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Fischer–Venturi and Scott Brown House

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1909, Milton Medary; 1972–1988, Venturi and Scott Brown. 6904 Wissahickon Ave.
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)
  • (University of Pennsylvania, Architectural Archives)

Medary's Art Nouveau–influenced house for German manufacturer Adelbert Fischer has the simple cubic massing and overhanging roofs of a fin de siècle European country house. The side toward the Wissahickon gorge is by contrast far more open with segmental window heads denoting reinforced concrete detail derived from William Price's early modern buildings. As the home of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, it has been further embellished with graphic ornament of their devising that connects it to their catholic interests and makes the house a rare merging of taste and adventure.

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas
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Citation

George E. Thomas, "Fischer–Venturi and Scott Brown House", [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-PH167.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 2

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, George E. Thomas, with Patricia Likos Ricci, Richard J. Webster, Lawrence M. Newman, Robert Janosov, and Bruce Thomas. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 144-144.

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