Palazzos of power : central stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company, 1900-1930 / Aaron V. Wunsch, Joseph E.B. Elliott ; foreword by David E. Nye.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wunsch, Aaron V., author.

Elliott, Joseph E. B, author.

Contributor:

Nye, David E., 1946- Author of introduction, etc.

Athenaeum of Philadelphia., Contributor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philadelphia Electric Company--Buildings.

Philadelphia Electric Company.

Philadelphia Electric Company--Buildings--Pictorial works.

Architecture, Industrial--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Architecture, Industrial.

Architecture, Industrial--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Pictorial works.

Electric power-plants--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Electric power-plants.

Electric power-plants--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Pictorial works.

Philadelphia (Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Philadelphia (Pa.).

Philadelphia (Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc--Pictorial works.

Physical Description:

157 pages : chiefly illustrations ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2016.

Summary:

""Majestic," "endangered", and "understudied" - terms typically applied to endangered species - apply equally, if paradoxically, to one of the greatest sources of pollution in twentieth-century America: coal-fired metropolitan power plants. Nowhere is thebuilding type more spectacularly present or more pressingly at risk than in Philadelphia, home to the mothballed central stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company. Monuments to the city's industrial might and suburban spread, they housed rows of ponderous boilers, turbines, and switchgear, as well as elaborate coal- and ash-handling systems. But it was these machines' neoclassical enclosures that commanded public attention. Designed to convey "solidity and immensity" in an age of deep public skepticism, they now stand vacant and decaying - a "blight" in the eyes of city planners and a beacon to urban explorers. Combining scholarly research, period illustrations, and contemporary photographs, Palazzos of Power sets Philadelphia's central stations in historical context, explains the mechanisms they housed, and records their spaces and surroundings. The book will appeal to scholarly and lay audiences"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

"The book itself originated out of preparations for an exhibition at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia in early 2008"--p. 7.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Includes reproduction of material from the collection of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia (p. [22], [28], [47]).

Athenaeum copy: Zebooker fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9781616895006 : HRD

1616895004 : HRD