The Bellevue Historian in Residence: DesignPhiladelphia Special Edition
What does the Bellevue tell us about Philadelphia’s rich design and architectural history? Join David Kurlander, the Bellevue’s Historian-in-Residence, on a walking tour of the legendary Broad Street building that has been so central to revolutions in Philadelphia’s built environment. Learn about the Hewitt brothers, the prolific Gilded Age architects who designed the Bellevue. Discuss the legendary thinkers who walked the Bellevue’s halls, with a special emphasis on the 1961 American Institute of Architects convention, at which Le Corbusier received the AIA Gold Medal and I.M. Pei described his vision for Society Hill Towers.
Explore how successive generations of preservation architects and interior designers updated the Bellevue to meet stylistic and economic shifts. And track Philadelphia’s broader transformation through the lens of the Grand Old Lady of Broad Street. These historical tales provide an inspirational blueprint for adaptive reuse, hotel design, and city planning discourses far beyond Philadelphia, and this tour promises to be a spirited discussion about how the past can inform our complicated present.

HOW IT WORKS
The Bellevue will offer a complimentary historian tour available for DesignPhiladelphia attendees.
- Duration: 75 minute tour
Additional: Guests receive a custom-printed map and can choose from themed tours (architecture, sports, culinary or general history), offering something for everyone looking to connect more deeply with Philadelphia’s storied past.
Bellevue Historical Tour Sign Up
*Maximum 20 guests per tour*