University of Pennsylvania, 34th & Spruce streets, Philadelphia, PA 1895-1915; extant
Early schemes for The University Museum envisioned an enomous complex of courtyards extending from 34th Street to the Schuylkill River. In 1893 its building committee had called on Eyre, Walter Cope, John Stewardson, and Frank Miles Day to work together on various schemes, including some with the cast of ancient Rome and others with a lighter Mediterranean aspect. Scholars agree that Eyre played the leading role in the Museum's executed form, which softened Beaux-Arts axial planning with warm surfaces, intimate gardens, and an unpretensious venerability.
The enormous scheme was undertaken in phases: the western courtyard was carried out in 1896-99, and the 90-foot dome projected from the beginning followed only in 1912-15. The 1920s saw the beginning of the central court, broader and with an even greater dome, but that dome and the third court did not reach fruition.
Aerial perspective from northwest, by Eyre, 1896 [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.007]
"Floor plans of the Free Museum of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia," 29 Oct. 1895 [E. and M. O. Teitelman Coll.]
Perspective from northwest, by Charles Z. Klauder [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.004]
Elevation and plan , ca. 1894? [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.001]
Perspective from northwest, by Charles Z. Klauder [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.003]
Site plan, blueprint , 12 Jan. 1897 [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.146]
Aerial perspective from west, 1895, by Eyre [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.010]
Aerial perspective from west, by Eyre, ca. 1896-1912? [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.011]
Front elevation, 13 June 1896 [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.152]
Aerial perspective of garden, 1898, by Eyre [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.008]
North elevation, 4 Dec. 1911 [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.041]
Photograph of facade, ca. 1915 [Archtl. Archives, UP: 01.110.001]
North front, west courtyard [photo: J. Cohen]