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Urban Legend: The Life & Legacy of C. Emlen Urban
Presented by author and architect Gregory Scott
Monday, September 9, 2024
6:00-7:00 p.m.

Gregory J. Scott, FAIA, co-founder of RLPS architectural firm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has been researching and teaching the community about C. Emlen Urban’s life and architectural legacy for over 20 years. Scott will discuss the making of his first book profiling Lancaster’s most prolific architect. The 200+ page book is titled Urban Legend and is a never-before-told story of C. Emlen Urban and 25 of the architectural masterpieces which left an indelible mark on the City of Lancaster.

C. Emlen Urban began his architectural practice one-hundred-forty-years ago and designed everything of significance and note in Lancaster City from 1885 to 1935, yet there has never been a book written about him or the impact he had on our city’s built environment. With no formal education beyond high school, he went on to design over six-hundred-forty-five (645) commissions, practiced in six states and was described by Milton S Hershey as “my architect’.

With stunning photography and captivating stories about the people behind Urban’s commissions, Urban Legend: The Life and Legacy of C. Emlen Urban is a never-before-seen look into the man who singlehandedly transitioned Lancaster City from the era of eighteenth-century Colonial architecture to the era of worldly sophistication including Beaux Arts, Italian Renaissance and French Baroque. His passion, his genius, and his drive remain unparalleled in modern history.

Created as a collaborative endeavor and produced in its entirety by Lancaster-based talent, Urban Legend celebrates one of the city’s most significant contributors in a beautiful hard-bound publication that will bring joy and pride to anyone who loves Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

LNP Lancaster Online
September 6, 2024

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