The architecture of Philadelphia is a mix of historic and modern styles that reflect the city's history. The first European settlements appeared within the present day borders of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 17th century with most structures being built from logs. By the 18th century, brick structures had become common. Georgian and later Federal style buildings dominated much of the cityscape. In the first half of the 19th century, Greek revival appeared and flourished with architects such as William Strickland, John Haviland, and Thomas U. Walter. In the second half of the 19th century, Victorian architecture became popular with the city's most notable Victorian architect being Frank Furness.
Steel and concrete skyscrapers appeared in the first decades of the 20th century and glass and granite skyscrapers towards the end of the century. Construction continued into the 21st century with the city tallest building, the Comcast Center. Philadelphia made significant contributions in the architecture of the United States. The row house was introduced to the United States via Philadelphia in the 17th century, the United States' first International style skyscraper was built in Philadelphia, and one of the most important examples of Postmodern architecture, Robert Venturi's Guild House, is located in the city.
Skyscrapers
Numerous steel and concrete skyscrapers were constructed in the first two decades of the 20th century. In the 1920s construction continued with skyscrapers such as the Aldine Trust Building, the Lewis Tower, the Drake Hotel, the Ben Franklin House and the Rittenhouse Plaza. In the early 1930s 30th Street Station, Convention Hall, and the Franklin Institute were constructed. In 1932 the United States' first International style skyscraper was built. The 631,006 sq.ft. PSFS Building, which was designed by George Howe and William Lescaze, was topped with the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society's initials in 27 ft red neon letters and is decorated with custom made interior detailing.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, large glass and granite skyscrapers were built in Center City. The largest skyscraper was Liberty Place. Consisting of the 945-ft (288 m) One Liberty Place, the 848-ft (258 m) Two Liberty Place and a smaller hotel, Liberty Place was the first building taller than Philadelphia's City Hall. Before construction began, the Philadelphia City Council had given permission for buildings to be taller than City Hall to encourage skyscraper development along Market Street. Liberty Place was designed by Helmut Jahn, who combined historical architecture style with post-modern style. In the case of Liberty Place, Jahn was influenced by the art deco Chrysler Building in New York City. According to the curse of Billy Penn, which appeared sometime after Liberty Place was constructed, no Philadelphia sports team would win a championship as long as there was a building taller than the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall. For a detailed description of Philadelphia's building height "wars," see Thom Nickels' 'Philadelphia Architecture,' published in 2005.
New office towers also appeared, including the Comcast Center which was the tallest building between 2007 and 2017. The Comcast Technology Center then became the tallest skyscraper in Philadelphia and the tallest skyscraper in the United States outside of Manhattan and Chicago. More skyscrapers, mostly condominiums, are under construction or in-planning such as Waterfront Square, and Mandeville Place.
Tallest buildings
Rank Building Heightfeet/meters Floors Year1Comcast Technology Center1,121 / 342602017 2Comcast Center 01.0975 / 297 57 2008 3 One Liberty Place 02.0945 / 288 61 1987 4 Two Liberty Place 03.0848 / 258 58 1990 5 Mellon Bank Center 04.0792 / 241 54 1990 6 Three Logan Square 05.0739 / 225 55 1991 7G. Fred DiBona Jr. Building 06.0625 / 191 45 1990 8= One Commerce Square 07.0565 / 172 41 1992 9=Two Commerce Square 07.0565 / 172 41 1987 10Philadelphia City Hall 09.0548 / 167 9 1901 11Residences At The Ritz-Carlton 10.0518 / 158 48 2009 121818 Market Street10.0500 / 152 40 1974
Landmarks and monuments
Buildings soon became more elaborate and in 1724 the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia was formed to help instruct builders. As in London, Georgian architecture soon became the popular design in Philadelphia. In 1730 statesman and businessman James Logan was one of the first in Philadelphia to build a country home outside the city. The mansion, which he called Stenton, was the first Queen Anne-style building in the Delaware Valley. One of the most ambitious Palladian structures of the time was the Christ Church. Christ Church was completed in 1744 with a steeple added in 1754. Starting in the 1730s construction began on the Georgian-style Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. It was designed by Andrew Hamilton with construction supervised by Edmund Woolley.
A shift away from the Georgian style began with the construction of Library Hall in 1790. The first building designed by William Thornton, the Palladian Library Hall was inspired by the work of Robert Adam, popular in England at the time, with two-story pilasters and an ornamental balustrade. The similar Federal style also became fashionable, with one of the city's best examples being David Evans Jr.'s Central Pavilion of the Pennsylvania Hospital, completed in 1805. Around the same time Classicism became popular with the creation of the Woodlands estate in 1788 and the First Presbyterian Church in 1793.
The Greek Revival style began in the United States with Benjamin Henry Latrobe's Bank of Pennsylvania in 1801. It was constructed of white marble with Greek Ionic temple porticos on two sides, and topped with a low dome. Latrobe left Philadelphia to design the United States Capitol, but others continued with the style.
Robert Mills designed Octagon Unitarian Church in 1813, and a 6,000 seat auditorium called Washington Hall in 1816. He is best remembered as the designer of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., however, all of Mills's Philadelphia buildings have been demolished.
William Strickland's first major commission was the Second Bank of the United States. One critic said the Second Bank "excels in elegance and equals in utility, the edifice, not only of the Bank of England, but of any banking house in the world." Among Strickland's other buildings were the Naval Asylum completed in 1824, the Arch Street Theater built in 1828, the Mechanics National Bank and the Merchant's Exchange completed in 1834.
John Haviland's first major building was the Philadelphia Arcade, an ancestor of the shopping mall. Built in 1827, he based it on the Burlington Arcade in London. In 1829 Haviland's Eastern State Penitentiary was completed, and its innovative spoked-wheel design served as the model for hundreds of other prisons. Other buildings include the former Franklin Institute (now the Atwater Kent Museum) and the Walnut Street Theater, along with St. George's Episcopal Church and the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, now the University of the Art's Dorrance Hamilton Hall.
Another significant architect was Thomas U. Walter, whose most important Philadelphia building, Girard College, was completed in 1847. Along with numerous churches, Walter built the now demolished Gothic-style Philadelphia County Prison and the Egyptian-style debtor's prison in Moyamensing. He also designed and built the iron dome of the United States Capitol.
In the 1840s and 50s many old buildings were replaced by larger business structures. Built from red sandstone, granite, and iron, the buildings varied in designs including Greek Revival, Gothic, and Italianate. One of the tallest buildings was the eight-story Jayne Building. Designed by William L. Johnston, the building had a Venetian Gothic façade and an observation tower designed by Thomas U. Walter. The Jayne Building was completed in 1850 and demolished in 1957. The city's first entirely cast-iron building was built in 1850. Built for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, the building was designed by G. P. Cummings. The 1869 original Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PFSF) building, designed by Addison Hutton with an addition by Frank Furness in 1895 has been preserved as part of The St. James, a luxury high-rise apartment on Washington Square.
The Centennial Exposition, the first American World's Fair, took place in Philadelphia in 1876. The exposition included the construction of over 200 buildings, most temporary, including the Main Exhibition Building, designed by Joseph M. Wilson and Henry Petit, which was the largest building in the world at the time. The Exposition's two major permanent buildings were Horticultural Hall and Memorial Hall, both designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann. Horticultural Hall (demolished 1955) was a Moorish-style glass-and-iron structure built as a tribute to London's Crystal Palace. The Beaux-Arts-style Memorial Hall (now home to the Please Touch Museum) was constructed of brick, glass, iron and granite.Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition, pp. 101–102
Philadelphia's most prominent Victorian architect was Frank Furness, who designed more than 600 buildings and influenced by the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. Furness brought a bold muscularity to his works, shunned historical imitation, and was an innovator in the use of iron and glass. Among his major buildings are the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1876) (designed with George Hewitt), Knowlton Mansion (1882), the First Unitarian Church (1885), and the University of Pennsylvania Library (1891). Others, such as the Provident Life & Trust Company (1879), the B. & O. Railroad's 24th Street Station (1888), and the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broad Street Station (1893), were demolished in the mid-20th century.
Designed by John McArthur Jr. in the Second Empire style, and influenced by the Tuileries Palace and the Louvre, Philadelphia City Hall is one of the world's largest all-masonry, load-bearing structures without a steel frame. Construction began in 1871 and wasn't completed until 1901. City Hall is a square doughnut of a building that occupies a 4-block site at the center of the downtown. In the middle of each side is an arched portal leading into the central courtyard, and its north side includes a 548 ft clock tower. Until 1987, this tower was the tallest structure in the city.