Academy of Music Ballroom, Philadelphia, PA USA

Philadelphia’s Academy of Music first opened in 1857 and is the oldest grand opera house in America that is still used for its original purpose. It is both a celebrated historical landmark and a strong focus of cultural life in the city. Brintons was commissioned to play a leading role in the restoration of the historic ballroom by designing and weaving a grand Axminster rug for the centre of the room.

Client Brief

KlingStubbins, the interior design specialist leading the restoration project, wanted to take the ballroom back to its original design intent. An early ‘ballroom plan’ that detailed a scheme that the architects produced in 1856 was used for inspiration, despite the scheme not being implemented at the time due to cost and timing restrictions. The original inspirations for the building were based on the ‘Hall of Mirrors’ in Versailles, France. KlingStubbins was keen to bring elements of that room to play in the Academy of Music refurbishment.

Creative design approach

In order to deliver a historically accurate rug, Brintons conducted an extensive research programme to gather relevant information on the period. This involved a close study of two Palace of Versailles and Louvre apartment rugs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as a ‘music’ rug in the Rice Room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Brintons also used its own extensive design archive that dates back to 1791 to reference designs from the period of the decorative style of Louis XIV and XV that was dominated by the work of Savonnerie carpet designers Pierre Dupont and his former apprentice Simon Lourdet. Once this research was complete, Brintons set about developing a design for the rug. Some of the imagery used in the rug design was hand drafted to reflect the whimsy and motifs in the historic venue’s medallion plasterwork.

Special circumstances or requirements

To satisfy the client’s brief surrounding period authenticity, Brintons studied layers of unrestored paint finishes and historic photographs of the room to help create an appropriate design and finish that was in keeping with the original architects’ vision.

The solution that was delivered

As there are two great chandeliers and 10 smaller chandeliers in the ballroom that create an imposing visual grid from above, the final rug design needed to bring the floor into dialogue with the heavily articulated ceiling. The Brintons design grounds the rug with a central ‘AMA’ motif that reflects the original name of the institution – The American Music Academy – while the two grand chandeliers are grounded with secondary motifs containing musical imagery of violas, harps and trumpets entwined with flowers. The imagery for these instruments was drafted from the plaster banquette mouldings in the main theatre space. The 10 smaller chandeliers are grounded by points in the geometric framework of the rug. This is achieved with a framework of borders in the design that emanate from the centre of the rug and are anchored under each chandelier by individual pattern devices. The colours used in the final rug design are a combination of soft grey blues, soft peaches, sage and indigo and gold that is indicative of the court carpets of Louis XV.

Services provided by Brintons

Brintons delivered a full historical research, design and project management service to the client for the Academy of Music project. Once the final design was approved, Brintons then used its expertise to weave the 72’ x 28’ Axminster rug.

Brintons Reaction

Jonathan Young, Brintons’ global commercial sales director, said: “This was a very special project to be involved with, given the amount of historical content we were working with and the need for accuracy. But the strength and depth of our own Brintons design archive and our dedication to delivering a historically accurate job were key to the overall success of this project. It was a challenge bringing the imagery that we discovered in our research into a shape and format that worked with the other elements in the ballroom, but I think the final result is perfectly in keeping with the original scheme that the architects originally wanted to create in 1856 but were unable to do so because of time and financial constraints.”

Client Reaction

 Without Brintons’ unfailing guidance, advice, creativity, and understanding, the carpet – and the room for that matter – would not be the same. I could not imagine the project without Brintons. Its drive and dedication while working with me to create the carpet I pictured in my head but struggled to articulate was excellent and as time went by, I trusted and depended on Brintons’ instincts to ensure the design was completed to the correct standard. The scale and proportion of the patterning is perfect and the complexity and richness of the design elements compliments the original decorative painting of the walls and ceiling vaults. The rug cost what Brintons said it would, was manufactured when it was supposed to be, and was shipped on time – three things that almost never happen when dealing with some other suppliers. The Brintons team should be very proud of this project. 

John Trosino, KlingStubbins Senior Associate