This field guide highlights some of the more notable and unusual buildings in Temple University's collection.

 

Temple University's history began in 1884 when Russell Conwell, the minister at Grace Baptist Church, began tutoring members of the congregation. Conwell provided night classes to working class Philadelphians to accommodate their work schedules. These students nicknamed "night owls" would gather in the Baptist Temple at Broad and Polett Walk. The school continued to grow, and Conwell recruited professionals in the city to volunteer their time and teach classes in their respective fields. In 1888 the school was incorporated as "The Temple College" and grew to 600 students. In 1907 the college became Temple University. As the school developed, row homes and buildings were purchased along North Broad Street and North Park Avenue for lecture rooms.

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The school greatly expanded during the urban renewal period of the 1950s and 60s. Architecture firm Nolen and Swinburne completed a masterplan for the new core of campus in 1955 which called for the clearing of rowhomes between 13th Street and 11th Street, where the Bell Tower now stands. Nolen and Swinburne developed many of the Brutalist and modernist buildings on campus during this time as the university became affiliated with the state. Two more waves of development occurred under Presidents Peter Liacourus and Anne Weaver Hart.

 

This incremental development created an eclectic mix of architecture. Campus buildings range from Classical and Gothic, to Modern and Contemporary. This has created a campus that is dense, diverse and unique.