Download or read book Philadelphia Architecture written by Thom Nickels and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philadelphia is a city of Colonial and ghostly architecture with narrow historic streets that open up onto vistas of bold, towering skyscrapers. It is a city of Greek Revival banks, Italian Renaissance, and Second Empire buildings, a city of Beaux-Arts hotels, Byzantine and Gothic churches, and International-style high-rises. A hybrid of gritty Chicago and pristine Boston, Philadelphia stands alone, an aristocrat in bib overalls, as a livable, intimate city of neighborhoods and luxurious townhouses, of hidden treasures and spectacular surprises. Philadelphia Architecture, a walk through Philadelphia streets past and present, highlights the richness and diversity of the city's architectural history.