MUNI Where Does Beauty Reside in the City?
Jacob Elisii 1
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From LOVE by Jonathan Rentschler 3
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The beauty of the city dwells within the public realm and the abundant variety and opportunity it provides. The variety of urban life enables the potential for many new, incomparable experiences that add richness and complexity to our shared lives.
The beauty of the city is in its ability to offer “the sense of being without precedent�. What is architectures role in facilitating this potential How can you create an architecture that engages use while not eliminating the cities promise of freedom?
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Duties/Responsibilities What is Architecture in the service of? Immediate Contexts Every piece of our built world should be uniquely placed to engage with its most ‘immediate contexts’, ‘real circumstances’, ‘lived-in conditions’, and ‘experienced areas’. This architecture is more capable of creating built conditions that form that intangible ‘spirit of place’ that defines the most wonderful ‘places’ in our lives. Places that are able to persist within our collective memories.
Peripheries Things, objects, peoples, ideas, buildings that exist on the fringes of our perception. The elements that inhabit the far off margins of our attention are not unworthy of receiving it. In the context of architecture that means that the “Ordinary, forgotten, everyday, areas on the periphery of the metropolitan city” should be treated as “privileged places of poetic experience.” (Lefebvre)
Citizenship Denizens of urban places have a right to not have their cities and towns dictated by a select few individuals. Architecture has the responsibility to create places that are understood to be collectively owned and cared for. No one individual or interest has claim to the common places of the city at the detriment of the rest of its inhabitants. Architects have a duty to ensure do design buildings and places that encourage better stewardship of the built world. For the betterment of all instead of just the few.
Beauty “Beauty makes life more vivid, animated, living, worth living.” -Elane Scarry Beauty resides in the particular, not the generic. The issue of beauty in architecture today is that it discussed. In academia or the professional sphere. The result is a proliferation of an architecture that lacks imagination or individuality. If a building is generic it isn’t its value as participant in the city is diminished. In order to make a city worth caring about beauty must be confronted.
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Case Study: LOVE Park “LOVE is a narrative about loss” “How did the demise of the LOVE park come about?” “The demise of LOVE was years in the making. Philadelphia has changed drastically in the past decade, as have most major cities. This is a result of major tax breaks and other incentives for real estate developers, and the fact that popular culture now markets “city life” as this romantic/ attractive thing. Because of this, there has been a large influx of middle and upper class people moving into cities. In the eyes of city officials, LOVE Park was too gritty, too wild, and too outdated for this new class of people moving into Philadelphia. It was a haven for two groups of people that they want to clear center city of; skateboarders and the homeless.” - Jonathan Rentschler in an interview with Leica
The 1965 Kling Bacon LOVE Park was an important place to many unimportant people. It’s demolition is a clear indication of the racist classist perception held by our city officials in regard to those on the outskirts of our attention. Rather than viewing the skaters and homeless that called LOVE Park home as 1) a welcomed layer of richness to public space or 2) citizens in crisis desperately needing help, the city council compartmentalized one and banished the other. The skaters were relocated to the other end of the parkway and the Homeless where scattered. (To where? No one ever asked) Both ousted from center city.
From LOVE by Jonathan Rentschler 8
Spectical
Spectators
The altering of ones own environment
From LOVE by Jonathan Rentschler
Indications of past users 9
Mutual understanding between multiple users
Coexistence of diverse activities
From LOVE by Jonathan Rentschler 10
“The room is the beginning of architecture.”
From The Philadelphia Inquirer by David Swanson 11
Case Study: Dilworth Park “Proudly Serving Starbucks Coffee” “Who runs Dilworth Park?” “What the brew-ha-ha over Starbucks is really about is the lack of control over our privately run public spaces. As city officials have spun off downtown parks to private managers — Dilworth, Franklin Square, Sister Cities, the Schuylkill River Trail — the public has been effectively cut out of the decision-making process. We no longer have a direct say in how our parks are managed, particularly the trade-off between commerce and public access.” - Inga Saffron for the Philadelphia Inquirer
Unlike the 1965 LOVE Park, the 1965 Dilworth Plaza isn’t remembered with the same fondness or nostalgia. The new Dilworth Park is universally accepted as the better of its two iterations. The new park is significantly more pedestrian, active, breathable & playful. Its become one of Philadelphia’s most beloved places. What critique could ever exist? The problem with Dilworth lies not in its architecture but in its management. Which can be just as problematic as any hostile design. Creeping privatization, and hyper consumerist undertones are dark stains on an otherwise considerate design.
From Twitter by Jonas Maciunas 12
Symbolic head of the city Important transit destination
Water you can touch
Dilworth Park by Kieran Timberlake 13
A permanent intrusion
From The Philadelphia Inquirer by Conrad Benner 14
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MUNI
LOVE was lost and Dilworth was bought. The plaza surrounding the Municipal Services Building has the potential to be a true to form public space. Though the architecture of the plaza itself is too efficient, too orderly, and too abstract, to satisfy a meaningful human dimension, it is one of the few places left in center city Philadelphia that hasn’t experienced the social cleansing brought on through the privatization of our public realm. MUNI then is in a unique position to become something truly better. There is an opportunity to create a public plaza that is both beautiful and inclusive. Both engaging and democratic.
Philadelphia Municipal Services Building & Paine Park, Vincent Kling & Associates - 1962 18
Existing Site Plan
Documentation
NTS.
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UNITED
BROAD
JOHN F K
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MASONIC
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LIGHT C
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15TH ST
LOVE PA
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METHOD CHURCH IST
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Vocabulary
The goal for MUNI is an architecture landscape that suggests without governing An intentional lack of clarity, an ambiguous design, can encourage interaction while not limiting the root of beauty in the public realm, variety. Ambiguity will allow for multiple potential readings of the plaza and encourage users to lay temporary claim to it in their own unique ways. This should not be confused with a vague or generic design, which is the opposite of beauty. The goal is “richness of meaning over clarity of meaning� -Venturi
Twin Phenomenon, Aldo Van Eyck Hill or Hollow?
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Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier Square Plan or Not?
Twin Phenomenon, Aldo Van Eyck Inward or External?
Vocabulary
The modern, the classical, and the archaic Team 10 and the Otterlo Circles suggests that a liminal design that exists inbetween the modern (change & movement) the classical (immutability & rest) and the archaic (vernacular of the heart) This mode of design is ideal for public spaces because it combines all aspects of our collective human desires. We all strive for balance between the order of the classical and they freedom of change and the soul of the vernacular. A public space that embodies these well has the power to fortify the human spirit and rekindle a love for the city.
Otterlo Circles, Aldo Van Eyck - 1959
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Precedent Study:
Amsterdam Playgrounds Aldo van Eyck, Amsterdam, 1947 - 1978 “To consider the city is to encounter ourselves. To encounter the city is to rediscover the child. If the child rediscovers the city, the city will rediscover the child – ourselves. LOOK SNOW! A miraculous trick of the skies – a fleeting correction. All at once the child is Lord of the City. But the joy of gathering snow off paralyzed vehicles is short-lived. Provide something for the human child more permanent than snow – if perhaps less abundant. Another miracle.” -Aldo van Eyck in The Child, the City, and the Artist
Playground at the Buskenblaserstraat 22
Sandboxes and Playgrounds
Precedent Study:
Adventure Playground Richard Dattner, Central Park, New York, 1967 “....What the kids in my Upper West Side neighborhood fondly nicknamed “the dangerous playground” just up the hill—the one that called out with its siren song of massive timbered ziggurats and stepped pyramids with wide undulating slides, the vertiginous fire-pole plunging though tiered treehouses, the Indiana Jones-style rope bridge, the zip line, the Brutalist-Aztec watercourses, and tunnel networks.” - James Trainor for Cabinet Magazine
Water Feature -1967
Playground Dilworth Park Plan byBy Kieran Richard Timberlake Dattner 23
Precedent Study:
Cypress Hills Playground Charles Forberg, Brooklyn, New York. 1967 “He (Forberg) believed that children would be encouraged to move throughout what he hoped would be “rich and varied spaces”. He envisioned abstraction as the means through which kids could make their own choices.” - Susan Solomon in American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space “It will be messy. It will be experimental. Somethings won’t work. This is good.” - Paige Johnson in Playscapes
Wood and Plaster Model - 1963 24
Kinchin J. O’Connor - 1967
Vocabulary
A public space that is by us for us MUNI can become the public space the future of our cities desperately need. One that holds true the namesake ‘The Peoples Plaza’. One that reshapes the role of municipal government. One that allows for the everyday citizen to have a role in the formation and evolution of their public spaces. One that accommodates the pedestrian over the automobile. A public space that celebrates our collective lives and our relationship to the city. A public space that celebrates the beauty of the city.
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22.
Program
Program
The magic of the city
The Magic of the City
Sitting
Cycling
Dancing
Eating
Sleeping
Protest
People Watching
Playing
Chatting
Skating
Performing
Drinking 27
Site Accessory 01
EL.
+ 25’ 00”
Max Arm Radius
34” x 22” Board Scaled As Noted
STL. Axle
Rotating Mast
Ball Bearing Bracket Lock Ring
Mast Swing Arm
Axonometric 3/4” = 1’ 0”
1’ 4”
8”
EL.
2’ 8”
+ 10’ 00”
A
Swing Arm CIRC. Center
PNEU. Piston Arm
Plan-SECT. A 4” = 1’ 0”
00’ 00”
1 1/2” 3/4”
3”
isto
n
EL.
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afe
ty P
Elevation 1’ 3” 7”
2’ 7”
ax
Arm
Ra diu
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PN
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3/8” = 1’ 0”
TYP. A1 - Swing
TYP. A2 - Tent
TYP. A3 - Trap
TYP. B1 - Umbrella
TYP. B2 - Lantern
TYP. B3 - Flag
15 ’ 00 ”M
32.
Solid MTL. Counterweights 30 lbs EA.
TYP. C1 - Hammock
TYP. C2 - Projection
Mast Applications 1/8” = 1’ 0”
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4’
2’
8’
TYP. C3 - Festoon
TYP. D1 - Bus Stop
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Site Accessory 02
34” x 22” Board Scaled As Noted
Folding Panel
EL.
+ 10’ 00”
Max Panel Radius
Axonometric 3/4” = 1’ 0”
1’ 4”
8”
2’ 8”
Po
te
Solid Cromoly STL. Panel
EL.
+ 04’ 00”
EL.
+ 02’ 00”
EL.
00’ 00”
nt
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Po
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Panel Hinge Center
04’ 00” x 08’ 00”
Elevation 3/4” = 1’ 0”
Elevation
8” 4”
3/4” = 1’ 0”
1’ 4”
TYP. A1 - Signal
TYP. A2 - Sunshade
8” 4”
1’ 4”
TYP. A3 - Slide
TYP. A4 - Picnic
TYP. B1 - Lounge
TYP. B2 - Jump
Panel Applications 1/8” = 1’ 0”
02 ’ Cle 00” ar Ra d
EL.
- 08’ 00”
EL.
- 10’ 00”
4’
2’
8’
ius
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Program Program
Small services without red tape “Small services without red tape�
Public Restrooms
Bike Repair
Shoe Shine
Book Exchange 30
Coffee Kiosk
Haircut
Event
Phone Charging
Drinking Water
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Storage Kiosk
34” x 22” Board Scaled As Noted
Street Level Plan
Sub-Level Storage Plan
1/4” = 1’ 0”
1/4” = 1’ 0”
4’
2’
8’
Elevator Counterba
4’
8’
2’
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Storage Kiosk Exploded Axonometric 1/8” = 1’ 0”
22” x 34” Board Scaled As Noted
Operable Metal Enclosure
8’
4’
16’
Concrete Canopy
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Concrete Canopy
Sub-Level Storage Access
Kiosk Section 1/8” = 1’ 0”
Full Enclosure Height
EL.
+ 27’ 01”
EL.
+ 18’ 00”
EL.
+ 12’ 00”
8’
4’
16’
Elevator Counterbalance Pit
Canopy Storage
Restroom Elevator Pit
EL.
00’ 00”
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- 03’ 06”
EL.
- 10’ 06”
EL.
- 15’ 06”
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NS Site Section
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
SECT. 01 3/128” = 1’ 0”
21’ 4”
10’ 10”
42’ 8”
MSB Entrance Dilworth Park
L + I Entrance JFK Blvd
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Arch St
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EW Site Section
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
SECT. 02 3/128” = 1’ 0”
Grove
LOVE Park
21’ 4”
10’ 10”
42’ 8”
MUNI Plaza
15th St
Broad St Broad St Line
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MUNI Plan
Licensing
1401 JFK Blvd
3/64” = 1’ 0”
Concourse
Street SE
CT. 04
Entrance
Arch Stre
et
Outlook
21’ 4”
10’ 10”
42’ 8”
Wading Po
ol
West Lawn
15th Stre
et
ark
Street S ECT.
01
Grove
LOVE P
27.
Cafe/Refre
shment Waterway Dam
East Lawn
Storage Kiosk Bus Stop
No. 31. 32
. 38. 44. 62
. 78. 124.
125.
Street SE
CT. 03
Benjamin Fra Craftsman nklin.
JFK Boule
vard 37
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Experiential IMG. 01 S.E. MSB Approach
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11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
Isometric Images: Cafe
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Isometric Images: Playground
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Isometric Images: Wading Pool 41
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E.W. 15th st Section SECT. 01 1/16” = 1’ 0”
8’
4’
16’
Grove
LOVE Park Plaza Level BLDG. Entrance
West Lawn
Licensing Concourse
15th St
Receiving & Storage
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
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Mail Room
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Experiential IMG. 02
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
Grove
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E.W. Broad st Section
34.
SECT. 02 1/16” = 1’ 0”
8’
4’
16’
Playground
Plaza Cafe East Lawn
License & Inspections
Plaza Sub Floor
Broad St
Pump Room
Broad St Line 11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
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35.
Experiential IMG. 03
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
Waterway
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36.
N.S. JFK blvd Section Sect. 03 1/16” = 1’ 0”
8’
4’
16’
MSB Entrance
Dilworth Park
Bus Stop JFK Blvd
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
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Mechanical
Municipal Office
37.
Experiential IMG. 04
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
Bus Stop
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N.S. Arch st Section
38.
SECT. 04 1/16” = 1’ 0”
8’
4’
16’
Grove
Licensing Concourse Entrance
License & Inspections
Arch St
MBS Basement Beyond
11” x 17” Board Scaled As Noted
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FIN
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