Beaux Arts Ball 2003

Since turning themselves into party planners with a purpose, Philly's chapter of the American Institute of Architects has, during its yearly run at an annual social gala, turned this town's historic landmark spaces into decadent discotheques for its masquerade balls. Having ransacked the Wanamaker Building, 30th Street Station and other hot spots still under construction in its illustrious party past (though it was canceled last year), AIA's Beaux Arts Ball 2003 heads for the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Seaplane Hangar -- an aerial-oriented arena built in the 1930s as a storage unit utilized by the Philly fleet. Having already used BAB 2003's theme (Forms, Frames, Figures) and colors (blue and bronze) for its pre-ball costume contest in September, the Beaux is set to go with what's being called the East Coast's largest dancefloor, several quieter spaces and tables filled with gourmet fare. The 2003 Beaux benefits the Center for Architecture's many causes, including Charter High School for Architecture and Design and the Community Design Collaborative. Find your inner form and get Beaux-ing.

Beaux Arts Ball 2003, Sat., Oct. 25, 7 p.m., $75, Philadelphia Navy Yard's Seaplane Hangar,

www.beauxartsballphilly.com.

—A.D. Amorosi

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