Fragments of Franklin Court

Franklin Court is defined by the massive, fifty-four-foot-tall white steel frames that sketch the outline of the house Benjamin Franklin once owned here. Built in seventeen-sixty-three, the original brick home served as his residence until he died in seventeen-ninety, though the structure was demolished in eighteen-twelve. These open-air steel skeletons, designed by architect Robert Venturi for the bicentennial in nineteen-seventy-six, mark the footprint of the long-lost house and his grandson's printing business.