Friendship Gate, Philadelphia, United States of America
| General Attributes |
DOI| 10.34946/D6SK5P | |
| Project Name | Friendship Gate, Philadelphia |
| Country | United States of America |
| Status | Upcoming |
| Citation |
| Lori Aument, Alex Beglan, L.R. Aument LLC, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) 2026: Friendship Gate, Philadelphia - Photogrammetry - Terrestrial, Photogrammetry - Aerial, Data Derivatives - 3D photogrammetry, Survey Data, Thermography. Distributed by Open Heritage 3D. https://doi.org/10.34946/D6SK5P |
| Download |
| Spatial Data | Coming Soon |
| Data Type |
Size |
Device Name |
Device Type |
| Photogrammetry - Terrestrial | Not available | Sony a7R II | Mirrorless |
| Photogrammetry - Aerial | Not available | DJI Mavic 3 | Drone |
| Data Derivatives - 3D photogrammetry | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Survey Data | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Thermography | Not available | DJI Mavic 3 | Drone |
| Background |
| Site Description | Standing 40 feet tall over the intersection of 10th and Arch Streets, the Chinatown Friendship Gate marks the ceremonial entrance to Philadelphia's historic Chinatown. Painted bright gold, green, blue, and red, it reflects a traditional Chinese architectural style of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The gate is adorned with dragon motifs, small sculptures of animals, and ornamental roof tiles, and the stone bases are incised with floral patterns. The large Chinese characters across the arch proclaim "Philadelphia Chinatown."
What makes the gate distinctive is its authenticity. Philly's Friendship Gate is the first Chinese American archway built with materials from Asia, making it the "authentic" deal — earlier gates in San Francisco and Boston were not. Philadelphia's sister city of Tianjin, China, provided the tiles, and a team of Chinese engineers and artisans built the pieces of the arch. The overall design was supervised by Sabrina Soong, a local Chinese American architect.
The project grew out of the 1979 sister-city relationship between Philadelphia and Tianjin, formalized after the United States established diplomatic ties with China. Completed in the winter of 1983–84 and dedicated on January 31, 1984, the roughly 88-ton structure commemorated the friendship between the two cities and paid tribute to the cultural and economic contributions of Philadelphia's Chinese community.
For a neighborhood then squeezed by highway construction and urban renewal, the gate became a powerful assertion of permanence and pride. It was repainted in 2008 with the help of Tianjin artisans using ancient techniques and traditional materials, and rededicated on November 19, 2008. | |
| Project Description | Working with a team at WJE, we created a 3D model of the Friendship Gate in Chinatown here in Philadelphia.
Cyark training,
2 days separated,
Thermography drone, sfma drone, sfmg drone, how were gcps taken? | |
| External Project Link | View exhibit |
| Collection Date | 2025-10-04 to 2025-10-09 |
| Publication Date | 2026-07-01 |
| License Type | CC BY-NC |
| Model Information |
| Reuse Score | A - High-Quality Model with Accurate Georeferencing |
| Entities |
| Contributors | Lori Aument , Alex Beglan, L.R. Aument LLC, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) |
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