Louis Magaziner (March 7, 1878 – May 19, 1956) was the senior partner of a series of architectural firms based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Born in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, he came to the U.S. with his parents and graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

as an architect in 1900. His firms included Magaziner, Eberhard & Harris, credited with the design of eight theaters including the Broadway Theatre at 43 S. Broadway in Pitman, New Jersey; Felton Theatre (1925 remodel of 1919 building) at 4800 Rising Sun Avenue in Philadelphia (since converted into a supper club); Lansdale Theater at 545 W. Main Street in Lansdale, PA (since demolished); Media Theatre for the Performing Arts at 104 E. State Street in Media, PA; Midway Theatre at 1835 E. Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia, PA; Ogontz Theatre at 6033 Ogontz Avenue in Philadelphia, PA; Rockland Theater at 4910 N. Broad Street in Philadelphia; Uptown Theatre (Philadelphia) at 2240-2248 N. Broad Street in Philadelphia. The Broadway and Media theaters remain open. The firm also designed the Wingwood House in Bar Harbor, Maine (1927) for

Edward T. Stotesbury Edward Townsend "Ned" Stotesbury (February 26, 1849 – May 16, 1938) was a prominent investment banker, a partner in Philadelphia's Drexel & Co. and its New York affiliate J. P. Morgan & Co. for over fifty-five years. He was involved in ...

and his second wife. It was demolished in 1953. The later works of his career were austere and modernist. These included the Sidney Hillman Medical Center (demolished in 2011), and a Conservative Synagogue (1949) at 53rd and Euclid Streets in Philadelphia. The Magaziner Collection of architectural drawings is held at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Magaziner, Eberhard & Harris was a going concern from 1922 until 1930. His son Louis Magaziner's son Henry Magaziner was a well-respected architectural preservationist and author in Philadelphia.

Early life

Louis Magaziner was a native of

who came to the United States with his parents, Henry and Cecelia (Rosenbluth) Magaziner in 1887. He graduated from Central High School in 1896 and received his B.S. in Architecture from the

in 1900. He was a classmate and friend of

Julian Abele Julian Francis Abele (April 30, 1881April 23, 1950) was a prominent Black American architect, and chief designer in the offices of Horace Trumbauer. He contributed to the design of more than 400 buildings, including the Widener Memorial Library at ...

(class of 1902).http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/shadow.html?c=y&page=3

Career

Magaziner worked at firms including Frederick Mann, Cope & Stewardson,

Albert Kelsey Albert Warren Kelsey, Jr. (April 26, 1870 – May 6, 1950) was an American architect, who designed in a number of Revivalist styles. Biography He was born in 1870 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of economist and writer A. Warren Kelsey and nov ...

, and Newman & Harris (as head draftsman) before establishing his own firm, Magaziner & Potter, with William Woodburn Potter in 1907. The firm lasted until 1917 and was followed up by other partnerships including Magaziner & Eberhard; Magaziner, Eberhard & Harris, and Louis & Henry Magaziner. His firms produced theaters, mansions, colleges, hospitals, clubs, and banks. Magaziner became a member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

in 1942; practiced in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio; and was a founder of the Homewood School (formerly known as the Hebrew Sheltering Home).

Legacy

His son Henry Jonas Magaziner was a prominent preservationist, author and architect. Father and son practiced architecture when not interrupted by the Great Depression and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, before Henry set off on his own as an architect and then preservationist and author. He wrote the books ''The Golden Age of Iron Work'' and ''Our Liberty Bell''.Henry Magaziner; An appreciation
Hidden City Philadelphia The Henry Magaziner Award is given by the Philadelphia branch of the American Institutes for Architecture.

Works

* Sidney Hillman Medical Center (1950), was a modernist structure designed by Louis Magaziner and Herman Polss. It was demolished in 2011. *

Uptown Theater (Philadelphia) The Uptown Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also known as ''Uptown Theater and Office Building'', is an Art Deco building built in 1927. It was designed by the Philadelphia-based architectural firm of Magaziner, Eberhard & Harris. The Upto ...

(1927), listed on the National Register of Historic Places * Mount Sinai Hospital, Philadelphia, built from 1921 through 1939 *Gertrude Kistler Memorial Library (1926) at Rosemont College (Magaziner, Eberhard & Harris) * Tasker Street Homes (1937), Philadelphia, PA. Demolished in 2004 * Corn Exchange National Bank, 125-135 Chestnut *Silverman & Son, store, 6th & South Sts., Philadelphia, PA *Washington Collegiate Institute, Washington, N.C. *Calvary Church, Germantown, Philadelphia, PA *John Snead Seminary, Boaz, AL *Synagogue (1912) *Fels residence (1907) 39th and Walnuthttps://books.google.com/books?id=a393S7_Dx0oC&dq=Louis+Magaziner&pg=PA98 page 98

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magaziner, Louis 1878 births 1956 deaths University of Pennsylvania alumni Architects from Philadelphia Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni