Signs of Life: Symbols in the American City

This three-part exhibition examines the evolution of American symbolism in the home, the commercial strip, and the 19th-century city.

Signs, paintings, billboards, and home and street furnishings suggest three contemporary homes, a "Route 66", and an urban environment.

In the first section, visitors walk through 3 simulated typical American homes of today—a suburban subdivision, an urban rowhouse, and a Colonial house. The next section deals with communication oriented toward people in cars, and includes signs for food and lodging establishments. The final section concentrates on the "Main Street" of both cities and towns and depicts civic, religious and commercial symbolism in architecture.

The exhibition was developed and designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm of Venturi and Rauch.