Philadelphia’s City Hall began construction in 1871 and was completed in 1901. John McArthur Jr. became the main architect on the project after winning a design competition held by the city. At that time, it was thought that City Hall would be constructed on Independence Square, but after some debate and a public vote it was decided to build on Penn Square instead. McArthur designed the exterior of City Hall in the French Renaissance style. McArthur lived in Philadelphia from the age of ten and he designed many other buildings throughout the city in his lifetime with City Hall being one of his last projects before his death in 1890. In this paper, I will discuss John McArthur Jr.’s background and his contribution to City Hall as well as the …show more content…
architecturally significant aspects of City Hall. John McArthur Jr. was born in Bladenock, Scotland in 1823. At the age of ten he moved to Philadelphia with his uncle and became an apprentice to a carpenter. He attended school at the Old Carpenters Hall in the evenings and later attended classes taught by Thomas U. Walter at the Franklin Institute, where he would later be elected to membership as an architect in 1849 (Wodehouse, pp 273).
Before becoming the lead architect for City Hall, he won numerous competitions and had more than a few commissions throughout Philadelphia and the tri state area. In the early stages of his career he worked with his uncle’s carpenter business, when this business was constructing the east and west wings to the Pennsylvania Hospital, McArthur “became a foreman on the west wing and in 1850 superintendent on the east wing” (Wodehouse, pp 274). Some of McArthur’s projects included hotels in Philadelphia such as Girard House in 1852, La Pierre House in 1853 and the Continental Hotel in 1858 as well as churches, private residences and other commercial works. The three hotels, however, have since been demolished along with several of McArthur’s other works. “Many of McArthur’s buildings were demolished during his lifetime; few exist today. Even where they do exist, credit is rarely given to him as the architect.” (Wodehouse, pp 283). His designs, whether actually constructed or just designs, took on many different architectural styles. He made plans for churches with Gothic and Romanesque details, and used a mixture of Classical and Italianate styles in his other works (Wodehouse, pp 272). Reviewers of his work such as Joseph Jackson …show more content…
who wrote Early Philadelphia Architects and Engineers in 1923 said “McArthur was more distinguished for the structural character of his buildings than he was for their artistic merit” (Wodehouse, pp 272). He had a somewhat simplistic style in some of his works as was the style of his precedents he based his works off. He was very detail oriented with respect to the internal aspects of his buildings such as orienting hospital rooms on a north-south axis in order to give all rooms sunlight from the east and west (Wodehouse, pp 273). From his start with his uncle he was able to show his skills and had a steady stream of commissions to work on throughout the Philadelphia area. McArthur also held significant positions in Philadelphia related to architecture and construction of the city at the time. “In September of 1871 McArthur became Superintendent of Federal government buildings being erected in Philadelphia.” (Wodehouse, pp 281). In this position, he oversaw the construction or alteration of buildings like the Post Office and the Courthouse. McArthur was also offered the position of Supervising architect to the Treasury Department in 1874, but subsequently turned down the position in order to focus on the construction of City Hall. Other projects McArthur worked on after construction began on City Hall in 1871 included a hospital in Warren, Pennsylvania, a science hall at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania as well as the Children’s Ward of the Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia all of which were significantly different in style compared to City Hall. McArthur won the commission of City Hall through a series of three competitions held by the city of Philadelphia. The first competition was held in 1860 for the Public Building, as City Hall was being referred to at the time, to be constructed on Penn Square. McArthur’s plans were chosen over two other architects who were included in the competition. Although, it was not until 1868 that project began to progress. Officials decided that the building should be constructed next to Independence Hall on Independence Square due to its historical significance. Thus, another design competition was held in 1869, this time McArthur was chosen out of sixteen other entries to modify his designs which were then released to the public before construction was to begin in 1871. However, the public was not happy with the decision to build on Independence Square so it was brought to a public vote to determine if the Public Building should be constructed on Penn Square or Washington Square, with Penn Square ultimately being chosen. Due to this, in 1870 new designs were submitted to a commission and McArthur was finally chosen for a third time as the architect for the project (Jones, pp 44-45). Along with McArthur being the main architect on the project, architects such as Thomas U. Walter, a former instructor of McArthur’s who is most famous for the construction of the dome of the U.S. Capitol building, was also hired as a consultant on the project. At the time, Walter was of old age and nearing the end of his career, but his influence can be seen in the elegance of the details of City Hall and it is also believed he had input into the grandeur of the tower that tops City Hall. Milne Calder was also contracted to sculpt many free standing and relief sculptures for the project. Such sculptures included the statue of William Penn, which on its own stands thirty-seven feet tall and reaches a width of nineteen feet across from his outstretched fingertips (Illustrated Description of Philadelphia’s New City Hall …). The thickness of the statue starts at its greatest one and one-half inches at his feet and grows gradually thinner to the top of his hat where it is just one-fourth of an inch thick. “President Schumann, of the constructing company, explained that it was necessary to mould it in that way because the statue must be self-supporting and bear a wind pressure of fifty pounds to the square foot.” (Illustrated Description of Philadelphia’s New City Hall …, pp 19). The statue is the tallest on top of any building in the world and was the tallest point in Philadelphia due to an unspoken agreement that nothing shall be built taller than William Penn’s hat until this agreement was broken in 1987 with the construction of Liberty Place (“History”). Construction began in 1871 and at the time McArthur designed City Hall to be the world’s tallest building standing at 547 feet and 11 ¼ inches (Official Handbook, City Hall, Philadelphia).
However, it was not constructed in enough time to hold that title as it was surpassed by the Washington Monument which was constructed in 1884 at 550 feet tall (Jones, pp 46). It was designed in the style of the French Second Empire and has four similar entrances centered around a courtyard. In each of the four sides there is a center archway that measures eighteen feet in width and thirty six feet in height, each of these archways is used as a principal entrance to the building. “The whole exterior is bold and effective in outline, and elaborated with columns, pilasters, pediments, cornices, enriched windows and other appropriate adornments.” (Official Handbook, City Hall, Philadelphia, pp 7). The north side of the building is where the tower sits. The tower was considered “the architectural triumph of the present age” (Illustrated Description of Philadelphia’s New City Hall …, pp 18) and it rests on a ninety-foot square base and rises to a height of eighty-four feet where the statue of William Penn is placed on the
top. In conclusion, City Hall was an architectural triumph of its time and John McArthur Jr. played a huge role in that as the main architect. Lawrence Wodehouse describes City Hall as “part of America’s heritage, representing to future generations characteristics of the age during which it was constructed.” (283) which at the time it was constructed it was opulent and grandeur with its French Renaissance style. City Hall can be seen as the epitome of McArthur’s career and it was also his only project designed in the French Renaissance style setting it apart from his other works. With the contributions from McArthur and other architects such as Alexander Milne Calder and Thomas U. Walter, architects whom McArthur had learned from and thus helped influence his career, City Hall has become a landmark in Philadelphia. From the beginning of his career working with his uncle through designing the Children’s Ward of the Presbyterian Hospital that is believed to be his last project, McArthur had a significant career in Philadelphia. Through all the projects he worked on City Hall is the most noteworthy and is one of the few projects of his that is still standing today and will most likely be around for a very long time hereafter.
James F. O'Gorman, Dennis E. McGrath. ABC of Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. Document. October 2013.
The interesting history of the capitol building begins back in 1810. This is when Harrisburg was named the new capital city of Pennsylvania (“CPC Home Page”). Since then, three buildings have sat upon Harrisburg’s Capitol Hill. Local architect, Stephen Hills, was chosen to design the first building. In 1819, Hills began to construction on the structure. The building was completed in 1822, and cost a total of $135,000. The first capitol building existed for seventy-five years, until a fire destroyed it in 1897 (“Capitol”).
William Chipley was a railroad tycoon. He saw promise in a little town called Pensacola. Pensacola had a problem, it was in a very good location but it was isolated from the rest of the state. Chipley and business partner Fred DeFuniak decided to build a railroad to connect with the prosperous Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Seeing the success of this. Chipley and DeFuniak went to congress to get approval to build from Pensacola to Tallahassee. This was no small endeavor. He needed roughly two thousand men to build this railroad and most of the land was uncharted territory. The men had to cut through wild Florida, all the while dealing with indigenous wild life. In less than two years time, the railroad finally completed Pensacola was ready
Daniel Burnham and John Root were two of the East Coasts, but more importantly Chicago’s well-known high-rise architects. They designed many buildings that still are around today, not only in Chicago, but also all over the United States. The most memorable being, the Rookery Building, Monadnock Building, Reliance Building, and Masonic Temple, all in Chicago. Between Burnham and Root’s different personalities and architectural styles they were able to become successful American architects, even after their failures in their early careers. Having two very different strengths as a team, worked out in their favor, strong client bases, good structures, and aesthetically pleasing buildings was ultimately their final product for each project.
Many of Frank Gehry’s early works reflect a refined manipulation of shapes and structures, whereby many of his buildings present distorted shapes or apparent structures. From the Guggenheim museum to the Walt Disney concert hall, Frank Gehry’s architecture is close to none. He cleverly plays with shapes and geometries. In this essay, I shall start with a brief analysis of Gehry’s house and the influences in the design of the house. I shall then analyze the extent to which Frank Lloyd Wright has inspired and influenced Gehry in the design of his house through a comparison with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jacob’s house.
Dell Upton is a historian and renowned professor of architecture and Urbanism at the University of California. He has published several books on architecture; one of them is “Architecture in the United States”, published in 1998. In this book, Upton analyzes the architecture of the United States in different aspects, such as nature, money and art, thus depicting the great variety in architectural forms, and how throughout the decades, different interests have lead communities to different ways of building, different purposes and materials, thus reflecting their way of thinking and their relationship with the environment. By exploring so many different architectural styles, Upton reveals the great diversity and richness that has always, and continues to characterize American architecture.
It is the new decade after the end of world war two and modernism is a well-established practice. Its pioneers and spearheads are prevalent figures looming over the new architects and designers who are trying to make their mark in the shadows of such historically influential people. With new technologies and materials emerging from the world wars the next era of modernism had started to evolved, bringing with it philosophies and ideas which seemed far removed from those of the pioneers of modernism “What emerged in the late 1940s and 1950s was an expanding synthesis of questions utterly removed from the confident statements of the pioneers.”(Spade 1971,10) Two significant buildings were designed in the 50's, both of them for educational institutes and to house students of architecture, there were both designed in completely different styles and methods. The first is Ludwig Mies van der Rohes' Crown Hall, finished in 1956 and designed as a part of a campus master plan for the Illinois Institute of technology in Chicago. Mies' design for Crown Hall is one of his most realised expressio...
Influenced by his readings of ancient and modern architectural writings, Jefferson gleaned the best from both his readings and from his observations in Europe, creating his own personal style of architecture, a mix of Neoclassicism’s Roman temples, and Palladian villa. Partly, because of Jefferson’s influence, our federal buildings set an American precedent for the neoclassical style. Jefferson’s admiration for neoclassical style went so far as to design candlesticks based on the Corinthian order.
The Arch is the tallest man made monument in the United States, the only monument taller than the Arch is the Eiffel Tower. The Arch was built out of stainless steel and concrete, there are 142 sections or what looks like panels from the ground of the stainless steel pieces. One could not pick up the Gateway Arch if they tried as it weighs 43,000 tons! The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is actually 91 acres which includes roughly 60 acres of Arch grounds and the remaining acres include the Old Courthouse and some of the surrounding streets. This area corresponds with the original site of the French colonial town of St. Louis which is considered the oldest European city in the Midwest. It was decided to create the park here due to St. Louis’s major role in Westward Expansion, as I have mentioned before. Some of the key events that involved St. Louis in what would eventually become the expansion of the United States to what we all know it as today are as follows. St. Louis is the place where the Santa Fe and the Organ Trails originated, and the place were Lewis and Clark started their exploration, and where formal possession of the Louisiana Purchase was taken. These are just some of the fun facts I learned about the Arch on my
“In the Cause of Architecture” is an essay written by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908. In this work, Wright outlines many of his architectural values. This text goes into great detail about the philosophy behind Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, as well as many important milestones in his life, such as working for Adler and Sullivan. This text is useful because it comes straight from Frank Lloyd Wright himself. It talks about many things important to his role as a notable American, such as his influences for his architecture and his architectural
It will discuss the different types of dwellings throughout recorded human history from the perspective of how art and culture influences building design. This will fulfill my own curiosity to understand the different influences on homebuilding and design over the years and how people have dealt with these changes.
But these contrived differences give rise to esthetic difficulties too. Because inherent differences—those that come from genuinely differing uses—are lacking among the buildings and their settings, the contrivances repre...
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.
In order to create innovative public architecture, considered to be the most civic, costly, time intensive and physical of the arts, the project holds a degree of risk, strife, and negotiation . Overcoming these tasks and creating worthy public architecture is a challenge designers try to accomplish, but are rarely successful. The people involved in a potential public building, can be larger than the building itself. Public architecture tries to please all, even the doubters and critics, but because of the all these factors, a building is closer to failing than succeeding.
Frank Lloyd Wright has been called “one of the greatest American architect as well as an Art dealer that produced a numerous buildings, including houses, resorts, gardens, office buildings, churches, banks and museums. Wright was the first architect that pursues a philosophy of truly organic architecture that responds to the symphonies and harmonies in human habitats to their natural world. He was the apprentice of “father of Modernism” Louis Sullivan, and he was also one of the most influential architects on 20th century in America, Wright is idealist with the use of elemental theme and nature materials (stone, wood, and water), the use of sky and prairie, as well as the use of geometrical lines in his buildings planning. He also defined a building as ‘being appropriate to place’ if it is in harmony with its natural environment, with the landscape (Larkin and Brooks, 1993).