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Thomas Ustick
Walter, Architect, United States Capitol, Perspective
Rendering of New Dome and Extension Wings, 1855, Walter
Collection
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For more than 200 years
Philadelphia has been a notable center of architecture. From the
colonial master builders Robert Smith and Samuel Rhoads, through
William Strickland, Thomas Ustick Walter, Samuel Sloan, Frank Furness,
and T. P. Chandler, Jr., in the nineteenth century, to Horace
Trumbauer, Paul Philippe Cret, Louis I. Kahn and Robert Venturi in
this century, Philadelphia architects have been acknowledged leaders
in their profession. Their buildings and the force of their
educational institutions, societies, and writings have influenced the
course of American architecture.
The Athenĉum of Philadelphia
is the principal repository for the records of this achievement prior
to 1945 with 180,000 architectural drawings, 350,000+ photographs, and
extensive manuscript holdings representing the work of approximately
1,000 American architects. The institution now focuses particularly on
the history of American architecture and building technology, a topic
with roots reaching deeply into the Athenĉum's history. The first
architect to become a member of the Athenĉum (1820) was William
Strickland (1788-1854). Presumably he encouraged the acquisition of
contemporary architectural and engineer works. It is also appropriate
that the first architectural drawing acquired by the Athenĉum was
Strickland's own 1839 proposal for a new building to house the library
on Washington Square.
Copyright
2008
The Athenĉum of Philadelphia
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