John T. Windrim

Benjamin Franklin Memorial Hall

John T. Windrim designed the Benjamin Franklin Memorial Hall as a meeting space in Philadelphia’s iconic Franklin Institute. According to an article in the Journal of the Franklin Institute from 1934 describing the Hall’s informal opening, A. Atwater Kent, President of the Benjamin Franklin Memorial, Inc., said “the Franklin Memorial was the effort of a great civic movement in which Philadelphians had shown themselves how to do a handsome thing most handsomely” (112). The article also notes how the Hall was considered only informally opened until the centerpiece statue of Benjamin Franklin by James E. Fraser was completed (110).    

The Hall is classical in many aspects, most notably, the large dome, columns and oculus. According to the website of the Franklin Institute, this room is inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, Italy, which is seen in the 82-foot dome and gilded oculus. The hall’s area is 5,184 square feet.  The 16 marble columns are Corinthian. As Vitruvius in Book IV of his De Architectura notes, they can be recognized through the ornate decorations on the capital. The oculus, which is Latin for ‘eye’, is a large round skylight that allows for sunlight to enter through the top of the dome (which can be seen in the above photo). The most famous oculus in ancient architecture is in the Pantheon, the 2nd C CE Roman temple begun by Agrippa in the late 1st century BCE and completed as it now stands under Hadrian. Its dome and oculus are distinctive. According to Susan Woodford, the use of concrete, which is self-supporting once set, allowed the dome to stand freely without a keystone or any supports in the center of the temple (The Art of Greece and Rome 115). The Pantheon’s oculus is 9 meters in diameter and the dome is 43.3 meters high, which is much larger than Windrim’s Memorial Hall.

One respect in which the hall differs from its classical inspiration is that the other distinctive feature of the Pantheon, its portico, is missing. Since the Hall is an interior space, the exterior impact of the giant columns of the portico leading into the rotunda is missing; the exterior of the Franklin Institute, while classically inspired, does not mimic the Pantheon. However, the interior space echoes another famous antique structure- the Parthenon. Seen here in an illustration from The Travels of Anacharsis the Younger, the Parthenon was thought to house a giant statue of Athena Parthenos. At just 20 feet tall, the statue of Ben Franklin in the Memorial Hall is half the height of the classic inspiration.

Wanamaker Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia

The Wanamaker Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia was designed by Windrim in 1903. It was located at 2123-2127 South Street and offered library services to the Rittenhouse Square area. According to the archives of the Free Library, the branch closed in 1932. The architect, John T. Windrim, inherited his business and livelihood from his father and namesake. He designed many iconic Philadelphia buildings and is known for the Beaux-Arts style. Beaux-Arts was a neo-classical style that was popular throughout the world, and especially the United States, in the early 20th century.

The symmetry of the brick building highlights the classical inspiration. Though we typically think of marble as the ‘classic’ ancient building material, brick was a very common and important material, especially in Rome. The arched windows and doors on the building’s masonry façade are reminiscent of many ancient designs, as well as the pilasters and architrave on the second story. These style details are of the Ionic order, as categorized by Vitruvius and described by Woodford in The Art of Greece and Rome (26).  Rather than support a traditional triangular pediment, such as the ones on the Parthenon sketched by Anacharsis the Younger, Windrim designed an eye catching modern take on the pediment, with two domed windows. Sadly, this example of classically inspired Philadelphia architecture no longer exists, but below there is a photo of its former location.

Barthelemy, J.-J. Translated by William Beaumont. Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece: Maps, plans, views, and coins, illustrative of the geography and antiquities of ancient Greece.  London: 1804. Digital Library @ Villanova University

Tatman, Sandra. “Windrim, John Torrey”. Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. Accessed April 30, 2016. https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/21563.

Historical Images of Philadelphia Digital Collection. The Free Library of Philadelphia. Accessed April 30, 2016. https://libwww.freelibrary.org/DigLib/SearchItem.cfm?searchKey=3558754820&ItemID=pdcf00205.

Woodford, Susan. The Art of Greece and Rome, 2nd edition. Cambridge: CUP, 2004.

Vitruvius. The Architecture of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, translated by Joseph Gwilt, London: Priestley and Weale, 1826.