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The Design Center at Philadelphia University
Devoted to design, and how it shapes everyday life
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The Design Center
Photo courtesy of the Design Center
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Other Information
Open Wed - Sun
Insider Tip
In October, The Design Center organizes Design Philadelphia, a citywide cultural initiative that recognizes Philadelphia's distinguished design history and celebrates its contemporary significance as an important international center for advancement in the design disciplines. The event runs in conjunction with National Design Week.
The Design Center at Philadelphia University aims to showcase the interwoven issues of function, beauty and style in designed objects of all kinds. Recognizing that design can be as simple as a paper clip or as complex as a city plan, The Design Center is devoted to exploring design and showing visitors just how it shapes everyday life.
Through its presentation of gallery exhibitions, enrichment programs, lectures and special events, the center reflects Philadelphia University's extensive design curriculum encompassing architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, graphic design, textile design, fashion, interactive media and product design.
In addition to mounting exhibitions and creating public initiatives, The Design Center houses Philadelphia University's extensive historical and contemporary textile collection. The collection — some 200,000 items strong — is a nationally recognized resource for the study of Western and non-Western textiles and costumes from the 1st Century A.D. to the present, representing nearly every country in the world. The collection is available by appointment to scholars and design professionals.
History / Architecture
The Design Center, located in the Goldie Paley House, was founded in 1978 as the Paley Design Center, an exhibition space for regional fine art, and a home to a textile archive for Philadelphia University (formerly the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science).
The building, a one-story ranch encompassing over 7,000 square feet, is a regional treasure. A marble-flanked entranceway leads to an expanse of windows overlooking Fairmount Park. Beneath an undulating roof overhang, a rear terrace curves along the home's entire length. The grand piano-shaped swimming pool, located on the lower terrace, and an ornamental Japanese maple tree, create extraordinary focal points against the canopied forest.
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