The other day, my friend Jonathan Barnett and I were walking down 23rd Street when our attention was drawn to an unusual building on Manning Street, one of those narrow alleys that are common in Philadelphia. Obviously very new, the building caught our eye for a number of reasons. First, the walls were brick, at a time when virtually all infill housing in the city is glass with perhaps a scattering of metal siding. And this brick was not the usual red, but lightly glazed yellow. Second, the regular composition of rectangular openings punched in the facade of this three-story box was similarly unusual at a time when architects are bending over backward to avoid regularity, let alone symmetry. The box-with-openings reminded me of the Haus Wittgenstein in Vienna, designed by Paul Engelman and Ludwig Wittgenstein for the latter’s sister in 1925-28. But the Manning Street building also recalls an earlier period: the Vienna Secession. The windows, which are set into large opening are framed by black L-shaped panels ornamented with geometrical patterns. Ornament! That really set this interesting little building apart. The architects are a local firm, Stanev Potts; Petra Stanev and Stephan Potts. Chapeau!
Photo credit: Ryan Lohbauer
PHILADELPHIA SECESSION
