Independence Hall The tour began in the city of Philadelphia, childhood home of Louis I. Kahn, where he received his education at the University of Pennsylvania, and spent much time in his personal practice and teaching at Penn. The Philadelphia neighborhood where Kahn grew up was an industrial community filled with factories, brick buildings, and smoke stacks, which had a profound influence on his design.
First Bank of the United States
The larger urban context of Philadelphia also encompassed a high concentration of colonial row houses and courtyards such as those found in Society Hill, monuments to the American Revolution such as Independence Hall (1732-56), and the oldest and most high profile banking institutions including the First Bank of the United States (1794-97) by Samuel Blodgett, Jr., and the PSFS Building (1929-32) by George Howe and William Lescaze, considered to be the first International Style skyscraper.
PSFS Building/Loews Philadelphia Hotel
PSFS Building second floor lobby, now reception hall
The tour group had the pleasure of staying at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel in the adaptively reused PSFS building, and visited many of the monuments mentioned. The visits to these historic sites and buildings as well as those designed by Kahn’s predecessors such as Frank Furness and George Howe helped the group understand some of his earliest inspirations in Philadelphia.
Exterior rustication detail of Fisher Fine Arts LibraryThe opening dinner was held at the Fisher Fine Arts Library (1888-91) designed by prominent eclectic Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. Furness’ method of exhibiting the intrinsic qualities of industrial materials and ability to create spaces that contradicted traditional architectural vocabulary by making playful breaks and highly imaginative gestures was noted as an influence on Kahn, who spent many hours in the library as a student at Penn. The spatial organization and programmatic features of the Fisher Library's interior reminded many of the tour participants of the Kahn masterpiece, the library at Phillips Exeter Academy (1967-72).
Reading room detail
Above is an example of a whimsical gesture- a snail-like accoutrement guarding the interior of Furness’ library. Many of the details in the space were particularly animated and fanciful.
"Conversation Hall" where dinner reception was held
While at the library the tour group was surprised by a visit with Nathaniel Kahn, son of Louis Kahn who wrote, directed, and produced the Oscar nominated documentary “My Architect” (2003). Nathaniel Kahn shared some of his thoughts and memories of his father with the group, and discussed briefly Louis Kahn’s teaching techniques.
Nathaniel Kahn speaking to tour group
The study tour included a walking tour of the Independence Hall area and the Italianate gem of the Athenaeum (1845) by John Notman, as well as the Philadelphia’s Society Hill neighborhood, which boasts the country’s largest concentration of 18th and early 19th century buildings.
Anthenaeum of Philadelphia
The tour of the Athenaeum highlighted its collections, which included plans and elevations for various Kahn projects and an introduction to the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings online database.
Map and atlases on hand for viewing at the Athenaeum
The Society Hill tour emphasized its greenways and courtyard houses which had a very distinct human scale that was pedestrian friendly and reminiscent of similar areas in other pre-Revolutionary cities such Annapolis and Baltimore.
Typical Society Hill row houses
Finally, the tour group enjoyed a visit to George Howe’s “High Hollow” (1916) country house nestled away in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia.
High Hollow front elevation
High Hollow carriage house
Philadelphia is known for its proliferation of exuberant suburban country houses, and this is a well composed articulation of Howe's work. Howe was one of the leading architects in the early to mid-twentieth century, and had collaborated with Kahn on wartime housing projects throughout Pennsylvania. The visits to works by Kahn’s predecessors and examining the urban fabric of Philadelphia added depth and a foundation to historic and geographic context of the study tour.
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