A Venetian Gothic Giant
0 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Friday, December 31, 2010 at 12/31/2010 01:23:00 AM.
The red sandstone, brick and-terra-cotta fortress that graces the campus of the University of Pennsylvania was built by Frank Furness to be the primary library of the University, and to house its archeological collection. The cornerstone was laid in October 1888, construction was completed in late 1890, and the building was dedicated in February 1891.
Throughout the building are windows inscribed with quotations from Shakespeare, chosen by Horace Howard Furness, Frank's brother, a University lecturer and a preeminent American Shakespearean scholar of the 19th century.
Within a generation, Frank Furness's exuberant masterwork was considered an embarrassment. The University Museum moved to its own building in 1899. In 1915 a wing was built at the south end of the stacks, making their designed expansion impossible. Robert Rodes McGoodwin drew up plans to cloak the entire building in sedate Collegiate Gothic brick and stone.
In 1957 Frank Lloyd Wright was invited to tour the Victorian mamoth, then threatened with demolition. The architect proclaimed: "It is the work of an artist."
The building served as main library of the university until 1962. Today it houses collections related to architecture, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, historic preservation, history of art, and studio arts.
In a 2009 appreciation in The Wall Street Journal, architectural historian Michael J. Lewis called it "a cheeky act of architectural impertinence" and "the last of its kind":
"Today, the University of Pennsylvania building, now known as the Fisher Fine Arts Library, is widely acknowledged as one of the great creations of 19th-century American culture, and the principal work of its architect, Frank Furness (1839-1912)."
"Today, the University of Pennsylvania building, now known as the Fisher Fine Arts Library, is widely acknowledged as one of the great creations of 19th-century American culture, and the principal work of its architect, Frank Furness (1839-1912)."
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