From the Crystal Palace to the skyscraper and on to the functional
aesthetic of the German Bauhaus, the development of modern architecture
required less than seven decades. Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts warrants a central place in this narrative. Unlike the
earlier buildings that made fragmentary and disconnected use of the
latest industrial materials and systems, the Academy project combined
the critical elements of modern logistical planning--steel and iron
construction and modern plumbing, heating, and ventilation systems
designed to serve a workplace and a school--with the architectural
expression of the age. Moreover, rather than seeking to reify the past,
architects Furness & Hewitt had chosen the most dynamic of modern
forces, the machine, as both inspiration and ornament. Instead of being
based on the rearview mirror, the new Academy, opened in 1876, looked to
the present and the future. This created a civic museum and school
building whose expressive style referenced both its updated purpose and
a novel attitude toward history. The Academy's machine for making art
can rightly be termed the first modern building.