Origins in excellence: The practical ethos of G. Holmes Perkins and the Philadelphia School

This dissertation investigates questions of architectural values, definitions of excellence, and architecture's social and cultural function of representing values and shaping behavior, through the lens of G. Holmes Perkins, an American modern architect. Perkins is placed in the context of his professional practice, community work, pedagogical influence, and relative to other prominent figures in American modern architecture and urban planning. Anecdotes about dilemmas Perkins faced during his career, where principles were tested, and resulting actions were contentious, are analyzed for ethical content. Perkins' Monks house in Lincoln, Massachusetts is examined in terms of its plan, elevations, and details for expression of his ethos of representation. Arguments about the preservation or destruction of Frank Furness's University Library at Penn, and Perkins actions regarding the Fine Arts Library collection are examined to draw out Perkins's definition and principles of excellence. Three distinct high-rise apartment towers in Philadelphia, housing diverse socio-economic populations, are examined to test the validity and scope of modern architects' faith in architectural determinism. How large-scale urban planning projects were conceived, and achieved, is examined for intent, application and results. What is clear from the investigation is that Perkins principles, and his expression of these, were specific to his time, experience, and training as an architect in the northeastern United States. His practical ethic was a reflection of his immediate societal priorities and concerns. Rather than being a set of principles imposed from above, Perkins's architectural ethics are discovered through contemplation of specific practice, theory and production. The ethos of architecture, though derived from traditional and broadly held principles, necessarily finds unique expression in each successive generation and culture. The link between cultural context and architectural production and principles is direct. As a result the principles of architectural theory and practice are subject to constant challenge and revision as the cultural context changes. Architecture is a principled discipline, but its moral authority is drawn from the cultural milieu.