page_title: Architecture of Philadelphia
section_title: Landmarks and monuments
hierarchical_section_title: Architecture of Philadelphia / Landmarks and monuments
caption_attribution_description: English: Provident Life &amp; Trust Company Building in an old photograph (c. 1879-80)
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: 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 Centennial Exposition, the first American World's Fair, took plac
caption: Provident Life & Trust Company (1879, demolished 1959-60)
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