Mitchell/Giurgola architectural records, 1958-1986.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Mitchell/Giurgola architectural records, 1958-1986.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122594228

In 1997 Ehrman B. Mitchell, Romaldo Giurgola and MGA Partners donated the archival material housed in the Philadelphia office to the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. The collection documents over 150 buildings and projects designed by Romaldo Giurgola, Ehrman Mitchell and their associates between 1948 and 1986. As all the materials came from the Philadelphia office, projects developed primarily in the New York office are not as well documented as those developed in the Philadelphia office. No projects of either office after 1986 are represented in this collection. The Philadelphia office prepared the competition drawings for Australia's Parliament House, and the collection contains presentation drawings, photographs and a marketing file for this project. Construction photographs, building photographs and marketing materials for this project document the work of the firm Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp to build the winning design 1981-1990. The collection contains no other records related to Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp. This collection is particularly notable for its numerous original sketches and renderings by Romaldo Giurgola as well as photoprints of some of his early projects in Italy (many unidentified). Also notable are sketches by David A. Crane for projects he designed in collaboration with Mitchell/Giurgola. Projects include numerous academic buildings, commercial office structures, public buildings, planning projects and competitions. A group of projects for one client, The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (formerly The American College of Life Underwriters), illustrates the the firm's work over a period of more than twenty years. From Huebner Hall (1959-1961) to the Graduate Studies Center (1976-1981), the firm designed the entire campus in twelve projects, including two master plans (1960 and 1976) and a lake (1968). The firm's MDRT Foundation Hall for The American College received the American Institute of Architects Honor Award in 1973. Several of the firm's other important projects are also particularly well documented. Academic buildings include Lang Music Building at Swarthmore College, and at the University of Pennsylvania the University Museum Academic Wing, Museum Garage, and Walnut Street Parking Garage. Office buildings include INA Tower, Penn Mutual Tower and United Fund Building, all in Philadelphia, and the Competition for the American Institute of Architects National Headquarters Building in Washington, DC. Public buildings include Boston City Hall Competition, Tredyffrin Public Library, Tredyffrin Township, PA, and two projects for the National Park Service, the Visitor Center at Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC and the Liberty Bell Pavilion at Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia. The bulk of the collection comprises 20,490 architectural drawings for projects developed in the firm's Philadelphia office, including design, presentation, and construction drawings. The collection contains 3,311 photoprints documenting buildings and projects designed by both the Philadelphia and New York offices, as well as a small number of projects designed in Italy by Giurgola in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Reports and specifications were preserved for only a selection of projects. Additional documentation for some projects is found in 84 folders of marketing and clippings files (some of which contain project descriptions written by the firm) and on photographic display boards. The collection contains one model, for the United Fund Building. The collection contains no project correspondence, project files or business records. It contains no personal correspondence or memorabilia of the founding partners. Nor does it contain any records related to Giurgola's teaching (University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University) or records related to Mitchell's term as president of the American Institute of Architects.

Architectural drawings 20,490 sheets : various media.Photographs 3,311 photoprints.Architectural models 1 item.Additional materials 5 cubic ft.

University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6781132

Related Entities

There are 21 Entities related to this resource.

University of Pennsylvania.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q63gvj (corporateBody)

The Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania was part of the Towne Scientific School until 1920, when a separate School of Fine Arts was established, teaching architecture and other fine arts. Teaching staff and courses of instruction of the Towne Scientific School, Department of Architecture were listed in the Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania. The School of Fine Arts published its teaching staff, regulations, courses of study, competitons and, in some years, curre...

American College (Bryn Mawr, Pa.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r26q09 (corporateBody)

Boston. 1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zs8jp2 (corporateBody)

Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h47dn0 (corporateBody)

Giurgola, Romaldo

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n60s3n (person)

United Fund Building (Philadelphia, Pa.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64519bc (corporateBody)

Crane, David Alford, 1927-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6446c7d (person)

Thorp, Richard

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j69nhv (person)

Mitchell, Ehrman B.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68d22cz (person)

Australia. 1978-1980

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63j92gs (corporateBody)

Penn Mutual Tower (Philadelphia, Pa.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g21ppg (corporateBody)

Liberty Bell Pavilion (Philadelphia, Pa.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65j34hd (corporateBody)

MGA Partners

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62g39kr (corporateBody)

Cunningham, Warren W.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65f0z1w (person)

Wright Brothers National Memorial (N.C.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66742cc (corporateBody)

Tredyffrin Public Library (Tredyffrin, Pa. : Township)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v17tk4 (corporateBody)

INA Tower (Philadelphia, Pa.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64j63tv (corporateBody)

Swarthmore college

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mm055x (corporateBody)

Founded by members of Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia Yearly Meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Swarthmore College was incorporated in 1864 under a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The College opened in 1869 as an college and preparatory school, although the preparatory division was phased out in the 1880s. The Charter was amended in 1908 to remove any formal links to the Society of Friends. The College continues to operate as a liberal arts college with a...

Mitchell/Giurgola Architects

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xq1bkk (corporateBody)

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 Philad...

Mitchell/Giurgola Architects

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xq1bkk (corporateBody)

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 Philad...