What is your Big Idea for Philadelphia?
What Should We Learn from the 'Philadelphia School' of Architecture?
From the 1950s through the 1990s, Philadelphia was at the forefront of American design. Philadelphia architects designed national parliament buildings; major museums; buildings all over elite college campuses; as well as the world’s first postmodern building right here in Philly—a modest retirement home at 8th and Spring Garden. Indeed, the major cities of virtually every country in the world are home to buildings imitating those of Louis Kahn and Venturi Scott Brown.
But 20some years later, we’ve become followers. There is no longer a school of thought or style associated with Philadelphia; innovation has moved elsewhere. What happened?
In our Fast Forward Philly talk we hope to argue that a severe diagnosis of the present state of architecture here is the first step toward restoring Philadelphia to its former status as a center of global architecture. We’ll introduce the little-known but hugely important Philadelphia School that put Philly at the center of the map, explain what changed, and argue for a renewed Philadelphia architecture based on the physical qualities that have always set us apart—a rich architectural legacy, William Penn’s tight street grid, and our tremendous variety of neighborhood types.
From the 1950s through the 1990s, Philadelphia was at the forefront of American design. Philadelphia architects designed national parliament buildings; major museums; buildings all over elite college campuses; as well as the world’s first postmodern building right here in Philly—a modest retirement home at 8th and Spring Garden. Indeed, the major cities of virtually every country in the world are home to buildings imitating those of Louis Kahn and Venturi Scott Brown.
But 20some years later, we’ve become followers. There is no longer a school of thought or style associated with Philadelphia; innovation has moved elsewhere. What happened?
In our Fast Forward Philly talk we hope to argue that a severe diagnosis of the present state of architecture here is the first step toward restoring Philadelphia to its former status as a center of global architecture. We’ll introduce the little-known but hugely important Philadelphia School that put Philly at the center of the map, explain what changed, and argue for a renewed Philadelphia architecture based on the physical qualities that have always set us apart—a rich architectural legacy, William Penn’s tight street grid, and our tremendous variety of neighborhood types.
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| Jason Tang tjason(at)sas.upenn.edu Instagram: tangsonson |
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| Izzy Kornblatt ikornblattstier(at)gsd.harvard.edu Instagram: izzykornblatt |
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