The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art - Essay Example

History of Architecture from the Baroque to the Present Order No. 283145 No. of pages: 5 1st 6530 The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the building under consideration in this study, was chosen a National Historic Landmark in 1975. This building is one of the most celebrated works of the 19th-century architect, Frank Furness and has been called “one of the most impressive spaces in American architecture” by James OGorman (Philadelphia Museum of Art 1973.) This building like most of Furness’ work is an amalgamation of Classical and Gothic architecture and has been termed as High Victorian Gothic. This building is a confluence of the various styles which Furness had imbibed from his apprenticeships as well as his extensive knowledge of art and architecture. The multi- hued aspect of the building is inspired by Ruskin’s artistic theories, while the ornamentation, which imbues the whole building is an obvious influence of Owen Joness and Christopher Dressers orientalism. The impact of Viollet le Ducs work is seen in the use of cast-iron for the structure and foliated motifs used as embellishments. The drawing for the building was a reworking of the 1867 Masonic Temple scheme, which had been rejected earlier, and the massing was stylistically in tune with the French second Empire. (Lewis) The building rises to a height of about 70 feet, and the whole structure is made of iron, stones, brick, with no wood being used anywhere in its construction. (Fairman Rogers, published in ‘The Philadelphia Inquirer’, on April 24, 1876) In keeping with the high Victorian Gothic style, the building is made of richly colored materials, the façade being made of green and red sandstone along with purplish Bluestone. The architectural style is an eclectic mix of Gothic and Classical architecture, and it is revolutionary in the context that, until then, there was no other building that could boast of a “13th century Gothic arch on a 17th-century mansarded pavilion.” (Lewis) The building opens onto Broad Street, with the façade 65 inches high. The North is flanked by Cherry Street, Burnt Street on to the east and Apple tree Street towards the South. The building is planned with a central corridor which is about 15 feet wide, with rooms on either side. The first floor of the building, houses the library, art studios and offices, while a mezzanine floor has a conservation laboratory, the boardroom and the plumbing. The museum’s collection or the artworks are housed on the second floor, called the Gallery, where the corridor is intersected by a Rotunda which is about 526" x 382". Pennsylvania, being an industrial city, Frank Furness could freely use “riveted iron truss that held aloft the great weight of the blind wall of the north façade.” (Lewis)Above the Gallery is the attic made up of iron trusses, with iron “I” beams which have been left exposed, another revolutionary design detail. These are supported by banded double iron columns with capitals. Iron trusses can also be seen in the lights above the studio and have floral patterns which may have been inspired by Owen Jones "Grammar of Ornament." The façade of the building follows the tripartite composition made up of a highly central part crowning two wings. Over the double door, is placed a large Gothic window with stone tracery and the roofs being in mansard. The building pays tribute to the artists of yore by depicting them in a bas-relief frieze. The main entrance also contains terra-cotta stat­u­ary, encaustic tiles, while on the Cherry Street side can be seen a colonnade which supports arched windows, behind which are the transept and the pointed gable. (from http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/6508.htm, retrieved on 21.03.09) The entrance of the building is made in typical Furness style with a narrow foyer opening out to reveal a grand staircase. This staircase has two ramps which come together on the mezzanine and then lead to the second floor. One of the “oddest details in a building saturated with odd details” is the stair rail, made up of a mechanical apparatus, having “disks that are riveted on spindles, as if they were universal joints.” (Lewis) The staircase has banisters made of bronze and mahogany and the wall and floor are tiled in bright colors. The whole area is surrounded by Gothic arches which support walls studded with gold rosettes. The ceiling is blue in color with silver stars twinkling back at the visitors. (http://www.pafa.org/Museum/Research-Archives/The-Buildings/Landmark-Building/63/, retrieved on 21.03.09) At the dedication of the building, Rogers, described the various stones used in the building. The main hall and staircase use “Ohio sandstone from Cleveland quarries”, the columns below the stairs made up of “Victoria and rose crystal marble and Jersey granite,” while the upper hall used Tennessee marble. The other varieties used are French escaillon marble, red sandstone from Hummlestown Pennsylvania. The variety of marble and other stones used in the building give to it its characteristic colorful look. When studying the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, purely from an architectural point of view, the mind is riveted by the riot of colors that the building has. The most striking feature of the building is its “polychromy” or the multitude of colors which were the contribution of Hewitt, who used the entire palette of colors at his disposal, to “make it bright and let the people stare.” (Lewis) The cornice of the building, iridescent with colors, was made by using specific glass tiles, the backs of which were painted with “various designs in rich transparent colors.” These were packed with a thin gold foil, which created a radiant glimmer. (Lewis) This building was an elaborate ground for Furness to pin his new revolutionary ideas on, and he did so by innovating in whatever way he could. He was the first architect to use the technique of sand blasting in order to embellish it further. This is seen in the stenciled floral ornaments that decorate the sandstone blocks of the stair hall. (Lewis) The exterior of the building is a symphony of various materials, arranged artistically, with “rusticated brownstone, dressed sandstone, polished granite, …red pressed brick set in black mortar, diaper patterns all in undulating red and black brick, painted glass, carved reliefs, floriated merlons, and on and on.”(O’Gorman) Furness’ army career also had a strong bearing on his architectural sensibilities, seen especially in the use of iron and heavy materials for construction, but more keenly in the “agitation and turbulence” of his inner self, which invested his works with a restless energy. (Lewis) Frank Furness’ work was not very highly appreciated in his time on account of it being very modern to be acceptable in those rigid days. Writing about it in an architecture Journal, the author calls it “ far from being scholastic, that a good deal of it is hard to classify,” but it was indeed not a commonplace creation. Furness’ work is marked more by an eye for detail than merit of composition, as seen in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but in its time it was once again lauded for “ elaborateness of its decoration,” yet it was “ pronounced an architectural failure’ by the same critic, who found the ornamentation “pestered.” Despite all the negative connotations hurled at his architectural outputs, it was grudgingly accepted as being “full of spirit and invention.” (American Architect and Building News, 1876) One of the important aspects when studying a building is whether it confirms to certain ideologies, in this case the Vitruvian triad that is a commodity of firmness and delight. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, fulfils all these, with delight being the theory most being adhered to, since the “principle of beauty or delight is the most decisive.” (Amir H. Ameri) The building looks like “a decorated jewel box” (http://www.pafa.org/Museum/Research-Archives/The-Buildings/Landmark-Building/63/, retrieved on 21.03.09) The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts building has got its share of bouquets and brickbats, for more than a century of its existence, and its architect Frank Furness has been both deified and the reviled, but what matters is that it is one of the more stylistic depositories of some of the finest works in American art, and in the words of Louis I. Kahn, “it is a life-giving and inspired building.” References Amir H. Ameri. On The Place Of Culture In The Theoretical Edifice Of Architecture http://www.colorado.edu/envd/courses/ENVD4114-001/Portfolio/Publications/Article%20PDF/Place%20of%20Culture.pdf Fairman Rogers, chairman of the building committee. The Philadelphia Inquirer on April 24, 1876 http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/uphp/AABN/bldglst.html Frank Furness: Architecture and the Violent Mind.(Review)~(book review) Publication: New Criterion. Publication Date: 01-JUN-01 OGorman, James F., et al., The Architecture of Frank Furness. Philadelphia Museum of Art; 1973. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, National Historic Landmark ... http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Philadelphia_County/Philadelphia_City/Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts.html Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/6508.htm Schmertz, Mildred. AMERICAN ARCHITECT AND BUILDING NEWS LETTERS FROM PHILADELPHIA October 14, 1876 Pages 334-336 Strahan (ed.), Edward (1875). A Century After, picturesque glimpses of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott and J. W. Lauderbach. 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