Red sandstone Gothic halls along Locust Walk, and the library Philadelphia used for Andrew Beckett's case research.
What University City looks like
runs car free through the middle of the Penn quadrangle, a brick path between red sandstone and stone halls with turrets and steep gables. rises at one end in red sandstone and brick, round towers over a paved plaza and a stone stair. Its double doors carry leaded and stained glass panels rather than plain wood.
stands a block south in pale stone, pointed arched windows and dormers under a slate mansard roof, with a single path leading up through bare lawn. The sits past in dark brick and terracotta, its long arcaded wing facing a reflecting pool with a bronze fountain figure at the centre.
On 38th Street, hospital towers line a divided avenue with trolley tracks still set into the asphalt. A few blocks east on Market Street, a green sign points toward under university banners. Past its roofline, the Cira Centre's glass diamond and the FMC Tower climb together across the Schuylkill.
West of the quadrangle the blocks turn residential. Eleven Italianate twin mansions face each other along , paired porches and stone quoins under slate roofs. In Powelton Village the same brick scale continues past the old armory building on Lancaster Avenue, arched windows in dark red brick under a curved barrel roof. On Chestnut Street the Episcopal Cathedral's stone tower rises over the sidewalk, a blue rose window filling the gable above its arched door.
Shot in University City
Philadelphia used the University of Pennsylvania's own Fine Arts Library for the scene where Andrew Beckett studies case law preparing his own lawsuit. The Furness Building's reading room and red sandstone tower play themselves rather than standing in for anywhere else.
Philadelphia, 1993
Fisher Fine Arts Library
Andrew Beckett studies case law inside the University of Pennsylvania's Fine Arts Library on Walnut Street, preparing his own defense. The building's round towers and red sandstone rise over the plaza outside, the university's original library. Street View
What University City can double for
Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Pembroke and Rockefeller Halls repeat the same Collegiate Gothic vocabulary as Fisher Fine Arts Library, pointed arches and pale stone under steep gabled roofs. The scale and material read close enough to swap without a real location move. Bryn Mawr's ivy and heavier tree cover make it look older than Penn's paved plazas, so a wide shot needs the trees timed to match the season. Try searching Collegiate Gothic stone halls now.
King's College Circle in Toronto, Ontario
King's College Circle repeats the same Victorian Gothic quadrangle mass as the halls around Locust Walk, turrets and pointed arched windows in a similar warm stone. University College's own building has stood in for an old American campus on screen without naming a real university. Ivy and darker sandstone make the Toronto buildings look older than Penn's brick and red sandstone in a wide shot, and Ontario road signage needs dressing out. Try searching Gothic quadrangle now.
St. James Court in Louisville, Kentucky
St. James Court holds paired and freestanding Victorian mansions in Italianate and Richardsonian Romanesque styles, a similar material mix to the twin houses on Woodland Terrace. Turrets, deep porches and stone trim repeat down the block the same way. Louisville's mansions sit further back behind a wide central parkway, so tighter porch level framing hides the extra setback from Penn's tighter streets. Try searching Italianate Victorian mansions now.
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