The History of William Pens Statue - Research Paper Example

William Penn Building Introduction: The City Hall is one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers in Philadelphia. The statue of William Penn (1644-1718) at the top of clock tower of city hall is the reason for it being commonly known as William Penn building. The City Hall construction started after the end of civil war and was completed in 20th century. Its elaborate and beautifully constructed structure is regarded as among the “most impressive municipal buildings in the world” (Hornblum, 2003) by majority of architectural critics. William Penn: William Penn was the founder of U.S state of Pennsylvania, his “Holy experiment” (Somerville, 2006). Although born in an Anglican family, William Penn changed his religious views and joined “the religious society of friends” or “Quakers”. Quakers oppose war and violence and obey the divine light that they believe is present within each person. Since their beliefs opposed the Christian religion, they faced many hardships until William Penn managed to get a colonial province of west New Jersey. His implementation of democratic structure in this province included “full freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives of the people in power and a separation of powers”. American constitution is inspired from this democratic system of Penn (ushistory.org). He believed in fair treatment and complete religious freedom. He wrote once “True religion does not draw men out of the world but enables them to live better in it”. He was arrested a number of times due to his difference of beliefs. Yet the most famous among his trials is the one which eventually gave the freedom to the juries of England and made them independent and out of influence from the judges. William Penn also planned and developed the “City of Brotherly Love”, Philadelphia (Somerville, 2006). City Hall: Due to the overcrowding at the old 18th century city hall at fifth and Chestnut Street, a public election was held in 1870 to decide the new location of a city hall in Philadelphia. Penn Square was the new location that received 51, 623 votes. The architecture of this new city hall was designed by John MacArthur Jr. who immigrated to America from Scotland. William Penn’s statue was not originally included in his design (Hornblum, 2003). The inclusion of statue was requested by the building commission, which was designed by Alexander Milne Calder, who immigrated to America as well in 1869 (pewtrusts.org). The construction of city hall was completed in 1901 with the intention of making it the world’s tallest building. The Eiffel tower and Washington monument however grabbed that uniqueness from it. Yet it is still world’s largest masonry building in the world. The enormous eight story building with a 16ft height of each floor seems like a three floor building from outside. The basic building material is bricks with a white marble face, granite and limestone (whyy.org). It covers a surface area of 630,000sq ft. As there is no use of steel frames, the first floor’s walls are 22 ft thick to support the whole structure and weight of upper floors. It has nearly 700 rooms surrounding a landscaped courtyard and housing the official, judicial and legislative offices of the government. The mayor’s office is on the second floor in executive branch, while the judicial branch consists of 30 courtrooms. The Tower Clock and the Statue of Billy Penn: The central tower with a four-faced clock is approximately 511 ft high (aviewoncities). Installed in 1899, the diameter of the huge clock is 26ft, with minute hand weighing 225 pounds. The weight of the clock is 50 ton while the second hand travels 114.7 miles per year (whyy.org). In the beginning the clock was lit by candles which were replaced with 552 light bulbs. The famous 26 ton bronze statue of William Pen at the top of this tower was hoisted in 1894. Made of 14 separate pieces, the 37 ft tall statue is the world’s largest statue being at the height of 548ft from the street. It is faced northeast towards the Delaware River where in 1862 William Penn signed a treaty of friendship with Lenape Indians. The crowning statue, known in Philadelphia as “Billy Pen” was displayed for a year in the courtyard of city hall before it was dismantled and lifted to be placed on the top. Below the feet of the statue tourists can access an observation deck with a superb view of Philadelphia and its surroundings (whyy.org). Alexander Milne created 94 sculptured figures and 250 figurative works for the city hall in 20 years including Penn’s statue. The eight other bronze sculptures include four eagles perched above each clock face with 12ft wingspan, a Native American warrior with a dog, a Native American woman with a child, a Swedish man with a child and a Swedish woman with a child and the lamb. These eight sculptures weigh around 70 tons (pewtrusts.org). Images of Moses and other sobering seated figures are sculptured on the south side of city hall, representing law and liberty. Workers are accessible to the brim of Penn’s statue, by climbing on to the tower elevator’s top and balancing a ladder to the centre of the statue and exiting through a hatch of 22” on the hat’s top (whyy.org). With the passage of time and introduction of new inventions, City hall has been under improvement during and after its completion in 30 years. Earlier electricity and later elevators were included in the original designs. There has also been an extreme political interference even before its construction continuing till its completion. All these factors included in the total construction cost made it worth dollar 24.3 million whereas the original estimate was dollar 7.5 million (whyy.org). Originally the construction of city hall was intended to reflect Philadelphia’s importance and so it was meant to be the tallest building in the world. In Philadelphia there was an agreement among the developers that forbade the construction of buildings higher than the statue of Penn. As it took a very long period of 30 years to complete its construction, the city hall couldn’t retain the claim of highest building by the time it was completed. Conclusion: The fabulous figurative illustrations and artistic sculptures of the city hall make it one of the most priced and valued buildings in the world. Its detailed carving and architecture is among the world’s best ever. This masterpiece built on the second empire style is “an outdoor art to some, a great layered cake to others”. Although it serves the purpose of functioning centre for government’s judicial as well as legislative and official activity, yet it is famously known for its splendid art work and elaborative carvings throughout the building. William Pen’s statue is significantly, why the city hall is widely famed. The statue can be seen from miles and miles away. The statue is Build in a way showing that William Penn’s affectionate hand is gracing the city and its people. The statue itself is emblem of what Penn stood for. His devotion for the betterment of humanity and common fair treatment to all is the reason he is acknowledged by the people of Philadelphia. And in tribute to his dedication his statue is raised high above the city to mark Philadelphia’s acknowledgement for his contributions. Although Penn himself wished to stay in Philadelphia yet the financial problems forced him to go back. City hall due to the statue of William Penn remains by far one of the most intricate and striking allegorical masterpiece from the history. Work Cited 1. Hornblum, Allen M, and George J. Holmes. Philadelphia's City Hall. Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia, 2003. Print. 2. Somerville, Barbara A. William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2006. Print. 3. City Hall. A View on Cities. Retrieved from http://www.aviewoncities.com/philadelphia/cityhall.htm 4. A Brief History of William Penn. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/penn/bio.htm 5. City Hall. Retrieved from http://www.whyy.org/tv12/secrets/city.html 6. Restoration of the Calder Sculptures atop City Hall, Philadelphia: A Groundbreaking Preservation Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/Supporting_arts_and_culture/Calder_Fact%20sheet_FINAL.pdf Read More