The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Introduction

As at the end of 1813, a number of men commenced the subscription towards the establishment of reading rooms in Philadelphia. The name Athenaeum was chosen as it referred to the Greek goddess of wisdom and learning. Given the increase in the number of subscribers and visitors of the Philosophical Hall, the society deemed it apt to have its building and this resulted in the idea of constructing the Athenaeum to house the society and the library. John Notman won the architectural competition that was held to select the best architect to design and construct the building. The Athenaeum was built in 1845 using the Italianate Renaissance Revival style. To this day, the Athenaeum still serve the intent and purposes it was built for, creation and dissemination of information.

The Athenaeum was mainly established in the year 1845 with the objective of collecting various materials that were related to both the history and antiquities of the United States, as well as the essential art, over and above the objective of disseminating important knowledge for the benefit of the public. Owing to this, the Athenaeum is regarded as a nationally significant collection, particularly with regards to the history of architecture and interior design dating back to between 1800 and 1945. Named after one of the Greek goddesses, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, some Athenaeums thrived throughout the 19th century United States. Nevertheless, a limited number of such private libraries were able to survive in spite of being supported by the members who were required to pay regular membership fees.

Nevertheless, the Athenaeum designed and held a thoroughly monitored competition with the objective of determining the best architect to design the novel building. At the end of the competition, John Notman, a young and less known architect, was selected over three renowned architects of the time, namely; John Haviland, William Strickland and Thomas Ustick Walter (Ameri 22). Having been constructed in 1845, the Athenaeum Philadelphia building has been globally hailed as one of the seminal American developments that are within the Italianate Revival Styles. Increasingly plain on the exterior sections and very deceptive in the scale, Condello (167) observed that the Athenaeum Philadelphia building had rich and embellished reading rooms that have 24-foot ceilings. As a result of its architecture and history, the building was made a National Historic Landmark in the year 1977. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to review ho Philadelphia’s history is linked to the Athenaeum of Philadelphia’s architecture. To attain this objective, the paper will discuss how the main John Notman′s ideas affected the design of the building, as well as how Notman′s Athenaeum influenced the mainstream of national architectural fashion.

Discussion

The main focus of the research collections of libraries before 1930 progressively turned to be American Architectural designs. Having acknowledged that no single institution in Philadelphia was collecting the architectural records that were being sought for use in supporting research on builders and architects, the Athenaeum took up the function in the 1970s and as a result, collected more than 300,000 photographs and 220,000 architectural drawings. Also supporting documentations that represented the works of more than 26, 0000 engineers and architects were collected.  In this regard, it can be observed that the Athenaeum of Philadelphia has a collection of the history of most of Philadelphia’s history dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. According to Ameri (157), of most interest in the Athenaeum is the book collection that was owned and used for consultations by the greater Philadelphia region architects. Thus, the library has been able to acquire the libraries of early Philadelphia architecture organizations including the drawings and the client’s records. A good example entails the acquisition of the architectural designs and drawings made by Theophilus Chandler, who founded the School of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.  Furthermore, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia additionally served as the official repository of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects records repository thereby containing all the architectural designs related to the history of buildings found in Philadelphia. Still, it is worth observing that the Athenaeum of Philadelphia mainly focused on collecting the architectural drawings and designs of the Philadelphia builders and architects ranging from the works of Owen Biddle and William Palmer to earliest known architects such as Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Robert Mills, John Haviland and William Strickland (Condello 171).

1843 Site Map showing the location where the Athenaeum would be constructed

John Notman’s Ideas

Regarding the manner in which John Notman’s ideas affected the design of the building, it can be noted that Notman had earlier designed some Churches and the Laurel Hill Cemetery through which he was able to make use of and popularize the use of brownstone in construction and the Italianate style in various churches. Owing to this, John Notman was able to introduce the use of the Italianate style in Philadelphia’ Athenaeum in 1845, and this was approved by the city. The Athenaeum was the initial building that the city adopted and had used the Italianate style (Reinberger and Elizabeth 115). Additionally, some John Notman’s designs were also dictated by various ideas derived from the Cambridge Camden Society that had proposed that the low church varieties of the Anglican churches were to be constructed using the Romanesque style and design even as the construction of the High church variety were to adopt the Gothic style. John Notman was able to take on these ideas and execute them in the Athenaeum of Philadelphia as can be observed in the 24-foot ceiling as well as in the design of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Moreover, the Romanesque building design can be observed in the high pillars found inside the Athenaeum and also at the Laurel Hill Cemetery gatehouse.

1856 site map indicating the area occupied by the Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Notman’s ideas were also inspired by the Industrial Revolution (1835 – 1902) that led to novel architectural ideas being introduced, and were mostly derived from English sources. A number of London clubs and townhouses had been modeled after the Italian Renaissance’s urban places, and were used as precedents for comparable buildings. However, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia is America’s initial construction that was developed in the Renaissance Revival or Italianate style. The Athenaeum’s Italianate style is mainly found in the construction’s low-pitched roofs, the tall and narrow windows, the symmetrical façade, quoins, cornices and various aspects making the construction appear increasingly organic.

The 1^st and 2^nd Stories of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia as at 6/26/1845

 

1^st Story of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Throughout his works, John Notman was immensely interested in two key architectural inspiration schools, namely; the picturesque and the graceful schools that he carried out in his designs including that of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. In the designing and construction of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, John Notman did not only look back but ignored the aspects of the Greek Revival, as was proposed by the name Athenaeum, but sought to look back to the Renaissance Italy, as well as the palazzo forms (Williams 31). Notman’s idea of making use of variants of the Renaissance Revival style and the Italianate seemed to work better for the urban contexts and were, therefore, desirable for the Philadelphia as there was no adequate space for the tedious asymmetrical compositions. In this regard, it can be noted that the Athenaeum of Philadelphia was meant to have been constructed using the marble façade as opposed to the masonry sub-structure; however, Notman’s idea that called for the use of the inexpensive brownstone was opted for in spite of the observation that the material that had been, throughout the 1840s, linked to both the Renaissance Revival and the Italianate styles (Ameri 158).

Image of the Athenaeum take in 1845 and showing the facade

1845-1847 image of the Athenaeum indicating the Reading Room and the original rich design

The influence of Notman′s Athenaeum on the mainstream of national architectural fashion

Notman’s Athenaeum had an immense influence on the national architectural fashions. The construction was designed using the Italianate style and was amongst the initial constructions in the city to be developed using brownstone regardless of the observation that the original plan was to use marble. Notman made use of brownstone as it was cheap. Owing to the history and the design of the building at the time, it was declared as one of the National Historic Landmark in 1976, given that it not only inspired other architectural designs but also because it was America’s initial construction that made use of the palazzo-style facade, as well as the historic standing as an educational organization. At present, the Athenaeum operates as a museum of America’s decorative and fine arts drawn from the initial half of the 19th century and offers free access to the public.

Still, Giberti (117) maintains that the Athenaeum was Notman’s initial work that astonished Philadelphia given that he had abandoned the common and widely used rustic Italian forms and taken up the conventional English Renaissance influences. Upon being opened, the public was astonished by the use of brownstone, a rare construction material at the time. The brownstone use, as opposed to bricks, marked nearly every work of Notman after the Athenaeum and he infrequently used wood in his design (Giberti 126). This led to the Athenaeum being hailed as a masterpiece and influencing the use of Anglo-Italianate design modes by subsequent urban architect generations (Reinberger and Elizabeth 418). As a result, the Athenaeum is considered as the genesis of the pavilion plan, which refers to the plan base that was, after that used in some houses and constructions in Philadelphia and other parts on America after 1845. Moreover, through the Athenaeum, Notman also influenced the use of Riverside design in many public and residential buildings (Richards 123). As such, this is observable in the use of fringe on cornices, the bold porches and the wide towers that have massive eaves.

Conclusion

The Athenaeum not only changed the American Architectural designs preferences but also influenced various factors of construction and design of the period. This has led to the building being declared as a National Historic Landmark owing to its impact on not only architecture but knowledge preservation and dissemination. Through his work, Notman introduced the Italianate style and the use of brownstone in construction. As such, this later influenced the construction of other buildings throughout the United States.

 

Works Cited

Ameri, Amir H. The Architecture of the Illusive Distance. Routledge, 2016: pp. 1-199.

Condello, Annette. The architecture of luxury. Routledge, 2016: pp. 1-182

Giberti, Bruno. Designing the Centennial: a history of the 1876 International Exhibition in             Philadelphia. University Press of Kentucky, 2015: pp. 1-304.

Reinberger, Mark E., and Elizabeth McLean. The Philadelphia Country House: Architecture and Landscape in Colonial America. JHU Press, 2015: pp. 1-464.

Richards, William. Revolt and Reform in Architecture’s Academy: Urban Renewal, Race, and the Rise of Design in the Public Interest. Routledge, 2016: pp. 1-148.

Williams, William Earle. “Treasures of the Athenaeum: 200 Years of Collecting.” (2014): pp. 1-    56.