Philadelphia is a city of layers, built by those who brought the traditions of the “Old World” to the shores of the “New.” This exhibition explores the lives and legacies of visionary designers from The Athenaeum’s collections—John Notman, Nicola D’Ascenzo, Samuel Yellin, Louis & Henry Magaziner, and Paul Philippe Cret—whose immigrant experiences helped redefine American architecture.
From the rugged stonework of the Gothic Revival to the measured grandeur of Beaux-Arts civic spaces, these individuals did more than design buildings. They translated cultural inheritance into an evolving American architectural language. Through drawings, photographs, and renderings preserved in the collections of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the exhibition traces the process of “becoming American” through the act of building America.
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theme: Power of Place subjects: Philadelphia, Immigrants, Architecture, Place contributing repository: Athenaeum of Philadelphia submitted by: Staff member Link to repository homepage
