Frank Furness: Architecture in the Age of the Great Machines

Frank Furness (1839-1912) is an architect whose importance and impact have yet to be properly evaluated or appreciated. George Thomas places him in the industrial culture that supported his work, grounding him in Philadelphia, a city led by engineers, industrialists, and businessmen who commissioned the buildings that extended modern design to Chicago, Glasgow, and Berlin. Thomas examines the multiple facets of Victorian Philadelphia's modernity, looking to its eager embrace of innovations in engineering, transportation, technology, and building. His analyses of the innovative planning, formal, and structural qualities of Furness's major buildings identify their designs as initiators of a narrative that leads to such more obviously modern figures as Louis Sullivan, William Price, Frank Lloyd Wright, and eventually, the architects of the Bauhaus. Lavishly illustrated, the book includes more than eighty black-and-white and thirty color photographs that highlight the richness of his work and the originality of his design spanning more than forty years.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 04 June 2021
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Frank Furness (1839-1912) remains a fascinating figure in architectural history, oscillating between an icon and an enigma. His significance and impact have yet to receive the proper evaluation or appreciation, leaving him a subject of ongoing curiosity among historians and critics. Opinions on Furness's work vary widely, with some viewing him as a revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of pattern and proportion, undermining or fusing historical styles in eclectic buildings like the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania Library. Others perceive him as a regional mannerist, creating a distinctive personal style with limited resonance and modest influence on the future of architecture. By contextualizing Furness within the industrial culture that nurtured his work, George Thomas presents a fresh perspective on the architect. Thomas identifies Furness as a pioneering figure who laid the foundations of modern design, played a pivotal role in its evolution, and whose strategies continue to shape the built environment. In his comprehensive reassessment of Furness as an architect of the machine age, Thomas anchors him in Philadelphia, a city renowned for its engineering prowess, industrial dominance, and business acumen. Philadelphia served as the commissioning hub for Furness's buildings, which extended modern design to cities like Chicago, Glasgow, and Berlin. Thomas delves into the multifaceted modernity of Victorian Philadelphia, exploring its eager embrace of innovations in engineering, transportation, technology, and building. He argues that Furness, working for a specific cohort of clients, played a central role in shaping this context. Through meticulous analysis of Furness's major buildings, Thomas identifies their innovative planning, formal, and structural qualities as the catalysts that paved the way for subsequent modern figures such as Louis Sullivan, William Price, Frank Lloyd Wright, and eventually, the architects of the Bauhaus. Despite being misunderstood and reviled in traditional architectural centers like New York, Furness's legacy continues to grow and evolve, resonating with architects and designers who seek to push the boundaries of design and explore the intersection of history, technology, and aesthetics.

Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780812224870