Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia: architect, style and history

The building known today as the Loews Philadelphia Hotel began life as the PSFS Building, headquarters for the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, and it is credited as the first International Style skyscraper built in the United States. Architects William Lescaze and George Howe combined Lescaze's grounding in European modernism with Howe's Beaux-Arts training to give Society president James M. Wilcox the forward-looking tower he wanted, stripped of the domes and applied ornament that Philadelphia bank architecture traditionally used. Now a National Historic Landmark, it's remembered as one of the most consequential skyscrapers raised in the US during the first half of the twentieth century.

the building

T-shaped plan. The building's footprint is a T rather than a simple block, a shape chosen to pull the maximum amount of natural light and rentable floor area out of a tight urban site — a functional solution years ahead of contemporaries still designing towers as solid masonry piles.

the style

Lescaze and Howe rejected the domes and ornament expected of a bank building in favor of an unadorned International Style volume, a sharp departure from traditional bank and Philadelphia architecture. The design fused Lescaze's firsthand exposure to European modernism with Howe's Beaux-Arts background, producing what is now called the country's first modern skyscraper.

the architect

William Lescaze brought direct experience with European modernism to the partnership, while George Howe came from a Beaux-Arts training background; together the pairing let each architect's strengths cover the other's gaps, and the PSFS Building became the project that made both men's reputations as pioneers of modern American skyscraper design.

significance

The building is a National Historic Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and marked with a Pennsylvania state historical marker — recognition for its status as the first International Style skyscraper built in the US and one of the most important skyscrapers erected in the country during the first half of the 20th century.

nearby

Wanamaker’s 450 ft
Reading Terminal 460 ft · 1893
Randolph Theatre 0.1 mi · French Renaissance
Robinson Department Store 0.2 mi · Mid-Century Modern · 1946
New Century Club 0.2 mi
One South Broad 0.2 mi · Art Deco · 1932

All 127 buildings in Philadelphia