The photographs in this calendar were selected from Philadelphia Architecture. Philadelphia is a city of Colonial and ghostly architecture with narrow historic streets that open up onto vistas of bold, towering skyscrapers. It is a city of Greek Revival banks, Italian Renaissance, and Second Empire buildings, a city of Beaux-Arts hotels, Byzantine and Gothic churches, and International-style high-rises. A hybrid of gritty Chicago and pristine Boston, Philadelphia stands alone, an aristocrat in bib overalls, as a livable, intimate city of neighborhoods and luxurious townhouses, of hidden treasures and spectacular surprises. Philadelphia Architecture, a walk through Philadelphia streets past and present, highlights the richness and diversity of the cityas architectural history. Thom Nickels is a journalist, poet, and author of eight books, including Gay and Lesbian Philadelphia and Manayunk. The lifelong Philadelphia resident is a contributing editor for the Weekly Press and is the architecture writer for the Philadelphia Bulletin. He won the 2005 Philadelphia AIA Lewis Mumford Award
for architectural journalism.