Philadelphia Architecture

Architectural historians David Brownlee and George Thomas, coauthors of Building America's First University, take us on a walking tour of Penn's campus, a collection of important academic architecture and a microcosm of Philadelphia's distinctive style. The tour will conclude with a slide lecture, reception, and book signing.

David Brownlee received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and has taught at Penn since 1980. He has authored books on the City Beautiful movement and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway; a biography of Louis Kahn; and is currently at work on a book titled Modern Means and Modern Meanings: An Intellectual and Social History of Nineteenth-Century Architecture.

George E. Thomas received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught at Penn since 1978, receiving the Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1994. He directs a consulting practice that has supervised the restoration of many of the region's landmarks, including 30th Street Station, College Hall, and the Fisher Fine Arts Library, for which his firm received the President's Award from the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation. He has published widely on American architectural history.