PEA Stories from an Architect: the Philadelphia School and its Structural Engineer

Izzy Kornblatt, a visiting researcher from the GSD, will speak about the Philadelphia School and the role of engineers at Keast & Hood in shaping it. In particular, he will focus on a history of shared ideas—from Frank Furness and his contemporaries through to George Howe, Louis Kahn, and ultimately Venturi Scott Brown. Keast & Hood began with Howe’s Bulletin Building and went on to design the structures for many of Kahn’s and VSB’s masterpieces, and as a result became an unrecognized but critical force in the formation of those shared ideas. Izzy’s research this summer has focused on the late Nick Gianopulos so he will also highlight Nick’s enduring contributions to the Philadelphia School as well as to the larger world of Philadelphia architecture.