Philadelphia Architecture

By Thom Nickels

Philadelphia is a city of Colonial and ghostly architecture with narrow historic streets that open up onto vistas of bold, towering skyscrapers. It is a city of Greek Revival banks, Italian Renaissance, and Second Empire buildings, a city of Beaux-Arts hotels, Byzantine and Gothic churches, and International-style high-rises. A hybrid of gritty Chicago and pristine Boston, Philadelphia stands alone, an aristocrat in bib overalls, as a livable, intimate city of neighborhoods and luxurious townhouses, of hidden treasures and spectacular surprises. Philadelphia Architecture, a walk through Philadelphia streets past and present, highlights the richness and diversity of the city s architectural history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Oct 19, 2005
• ISBN: 9781439632420

Thom Nickels

Thom Nickels is a poet and the author of several books, including Two Novellas: Walking Water & After All This, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award and a Hugo Award. The lifelong Philadelphia resident is a contributor to many newspapers, including the Philadelphia Daily News. He writes for the Lambda Book Report and is a columnist for Pridevision T.V. in Toronto.

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Reviews for Philadelphia Architecture

[bensdad00 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Gorgeous photos, many of which I haven't seen collected before, but the atrocious editing makes one doubt every single caption, making all of the time spent reading them essentially wasted.

[outsidefood · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Nice pictures while providing a good exercise on spotting mistakes. Photo on p. 10 shows Gimbel Brothers store but caption reads "Gimbles". Photo on p. 21 with automobiles in the foreground and captioned "c. 1873". Photo on p. 25 with horses and buggies and captioned "c. 1965". Pages 32 and 109 are identical. Photo of "a handsome Victorian cottage" on p. 70 -- with vinyl siding. Boyd Theater on p. 96 captioned as "c. 1930" but the 1952 movie The Greatest Show on Earth is playing there. Ray and Diana Vagelas Laboratories in caption on p. 128, but building in photo shows Roy and Diana Vagelos in block letters. Photo on p. 130 captioned as "c. 1980" but street signs and lights indicate c. 1935. Photos on pp. 94 and 140 captioned as "Anna Venturi House" -- her name was Vanna, as mentioned in the quote that is also in the caption on p. 140. Does Arcadia Publishing have an editor, proofreader, or anyone who reads the manuscripts they publish?