Form, design, and the city

of a tremendous idea that could change the entire face of downtown Philadelphia an idea that needed development however I suggested to the Planning Commission a fourpoint program a most important point of renewal of Washington Square East this is the oldest part of Philadelphia the place where our city began and where our nation was founded if any place in the world was worthy of being rescued from Decay this was it the commission's preliminary plans were excellent so good in fact that they indicated concerted action by every segment of our community Philadelphia has been most in having many public-spirited citizens with Vigor and vision in every walk of life were ready to devote their time and energies to the Improvement of their City shown an imaginative plan but yet one capable of realization they could readily see its potential impact upon the future of our city just one thing more was needed a person of proven standing in the community preferably a practical man of business capable of translating the plans into reality I therefore appointed as chairman of the City Planning Commission just such a man Albert M Greenfield renewal must begin in the Heart of the City an Center City breeds life into the whole city to get scope yet detailed to augment the fine commission staff to look to the magnitude of the program yet find answers to specific problems we of the Planning Commission engaged three nationally established Architects Ms Roy Larson Oscar stov and Vincent cing to draw a new and extended plan enlarging the earlier projection of renewal of the historic Old City while the work on the planning phase was in progress as commission chairman I invited the participation of the leadership of our business our financial and our cultural resources to form the Old Philadelphia Development Corporation a nonprofit organization of men dedicated to the rebirth and renewal of this great City their job to speaked the Redevelopment process to outline this extended plan speaking for his colleagues and himself is Oscar stov our assignment cou area bordered by Brad street the Delaware River Walnut Street and and we divided this work among ourselves very early we recognized the important relationship between Logan Square and writtenhouse square with its surrounding residential neighborhood of the 18th and 19th century and we felt the very strong connection between what we dubbed the Locust Street AIS between the residential neighborhood of ritten House Square and the future residential neighborhood of Washington Square early in the assignment we realized the importance of relating to an activity that had already begun a scatter but significantly determined renewal effort by individual citizens my particular contribution to this design was the integration of the old with the new along a very carefully drawn line of demolition as small area close to Washington Square connected to a much larger one along the line of the river and at this time a physical as well as a visual Connection by way of a large opening under the proposed Delaware Expressway to a marina in the Delaware River this was an early concept which developed into several variations later on but one of the first steps in the realization of this Redevelopment is now on the way the construction of Hopkinson house a 36 story apartment building following the completion of this study the Redevelopment Authority contracted to develop in more detail the plan for the eastern part of the old city area to present the role of the Redevelopment Authority for us is its chairman Michael Van m moiser to the Redevelopment Authority Falls the responsibility to plan in detail the new use of an area to acquire the land clear off the blighted structures and convey it to the Redevelopment The Authority is also responsible for finding homes for the relocation of families displaced by urban renewal conservation The Selective clear of neighborhoods that have begun to show signs of blight is another vital part of our work equally important is the revitalization of whole areas and utilizing them to their fullest in Philadelphia we have the largest urban renewal project in the nation Eastwick here private Enterprise Reynolds Metals company is engaged in building an entire new community imaginative planning has separated the automobile from foot traffic in this new community of 60,000 persons residential streets are deadend to eliminate unnecessary Auto traffic each Street connects with a Treeline pedestrian Esplanade which residents use to walk to schools churches parks and shopping centers pedestrian Bridges span main intersections parklike areas border the walkway it is a symbol of Philadelphia's determination to satisfy within its borders the Cravings of its people and its Industries for enough space and pleasant surroundings here as in all other Redevelopment projects 1% of the cost of construction will be spent for works of art Urban Aesthetics have long influenced our plans for Renewal following the Larson cing stonorov study the Redevelopment Authority engaged architect Preston Andrade to develop the plan for the Eastern section of the old city his assignment was not to enlarge but rather to enrich the design structure this scheme was used as the basis for a great competition that was held to select a developer four groups competed and the developer chosen to complete the eastern half was webon nap the man who created the winning design was architect yo Ming p as we studied the Society Hill development we found that the ground rules set by the Philadelphia Planning Commission and their Consulting Architects were really quite sound as the areas of agreement began to Define themselves we concur in the decision to use towels instead of slabs this section of Philadelphia we have a very unique silhouette as determined by the slim towers of Independence Hall St Peter's Church the old Christ Church and the customs house our proposal defined the use of five Towers identical in design the three towers in the easterly section will be set and park like the North Tower will be put on the axis of the historic building the head house the South Tower is placed on AIS with the new extension of Locust Street which will be developed with the project the third Tower is arbitrarily placed on AIS with the new group of residential Square tow houses to the West the other two towers near the already green Washington Square are in a paved setting of truly Urban character we find these five Towers firmly in place set by the influence of design structure impinging on the area from outside the site in a project of this scope the interaction of various groups is an important consideration as certain problems evolved we worked toward their solution with the old Philadelphia Development Corporation and its Executive Vice President John P Robin there is a natural Temptation in public bodies in Civic groups and business organizations to achieve immediate results to be expedient in this particular job however we felt then and feel most strongly today that quality Excellence superiority of design is essential to true success so throughout this job we have tried to make sure that the paid Towers would be actually accomplished on the site as presented to us and during periods when it appeared that because of the admittedly higher costs of a superior design this could not be achieved we still stuck with the problem and now in our judgment that problem has been licked we find also that success in one project is the best guarantee of first success in projects still to come the Department of Commerce under the direction of Frederick R man proposed a recreation facility on the banks of the Delaware River in the downtown section and engaged the Ballinger firm of Engineers and architect Robert L gtis to reestablish this area as a design element in William Penn's original plan the delaa river was one of the great physical Treasures of Philadelphia through the years a series of finger-like peers replaced The Pedestrian walkway and in the familiar cycle deterioration set in as the result of a series of long rrange public decisions new cargo handling terminals have relocated the major port operation and the original area can now be turned back to use as a public facility our problem was to propose to the city a framework for public action the study was made a combined operation of an architect engineer Economist team and the result reflects a seamless process of decision the first of the major public facilities gives a new visual Edge to the city a treelined prominade and a parking area along the riverbank connection of the city would occur at the foot of Market Street and also at the foot of Doc Street into Society Hill the second public facility would be a boardwalk and barcadera curving continuously for almost a mile along the edge of the Delaware River with the provision of the prominade and the boardwalk we felt that our cheapest land use would be open water and a series of water basins between certain peers that have remained in good structural condition the peers that remain form the nucleus of clusters of activities to be developed by private Builders and institutions the most important of these will be a focus in the form of a tower marking the end of the major cross axis of the City Market Street to accomplish his role as an urban designer the architect must participate as the engineering and economic decisions are being made it is essential that the architect extend himself by making large scale studies at the same time he prepares his small scale sketches in order to understand the total setting of his design in studying the whole of the center city plan we made an interesting Discovery the spatial disposition of City Hall to Logan Circle to the art museum is virtually identical to the spatial disposition of City Hall to the mall to the port Tower this may be merely an accident of history but it does reflect on another basic responsibility of the architect he must do in our time what is implied in past City Planning in past city building the last of these design extensions was conceived as part of the 1947 plan and was developed in detail by Roy Larson the interpretation of a plan the carrying forward of its influence in the daily decisions of government is at least as important as the plan itself this requires dedication by men of great sensibility and bread the City Planning Commission is fortunate in having just such a is chief of its land planning division Irving waserman this final design extension is the balance to our continuity north of Market Street which includes many historic buildings and interesting buildings in this area a major focus is determined here at Christ Church which dates back to 1727 George and Martha Washington John Adams Robert Mars and Benjamin Franklin worshiped here a Greenway extends to the west where an approach will be made to the oldest Friends Meeting House in Philadelphia past Benjamin Franklin's grave and a final return of this pedestrian movement to the Great Plaza of Independence Mall as we look forward to the future we do so with confidence because of the work that has been done because of the support it has received and because of the leadership given to the City Planning Commission by its present chairman G Holmes Perkins dean of the School of Fine Arts of the University of Pennsylvania the home Rule Charter of 1952 placed on the City Planning Commission many diverse responsibilities the most important of these is the preparation of a comprehensive plan this has now been accomplished this plan is far more than a hope for the future for it has placed upon it an accurate price tag which permits its total completion within our own lifetime a second major responsibility is the annual preparation of a six-year Capital program which feeds projects into the process of government this allows finan on a flexible schedule the commission 's interest however goes far beyond a purely functional and efficient arrangement of land use and buildings we are equally concerned with the creation of an urbane quality of environment preserving our human scale the space variety and Beauty we have worked towards these goals with many citizen groups and agencies who have vigorously supported the comprehensive plan a noteworthy example of this vital cooperation is the Citizens Council on city planning to explain the the function of this organization let us hear from its executive director Mr Aaron LaVine we make every effort in Philadelphia to have the citizens participate in the actual Planning and Building of their City stressing that human values must be preserved in large scale operations during the past 7 years citizens have worked very closely with the City Planning Commission on the capital program which is reviewed every year by citizen committees to help the people of Philadelphia visualize the shape of the community in which they can live work and play we have a permanent City Planning exhibition the Philadelphia Panorama this exhibit is administered by the Board of Trade and conventions to detail the purpose of this project here is the chairman Lawrence MC Smith ever since 1955 the Philadelphia Panorama has been housed in the trade and Convention Center to which over a million and a quarter people come each year this serves the city in three ways first it presents the image of Philadelphia to the great number of foreign visitors who come to see Philadelphia second it tends to break down the jealousy and obstructions between the various surrounding counties and to create a feeling of interdependence in planning and third there are 30,000 school children from the parochial and public schools who come to this area for their social studies they engage in actual planning tasks on a community level and it serves to get them ready to accept the plans of the future and to accept planning in their lives the citizens who have had the opportunity to see this exhibit go back with new Vigor and interest in developing a newer and better City an interest that can grow to maturity only under a progressive city government and we have this vision and leadership in our city council and in its former president now mayor the honorable James HJ Tate we are today embarked Upon A gen program for a more beautiful and modern big city which will at the same time produce the means to support it this program is planned on a continual basis to increase our facilities our level of employment our payrolls and our products and services every project in our urban renewal program must necessarily be approved by city council this procedure requires study discussion and executive sessions patient attention of public hearings and above all leadership and vision on the part of our city councilman never in American history has the reputation of a big city changed so favorably as has Philadelphia's in the past few years we are and should be proud of the new Public Image of our city we should cherish this new image and seek continuously to live up to its high standards by all of the means within our power the mature resolution of the center city plan is not the work of one man it is the cumulative effect of the individual efforts of a great many people over an extended period of time each one building on the work of the ones before in definition and form it begins to emerge as a Total Image encompassing all of the projects developed thus far and outlining the projects which lie ahead now let the members of the City Planning Commission staff who worked on the plan present it for you the cross town Expressway forms one side of the inner Expressway Loop precisely defining the southern boundary of the original pen plan its depressed roadways have ramps directly connecting with the underground Street system serving a 6,000 car parking garage a great terminal point for automobiles which do not contribute to the confusion of the surface streets we treat the automobile as an honored guest and cater to its needs the Delaware Expressway has been designed under the guidance of Street commissioner David M Smallwood in Rel to the architectural requirements of the historic area above Society Hill it connects with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and continues to the north the skl expressway extends north along the West Bank of the sko river past 30th Street Station connecting with the Vine Street extension and proceeds North [Music] the project which completes the parkway the Park Town Place Redevelopment project clears up a blighted section and marks the beginning of a park extension being developed along the east Bank of the skel River toward a Terminus at the cross town [Music] Expressway Chestnut Street will become a gracious comfortable pedestrian street reclaimed for The Pedestrian by the removal of automobile traffic and the installation of light electric trucks troles moving directly into the parking garages connecting with the expressway system it will be landscaped to provide an attractive shopping mall in a very pleasant visual setting the Pennsylvania Railroad commuter system converges at 30th Street Station and continues to the present underground terminal at Penn Center the rail system is to be extended Ed underground to a new lower level commuter station in East Market Street from here the tracks curve North to join the reading railroad fusing the two commuter systems into one the expressway systems move in toward the completion of the inner loop with special ramps moving directly to the north side of the longitude or serving a 3,000 car parking garage and a Bus Loop one level above the street beneath Market Street the subway stations open into a lower level Garden connected by a Sho line Concourse with a Commuter Rail station to the north a proper entrance to Center City at the street level the shops are set back building arcades with landscaped esplanades before them on the upper level is the shopping prominade extending in an uninterrupted 3/4 of a mile above the street glass Bridges leading into to the second floors of the five department stores link their 7 million square ft of retail space into a single functioning unit served by every major means of transportation this comparatively small but intense project binds together all parts of the plan into a cohesive hole it is the three-dimensional system of space organization a resolution of regional forces this is not planning in the conventional sense nor is it architecture it is the form that should precede architecture awaiting the designer's touch to bring it into Life The Challenge to the architectural profession today is to prove that it is capable of designing an urban environment worth the price it costs in order to do this its individual practitioners will have to take a new view of their separate efforts and the profession as a whole must take a new view of itself we must train men who can think in terms of broad design structure and who can deal with design problems at the level of government without a central design idea as an organizing Force the individual efforts under urban renewal will lead to chaos with the central design idea the creative energies of individual Architects will be stimul ulated to new heights and the result will be truly [Music] architectured I [Music]