Frank Furness

Frank Heyling Furness (1839 - 1912) was a noted American architect.

Related Topics:
1839 - 1912 - Architect

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Furness was born in Philadelphia. His father, William Furness, was a prominent Unitarian minister, and his brother, Horace Furness, was an outstanding Shakespeare scholar; Furness, however, did not attend a university and apparently did not travel to Europe. He is remembered for his eclectic, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings and for his influence on Louis Sullivan.

Related Topics:
Philadelphia - Horace Furness - Louis Sullivan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Furness began his architectural training in the office of John Fraser, Philadelphia, in the 1850s. He participated in the Beaux-Arts-inspired atelier of Richard Morris Hunt, New York, from 1859 to 1861 and again in 1865. During the Civil War he served as a cavalry officer, receiving a Congressional Medal of Honor—the only American architect to receive this honor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Furness considered himself Hunt’s apprentice and was influenced by Hunt’s dynamic personality and accomplished, elegant buildings. He was also influenced by the architectural concepts of Viollet-le-Duc and John Ruskin. Louis Sullivan worked briefly as a draftsman in Furness’s office, and his use of decorative organic motifs can be traced, at least in part, to Furness.

Related Topics:
Viollet-le-Duc - John Ruskin - Louis Sullivan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following decades of neglect, in which many of his most important buildings were destroyed, there was a revival of interest in Furness’s work in mid-twentieth century. Robert Venturi in Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture wrote, not unadmiringly, of the Philadelphia Clearing House: “... it is an almost insane short story of a castle on a city street.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some buildings by Furness, all located in Philadelphia:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company, 1875 (demolished)
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1876
• Provident Life & Trust Co., 1879 (demolished)
• National Bank of the Republic (later Philadelphia Clearing House), 1883 (demolished)
• Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Building (formerly University of Pennsylvania Library), 1890

Buildings by Furness, not in Philadelphia:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• All Hallows Church, 1897, Wyncote, Pennsylvania
• New Castle Library Society building, 1892, New Castle, Delaware

Three adjacent buildings in Wilmington, Delaware are reputed to be the largest grouping of Furness-designed railroad buildings:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Pennsylvania Railroad French Street Station (now Amtrak), 1908
• Pennsylvania Building, 1905
• Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Water Street Station, ca. 1887
 
Frank Furness: External links ►