably fine, and has a flavor of the Second Empire. Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, Logan Square; brownstone, built about 1860; architects, Napoleon LeBrun for the building, John Notman for the façade; it is impressive and dignified. United States Custom House, Chestnut Street below Fifth; architect, John Haviland. Girard College, Corinthian and Girard Avenues; architect, Thomas U. Walters; modeled after the Parthenon. Girard National Bank, 116 South Third Street; portico of the Third Street front is Corinthian, studied from the Parthenon and Temple of Saturnus; it stands on a stylobate, elevated above the pavement by steps on three sides, which gives it emphasis and dignity, and marks it as the feature of approach to the building; this portico is flanked on either side by a pavilion of pilasters, of the same character as the columns of the portico, the space between the pilasters being pierced with windows which are adorned with architraves and cornices supported by carved brackets; the pilasters and columns are surmounted by a cornice pediment and balustrade of great elegance of detail and proportion, studied from the best class of Roman antique work; the tympanum of the pediment is enriched by the date of the erection, 1795, and the American eagle in bas-relief carving, of excellent modeling; from the pavement to the apex of the portico is fifty-six feet; entire front is of Pennsylvania blue marble; the building was erected for the Bank of the United States in 1797, and followed closely the lines of the Dublin Exchange; architect, Samuel Blodgett; marble work was done by Claudius LeGrand in his yard at Tenth and Market Streets; this was the first building in Philadelphia to be erected with portico and pillars; in 1901, it was carefully renovated by James H. Windrim. Girard Trust Company, northwest corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets, built in 1908; architects, McKim, Mead & White, New York; Furness & Evans, Philadelphia; has steel frame and Gustavino dome faced with white marble; while the form of this building was probably suggested by the Pantheon at Rome, details of the order are rather Greek, and the colonetts, forming the mullions of the windows, suggest the Certosa di Pavia. Ridgway Library, South Broad and Christian Streets, Doric; built, 1880; granite; architect, Addison Hutton. Old Stock Exchange, Second, Walnut and Dock Streets, white marble; has semicircular Corinthian colonnade, and lantern modeled after the Temple of Lysicrates; architect, William Strickland. St. Patrick’s Church, Twenty-first and Locust Streets, Roman; classic; brick and granite; built, 1913; architects, LaFarge & Morris, New York; façade of this church is big in conception, full of dignity and repose, and forms a most successful termination to the vista when viewed from Rittenhouse Street. United States Mint, Seventeenth and Spring Garden Streets, built, 1898; light gray granite; architect, James Knox Taylor.

Moorish. Horticultural Hall, Fairmount Park; built, 1876; architect, Herman J. Schwarzmann. Rodeph Shalom Synagogue, Mt. Vernon and North Broad Streets.

Byzantine. First Baptist Church, Seventeenth Street above Chestnut, stone; Edgar V. Seeler, architect. Jacob Reed’s Sons, store, 1424 Chestnut Street, brick, marble, and tile; built, 1904; Price & McLanahan, architects; façade is one of the most interesting in the city; the column caps are symbolic of the business conducted therein, as is also the tile work on the intrados of the arch, which depicts the shearing and manufacturing of wool and has the richness of an Oriental rug.

Gothic. Academy of the Fine Arts, Broad and Cherry Streets, Venetian polychrome Gothic, brick, limestone, and tile; architects, Furness & Hewitt; façade is interesting, as the most prominent example of the Venetian Gothic style, used in Philadelphia in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Broad and Arch Streets Methodist Episcopal Church, white marble. St. Clement’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Twentieth and Cherry Streets, Norman; built, 1857; brownstone; architect, John Notman; later improvements; new roof; apse; Lady chapel and parish buildings by Horace Wells Sellers. St. James’ Protestant Episcopal Church, Twenty-second and Walnut Streets, English decorated Gothic, with sculptured band around the tower; Ohio green sandstone and granite; architect, G. W. Hewitt. St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street, granite and limestone; architect, Richard Upjohn of New York, who first used the principles of Gothic architecture in America; rectory, St. Margaret’s Home, parish house, and the rood screen in the church are by Cope & Stewardson; organ screen is by Pierson. St. Mark’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Locust Street below Seventeenth, early decorated Gothic; brownstone; architect, John Notman; later improvements include the Lady chapel, architects, Cope & Stewardson. Second Presbyterian Church, Twenty-first and Walnut Streets, French, with early English details; resembles the Parish Church in Norfolk, England; architect, Henry Sims. St. Stephen’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Tenth Street above Chestnut, early Gothic, with two octagonal towers; stone; interior decorated by Frank Furness; rich and unusual color. South Memorial Church of the Advocate, Eighteenth and Diamond Streets, French; architect, C. M. Burns; built, 1897; interior profusely adorned with carving; windows by Clayton & Bell.

Romanesque. Church of St. Francis de Sales, Roman Catholic, Forty-seventh Street and Springfield Avenue, brick and terra cotta; Gustavino dome and mosaic, a very beautiful example of the style; built, 1912; architect, Henry D. Daggit. Holy Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Nineteenth and Walnut Streets, Norman, brownstone; architect, John Notman. Masonic Temple, Broad and Filbert Streets, Norman with elaborately carved porch; gray granite; built about 1870; architect, James H. Windrim. Church of the Saviour, Protestant Episcopal, Thirty-eighth Street, north of Chestnut Street, Norman; architect, Charles M. Burns; the half dome and apse are decorated by Edwin H. Blashfield; said to be one of the finest examples of mosaic work in this country; alms boxes and reredos, designed by the late James Warner, are also of considerable interest.

Renaissance. Art Club, southwest corner of Broad and Chancellor Streets, Italian and French influences; brick and Indiana limestone; architect, Frank Miles Day. City Hall, open daily, 9.00 A.M. to 3.00 P.M., Broad and Market Streets, on site of Penn Square, formerly Centre Square, on which was a Friends’ meeting-house in 1685; Rochambeau’s Encampment, 1781; Wayne’s Encampment, 1794; and the first city waterworks in 1801; this is the largest single building in America; covers four and a half acres, French, begun in 1871, white marble with granite base; built in the form of a hollow square, with passageways connecting both Market and Broad Streets; contains 662 rooms; the tower, on the north center, about 550 feet high, is surmounted by a colossal bronze statue of William Penn; center and corner pavilions have attic stories, and hanging stairs of polished granite; architect, John McArthur, Jr.; chief points of interest are the council chambers; mayor’s reception room, with portraits of Philadelphia mayors; and state court rooms; from the roof is an excellent view of the city. To Alexander Milne Calder, Philadelphia is indebted for the applied sculpture, the artistic feature of the building, many scores of figures, symbolic of the history of this nation

CAPTAIN NICHOLAS BIDDLE

In the Tower Gallery of City Hall

Alexander Milne Calder, Sculptor

and the world, fine types of Indians, and other races; the negro heads being known among artists as the best of their kind; ornamentation symbolic of music, art, science, and commerce, is used as an integral part of this great public edifice, an inherent factor in true decoration, where it comes into its own, as well as in gardens, parks, boulevards, and plazas. Statues outside, on City Hall pavement, are, General John F. Reynolds, by Rogers; General McClellan; the Pilgrim by Saint Gaudens; the Quaker by Giuseppe Donato; Stephen Girard and John Wanamaker by J. Massey Rhind; Joseph Leidy, M.D.; President McKinley, and John C. Bullitt. College of Physicians, Twenty-second Street, above Chestnut, English; built, 1910; architects, Cope & Stewardson. Dropsie College, Broad Street below York, French; architects, Pitcher & Tachau. Hamilton Court, Thirty-ninth and Chestnut Streets, Italian; steel frame faced with brick and limestone; an apartment house built around an open court, recalling very strongly, both in color and detail, the earlier Venetian palaces. Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, German, granite; built, 1876; architect, Herman J. Schwarzmann; one of the best designed monumental buildings in the city. Union League addition, Fifteenth and Sansom Streets, Italian; steel frame, faced with limestone; built, 1912; architect, Horace Trumbauer: a very dignified and restrained elevation, suggestive of a Roman palace.

Spanish. The First Church of Christ Scientist, Walnut Street above Fortieth; architects, Carrere & Hastings. Pennsylvania Institute for the Instruction of the Blind, Overbrook; Spanish mission; architects, Cope & Stewardson.

English. Mellor, Meigs and Howe Office, 205 South Juniper Street, rough brick; architects, Mellor & Meigs.

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 219 South Sixth Street; architect, John Notman; has best points of work done in 1850, showing traditions of the past, with developments and characteristics of its own; interior has a most beautiful reading room. The University Buildings, from Thirty-fourth to Fortieth Streets, Walnut Street to Woodland Avenue, add much to the architectural attraction of West Philadelphia; entrances to the campus, near the dormitories, are fine Tudor gateways, wrought iron, with brick and stone piers. (See University of Pennsylvania.) Hon. James Arthur Balfour said in 1917, “The Americans build Brobdignagian cathedrals, and use them for office buildings.” The Skyscrapers. Adelphia Hotel, Thirteenth and Chestnut Streets, Italian Renaissance, brick and terra cotta; built, 1914; architect, Horace Trumbauer; the arabesque detail on lower stories of the façade, and pattern formed by projecting bricks, on the stories above, are worthy of notice; interiors are pleasing and architecturally correct. Bell Telephone, a Parkway building, corner of Seventeenth and Arch Streets; height above ground 273 feet; stone; with interesting façade; architect, John T. Windrim. Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, southwest corner Broad and Walnut Streets, French Renaissance; steel frame, faced with terra cotta; architects, Hewitt Bros. Most beautifully proportioned and artistic business building in Philadelphia. Bourse, Fourth to Fifth Streets, below Market; adaptation of the François Premier; with fine feeling of dignity, in placing within the broad paving; architects, Hewitt Bros. Bulletin Building, Juniper and Filbert Streets, French; steel frame, faced with terra cotta; architect, Edgar V. Seeler. Curtis Publishing Company, Sixth and Walnut Streets, modern adaptation of Georgian; steel frame, faced with white marble and brick; built, 1910; architect, Edgar V. Seeler; faces Independence Square, and although thoroughly modern, harmonizes perfectly, both in color and design, with the historic Georgian group, of which Independence Hall is the center, and adds to the quiet colonial atmosphere of the Square; interior is excellently designed; entrance, lobby, editorial offices, and the employes’ dining room being of particular interest. Mechanical equipment is the finest of its kind in the world, producing an average of 5,558,600 complete paid for publications per issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal, Saturday Evening Post, and The Country Gentleman for six months ending June 30, 1924. Twenty original paintings, and the mosaic “The Dream Garden,” by Maxfield Parrish, a mural made of Tiffany favrile glass, the work proceeded through an entire year, in the Tiffany Studios, where each piece of glass was fired under the personal supervision of Mr. Tiffany and Mr. Briggs; time can never impair its freshness, color, or luminosity. Visitors will be shown the entire plant daily, except Saturdays and Sundays, between 9.00 A.M. and 5.00 P.M. Farm Journal, Seventh Street and Washington Square, Georgian; colonial brick and Indiana limestone; architects, Bunting & Shrigley. Harrison Building, Fifteenth and Market Streets, François Premier; built, 1895; architects, Cope & Stewardson; an unusual example of well-studied, though elaborate Renaissance detail; notice the graceful roof, recalling the charming chateaux along the Loire. Land Title Building, southwest corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets, modern adaptation of classic; steel frame, faced with gray granite and brick; architects, D. H. Burnham & Co., Chicago; contrast the scale of the order, in the newer portion of the building on Broad Street entrance, with the insignificant order in the old building. Manufacturers’ Club, Broad and Walnut Streets, Italian Renaissance; built, 1914; steel frame, faced with limestone; architects, Simon & Bassett; has a handsome façade, crowned by a daring Florentine cornice; interior unusually interesting in detail. Racquet Club, Sixteenth Street below Walnut, Georgian; colonial brick, marble trimmings; architect, Horace Trumbauer. Real Estate Trust Building, southeast corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets, Renaissance; architect, Edgar V. Seeler. Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Broad and Walnut Streets, modern adaptation, style of the Adam Brothers; built, 1912; steel frame, faced with colonial brick and Indiana limestone; architects, Warren & Wetmore, New York, Horace Trumbauer, Philadelphia, associate. The keynote of this structure is refinement and good taste; a recognition of the fact that commercialism and good architecture are by no means incompatible. Stephen Girard Building, Twelfth and Girard Streets, modern adaptation of Greek classic; built about 1894; steel frame, faced with brick and marble; architect, John T. Windrim; details of this building are interesting; note the bronze caryatid figures which support the heads of the second story windows; the wrought iron gates to the court on Girard Street rank with the best modern wrought ironwork in the city. Wanamaker Store, Chestnut, Market, Juniper, and Thirteenth Streets, modern adaptation of Italian Renaissance, built, 1910; steel frame, with light gray granite; architects, D. H. Burnham & Co., Chicago; exterior of this store is one of the finest in the city, it is simple, dignified, and impressive, without being monotonous; the great scale of the Doric order at the base, the severe wall treatment, and the splendid cornice, combine to express a purity and loftiness seldom equaled in commercial buildings; a guide may be had, upon application, who will conduct visitors through the entire building including the kitchens. West Philadelphia High School, Forty-sixth and Walnut Streets, Tudor Gothic; rough brick and Indiana limestone; built, 1913, by the City Architect. Widener Memorial Home for crippled children, Broad Street and Olney Avenue, Georgian, built, 1906; Harvard brick and marble trimmings; architect, Horace Trumbauer; has a very beautifully designed wrought iron gateway.

To make a “City Beautiful” is to give it wide streets, lined with handsome buildings and houses, plenty of parks, boulevards, and to rid it of rows upon rows of semi-shanty premises, small, ill-kept, and unattractive. Each new building that is put up within the city limits should, in its arrangements and architecture, help toward making the locality in which it is erected more attractive than at the present time. This idea has been carried out in the Carnegie Free Library buildings, scattered about within the limits of the municipality, as their varied exteriors are very distinguished, from an architectural point. The interiors are designed to avoid the multiplication of corridors; principal rooms used for reading, the art and reference rooms, are stately and fine.

An interesting Gateway is the entrance to the Manheim Cricket Club, Germantown, Georgian; consisting of massive brick piers, surmounted by stone caps, connected at the top with a wrought iron supporting lantern, below which are the heavy wrought iron central gates; this, with smaller gateways, and a most attractive brick wall, forms the enclosure for the grounds; architects, McKim, Mead & White.