Mitchell/Giurgola Architects

Mitchell/Giurgola, one of the most important firms of the "Philadelphia School," was founded by Ehrman B. Mitchell and Romaldo Giurgola in 1958. Both were associated at the time with the architecture and engineering firm of Bellante & Clauss, as was Warren W. Cunningham, who was initially part of their venture. Mitchell, a Pennsylvania native, had earned an architecture degree at the University of Pennsylvania with honors shortly after World War II. In 1951, he joined the Philadelphia firm of Gilboy & O'Malley, which was succeeded by Gilboy, Bellante & Clauss and then by Bellante & Clauss. Giurgola, born in Italy, had first come to the United States to study at Columbia University in 1949-1951. In 1954, he came to Philadelphia to accept the position of assistant professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. One of Mitchell/Giurgola's first commissions, the Wright Brothers' Memorial Visitors' Center at Kill Devil Hills, NC soon attracted critical attention. The firm developed a national and then an international reputation for its projects in the 1960s.

In 1966, when Giurgola left Penn to head the department of architecture at Columbia, he established the New York City office of the firm. When the firm won the 1978 competition for Australia's Parliament House, Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp, was established in Canberra (1980). Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp opened an office in Sydney in 1988. In 1990, the Philadelphia office was succeeded by MGA Partners, Inc. The New York office continued under the name Mitchell/Giurgola Architects.

From the description of Mitchell/Giurgola architectural records, 1958-1986. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122594228