Spotlight Talk: Architectural Drawings

Our current installation, Home as Site, features some of the blueprints and architectural drawings that are a part of WEM’s collection. In this spotlight talk, we took a closer look at the different kinds of two-dimensional works related to architecture in WEM’s collection and archives, discuss some of the important architects in Esherick’s circle, and share a few non-WEM resources related to site architecture.

Spotlight Talk: Anne Tyng, Geometric Architecture, and the Wharton Esherick 1956 Workshop

In 1956, Wharton Esherick built a workshop annex to his iconic studio-home. The new building was geometric, consisting of three hexagonal modules that were added onto the end of Esherick’s expressionist style log cabin garage. The design of the 1956 Workshop has long been credited as the collaborative work of Esherick and architect Louis Kahn. Enjoy a celebration a little-acknowledged contributor to the project: Anne Tyng, an architect who worked in Kahn’s office, in his shadow, for the better part of two decades. During this 20-minute program, we delve into design drawings, archival photographs, and oral history interviews to explore the ways in which Tyng’s lifelong passion for geometric architecture shaped the 1956 Workshop.

Creatives on Esherick: Sam Olshin and Lisa Dustin, Atkin Olshin Schade (AOS) Architects

Enjoy a conversation with Sam Olshin, FAIA and Lisa Dustin, AIA of Atkin Olshin Schade (AOS) Architects of Philadelphia, PA and Santa Fe, NM, both of whom worked closely with the Wharton Esherick Museum on a Campus Master Plan for WEM which was completed in 2020.

Current concepts for an enhanced campus envisioned with AOS include a new Visitor’s Center that blends into the landscape at the base of Valley Forge Mountain with space to exhibit contemporary artists in dialogue with Esherick’s legacy; restorations that will allow new public access to the Sunekrest farmhouse and the 1956 Workshop; and a terraced Ramble that will lead visitors through the woods connecting the lower and upper portions of the site. Renderings and watercolors from this project are currently on view at WEM in Home as Site, an installation exploring the physical nature and architecture of the WEM campus. We’ll talk with Sam and Lisa about their research and design process, how they worked in collaboration with Esherick’s legacy and the site’s extant architecture, and what it meant to rethink current spaces – and develop new ones – for WEM as the museum honors its 50th Anniversary year.