Editing Philadelphia Merchants Exchange (section)

== Design ==

William Strickland designed the Merchants Exchange to accommodate the irregular triangular site where Third, Walnut, and Dock Streets converge. His solution—a rectangular building with a curved eastern facade—transformed the site's awkwardness into architectural distinction. The semicircular portico, with its Corinthian columns supporting an entablature and balustrade, creates a dramatic gesture that compensates for the building's constrained footprint. This curved colonnade, derived from ancient Greek monuments at Epidaurus and Athens, represents the most inventive use of Greek precedent in American architecture of the period.<ref name="webster">{{cite book |last=Webster |first=Richard |title=Philadelphia Preserved: Catalog of the Historic American Buildings Survey |year=1976 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

The building's northern facade presents a more conventional temple front, with Corinthian columns supporting a triangular pediment. This dual-facade approach—curved colonnade on one end, temple front on the other—creates varied experiences as visitors approach from different directions. The interior originally contained a grand exchange floor where merchants conducted business, along with offices for the various enterprises that supported Philadelphia's commerce. The building's architectural quality announced that Philadelphia's commercial community valued culture as well as profit.<ref name="gallery"/>