EMORY

(P)Arch An exploration of architecture and parks.

Samuel Emory

(P)Arch. interrogates the relationships between Philadelphia’s public and architectural spaces, specifically Love Park, a central Philadelphian common that is scheduled for renovation next year. Love Park resembles many Philadelphia public spaces ­disconnected from its architectural context, undermined by infrastructure, and hobbled by increasingly frequent advances from private interests. Still, its adjacencies, connective power, and iconic potential demand it become something more.

The proposed intervention occurs on three levels, engaging both with Philadelphia’s ground plane and Center City’s history of sunken spaces as well. A large structural/spatial “wing” constitutes public space ­ above, below, and within it­ at varying degrees of architectural enclosure. In building enclosure into Love Park, the project asks the question: How can we establish, within discrete yet connected sites, a symbiotic relationship between architectural and public spaces ­and explore a possible future for public space development throughout Philadelphia?

ARCHITECTURE v. PUBLIC SPACE Architecture is about public space held by buildings.

-Richard Rogers

But, it seems to me, that architecture is often about...

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...public space leveraged by buildings, or... ...public space broken by buildings, or...

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...public space failed by buildings, or... ...public space occupied by buildings.

EXISTING CONDITION

DESIRED CONDITION

PHILADELPHIA PARKS Center City

This project began out of a desire to explore the public space network in Philadelphia and that network’s relationship to architecture. Originally laid out with five squares, the city’s park network expanded over the years. Philadelphia’s parks are numerous, and of numerous different levels of quality. In my research into the system, I became aware of the various different stakeholders involved in park management, and these stakeholders correlation to quality.

The scope of my project crystallized around the four original parks in the city, with the addition of JFK Plaza as the centerpiece of the interventions. In analyzing the architectural and public space qualities of these places, I attempted to develop strategies that could help bring architecture and public space into a more perfect union with each other.

Philadelphia

Thomas Holme plan

PROJECT SCOPE

Problems

1 2

Franklin Square - disconnected a

Logan Circle - fractured and occ

3 4

Rittenhouse Square - leveraged

Washington Square - de-activate

(P)Arch

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1 Logan Circle -

fractured and occupied

2 Franklin Square -

disconnected and occupied

3 Rittenhouse Square leveraged

4 Washington Square de-activated

LOGAN CIRCLE Logan Circle has been broken since the construction of the Vine Street Expressway. While larger than the other three original parks, it’s spaces are fractured. The area that has been re-developed as Sister Cities Park and the central circle remain well-defined, but the other liminal spaces are not. There are various gathering spaces for people among the pieces, but they are disconnected. Circulation is tortorous, with pedestrians made to cross huge intersections to get where they need to go. The buildings at the perimete provide good edge definition, but the roads and traffic circle still provide the major challenge for the park.

FRANKLIN SQUARE Franklin Square suffers from terrible context. The buildings that surround the park are strange objects in the city landscape, providing little definition for the park itself. A traffic ramp and other roads on its east side make for a leaky, undefined contextual space. It is highly disconnected from what is around it. It makes up for this by establishing a village character within the park. A spattering of buildings surround the central fountain constitute this area of good definition, while the edges of the park are badly-defined and badly used as well. Connections are bountiful in and around the site though. An existing PATCO line is an opportunity, as well as adjacency to 3 neighborhoods.

WASHINGTON SQUARE

Washington Square has a well-organized spatial quality, with a series of concentric squares and circles organizing its spaces. The spaces towards the center are more well-defined than its edges, which are eroded by lack of consideration and an instance of a corner being chopped off for a road on the northwest. It’s scale is such that connections can still easily be made across the streets around it, especially the cobblestone street on the eastern side, which slows down traffic and allows for more porosity in terms of pedestrian circulation across the street. Opportunities considered shouild focus on programming, and how to activate the park that isn’t particularly well-used now.

RITTENHOUSE SQUARE

Rittenhouse Square, the most well kept-up of the four original squares, its activated by its edges. Its northern and eastern edges are highly trafficked, bringing hundreds of visitors an hour along the square. Its central space is a well-defined room, with distinct edges and various points of interest, such as the fountain and the sculptures, within it. Connections can be made through the square along a diagonal, as well as other import direct connections at Locust St and 19th St. Its southern and western edges are significantly less used than its northern and eastern - the peripheral programs that are located across the street from these edges are less public in nature, and the tall buildings on the south cast significant shadows on this park of the park.

SECTION 1

THROUGH APERTURE 1 STRUCTURE, CIRCULATION AND VENTILATION

SECTION 2

THROUGH APERTURE 2 STRUCTURE, CIRCULATION AND VENTILATION

SECTION 3

THROUGH APERTURE 3 STRUCTURE, LIGHT AND AIR

KEY PLAN

SECTION 4

THROUGH APERTURE 4 WATER, LIGHT AND AIR

APERTURE LOCATIONS

TECHNICAL REVIEW

SECTION

THROUGH COMMUNITY CENTER

FINAL PRESENTATION LOVE (P)ARCH

FORM DEVELOPMENT The infrastructural conditions are accounted for first. Suburban Station (blue bar) runs through the site. Below grade occupiable space can be established next to and above the station.

That below-grade occupiable space on two levels constitutes a 500,000 sf ft “canopied” public space, shielded from the elements able to accomodate scheduled and impromptu public activities.

SITE PLAN

A ceiling plane is formulated to fluidly cover the two spaces, providing a shared canopy and conceptually and physically uniting the upper and lower levels.

A roof plane is formulated above the ceiling plane, which will functionas an on-grade park experience as well. It’s spaces are universally accessible and it bridges fluidly between the grade changes on the four side of the existing Love Park.

Various programmatic and experiential elements are layered into the park design. Tubes, apertures, and rooms bridge between the on-grade and below-grade experiences. Park programs such as a Visitor’s Center, circulation, and restrooms are included, as well as more experiential connections.

GRADE PLAN

GARDEN LEVEL PLAN

UNDERGROUND LEVEL PLAN

EXPLODED AXO

PARK DESIGN + EXPERIENCE (ABOVE)

FROM DILWORTH PARK + CITY HALL

SOUTHEAST GATEWAY RETRO‐FIT GREEN ROOF

WING SEGMENT

EXISTING STRUCTURE AUGMENTED STRUCTURE

NEW WELCOME CENTER SPACE

FOUNTAIN

ADAPTED

The park design is laid out on a series of axes - one of path and one of place. The axis of path brings people through the site, and the Love Statue is sited on this axis. It runs from southeast to northwest of the site and organizes tourist flows as well as access to the various places on the site. The axis of place runs from southwest to northeast.

The Cafe, the plaza, the fountain and wading pool - these are all located on the axis of place. The two axes flow into each other, creating eddying locations where people gather naturally.

NEW LANDSCAPE

LOVE STATUE VISTA

PROGRAM ELEMENTS The program of the site was generated based on existing park program and accommodation of new needs for a 21st century park. The program elements, instead of imposing themselves heavily on the park design, are broken into discreet elements on the site and distributed according to their siting needs as well as the requirement of the exterior park design.

Meeting Room - 5000 sf of flexible community space, located on the northern side of the park, where the ramps to the garage use to be.

Civil Services Engagement and Participation - 1500 sf of space for programming suggestions. Staffed by a park administrator and governmental representative, this tube acts as the place for people and park to work together on programming and events.

Welcome Center and Administrative Space - 10,000 sf of offices, visitor services, restrooms and other public amenities located beneath the hardscaped plaza.

Vehicular elevator - replaces the old parking garage ramps with a series of elevators bringing cars to a state of the art robotic garage holding 1,000 vehicles.

Lookout tower - 300 sf of verticle experience that provides a myriad of new views of Center City that were previously only accessible from buildings.

MEETINGÂ ROOM 5000Â SF

NORTH ELEVATION

MEETING ROOM PLAN

PARK DESIGN + EXPERIENCE (BELOW)

THRESHOLD CONDITION

ENTRANCE TO UNDERGROUND SPACE - “STOA”

WING STRUCTURE

BRANCHING COLUMNS

REMINDER

PARKING STRUCTURE

“ESPLANADE”

STRUCTURAL LOGIC

UNDER LOVE

SECTION PERSPECTIVES

Robert Indiana’s iconic “Love” Statue is maintained at existing iconic position.

The fountain is positioned slightly off axis to preserve view of art museum.

The “Saucer” is elevated above grade. Once disconnected, it is now purposefully removed to provide a unique experience in a paywhat-you-wish cafe.

The locus of the underground space is directly beneath the fountain. The circle provides a space for informal performance or gathering beneath a water and glass ceiling.

Parking garage on 4 levels can hold up to 1,000 cars, 200 more than the existing parking garage at the same depth.

Columns in the underground space appear random, but resolve forces from the Wing’s grid to the parking garage below.

Suburban Station platforms are opened up to the interior and animate the space with views of trains and people.

Lookout Tower folly adds to diversity of park experiences and provides new perspective on Center City.

Circulation in the underground space is adjacent to the sidewalks above, creating an understandable and intuitive experience between grades.

Meeting Room, located on the north side of the park and tucked within the wing, provides community space where there was once a parking garage ramp.

Skylights, flush with grade, allow light into select interior spaces and straddle structural connections.

A band plays a show for gathered on-lookers at the below-grade gathering area.

Civil Services tube manifests on Park level as a clear tube in the language of the old Welcome Center “Saucer.�