Father Pitt

Tag: Janssen & Cocken

  • The Lobbies of the William Penn Hotel

    William Penn Place entrance

    We come in this door and enter the magical world of a great city hotel, a place designed to make us feel as though we are guests of royalty.

    Main lobby

    The main lobby is a monarch’s reception room. If you are a guest of the hotel, you can arrange to meet your local contacts here and feel as though you have done your business right.

    Main lobby
    Main lobby
    Main lobby
    Main lobby

    The William Penn was built in two stages, both designed by Benno Janssen, and competent authorities agree that he did a pretty good job of it. “The William Penn Hotel merits classification with the best in hotel buildings,” wrote Alfred Branch Harlow of Alden & Harlow, Janssen’s biggest competitor in the large-public-buildings business. “One’s attention is arrested as the carefully studied mass and detail of this structure presents itself.”

    The side that faces William Penn Place was the first half to go up, opening in 1916, and that is where the main lobby is. In 1929, Janssen was brought back for an annex that doubled the size of the hotel, giving it a Grant Street face as well, so that it now covers a whole city block. If we enter from Grant Street, we find ourselves in a smaller but still rich lobby.

    Grant Street lobby
    Grant Street lobby
    Stairs up from the Grant Street lobby
    Sony Alpha 3000; Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
    Comments

  • Columns of the Mellon Institute, Oakland

    Columns of the Mellon Institute
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

    A parade of the largest, though not the tallest, monolithic columns in the world.

    Comments