Vincent G. Kling

Vincent G. Kling is one of Philadelphia's most prolific architects. By 1973, his firm was the largest in Pennsylvania with over 400 architects on staff. Born in 1916 in East Orange, NJ, Kling was educated at Cornell University and M.I.T. He served in the Navy in World War II. After the War he worked for Skidmore Owings and Merrill in New York. In 1946, he left to establish his own office in Philadelphia.

In the 1950s and 60s he worked closely with Ed Bacon in the planning of Penn Center in Center City, Philadelphia. He designed a number of the major buildings and civic spaces in Penn Center including 2 Penn Center, 5 Penn Center, Municipal Services Building, Centre Square, Dilworth Plaza, and LOVE Park. Kling's other major Philadelphia-area buildings include the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Lankenau Hospital, the Albert M. Greenfield School, numerous buildings at Haverford College, and the U.S. Mint. Kling retired from active practice in 1987.

Kling became a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1960, and was the Philadelphia Chapter's President in 1965. He has won numerous honors including national and local AIA awards, and the Samuel F. B. Morse Medal by the National Academy of Design. He served as a member of the Philadelphia Art Commission and a Trustee of Columbia University.

Reference: The Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project