Benjamin Franklin Parkway COLLECTION OF BACKGROUND MATERIALS More Park Less Way (2013) In 2013, PennPraxis worked with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation to create an action plan to outline ways for the city to lead the way in more fully integrating the Parkway with the urban life of the city. It was determined that the ingredients for a successful Parkway redesign would include: 1) Designing for Philadelphians who live near the parkway ensuring that the public spaces could be used on a daily basis. 2) Reprioritizing the “park” component of the Parkway - essentially, finding a balance between pedestrian life and vehicular needs. 3) Merging or honoring the civic grandeur (the institutions, the vistas, the public art) and the neighborhood charm. 4) Creating more public oases and activity centers in existing underutilized spaces. 5) Enlivening the Parkway with more amenities, programs, and activities. PORT Urbanism -- Oval+ 2017/2018 (documentation of impact of temporary pavilions and programming) Starting in 2017, PORT designed vibrant public spaces and pavilions for the Summer at Eakins Oval program. Their work focused on piloting long-term design strategies and collecting feedback to inform the permanent transformation of Philly’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In 2017, the first year of the Eakins Oval summer program, PORTdesigned an installation around the question, “What’s Your Parkway?” In 2018 and 2019, the theme was “More Park, More Play” and in an effort to involve more play, the installation expanded down the Parkway. The design involved turning a lane of traffic over to bikes and pedestrians. The installation included a giant sandbox, misting pavilion, and more defined programming along a half mile of the Parkway. Over the course of the PORT initiatives, the design team collected important data to document who visited the Oval and what those users wanted to see out of a more permanent transformation of the Parkway. The links below offer some background on Port’s project. Additional links access news articles covering the Oval and its success as a seasonal public space. Curbed Article (2017) Philly.com (2017) Port Urbanism (outline of work from the firm) MyPhillyPark (2018) Center City District (Parkway focus) For two decades, the Center CIty District has been working to improve the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. CCD has released plans that examine dense development along the Parkway as well as public space improvement plans. These plans have helped the CCD 1 guide investment dollars to projects such as directional and interpretative signage, lighting improvements, and renovations of various parks. Olin Partnership completed the master for the Center City District. Logan Square Neighborhood Association - Neighborhood Plan Update 2019 The Logan Square Neighborhood-Parkway Plan articulates a shared vision for the Logan Square neighborhood worked with various constituencies including the Philadelphia City Planning COmmision to develop a neighborhood that reflects the needs a diverse community. Philadelphia - A World Heritage City (21 minutes in -- good insight on the history of the Parkway) The movie provides a summarization of the history of Philadelphia with the intent of making the case for its designation as a World Heritage City. The overall message is that Philadelphia is a city built on a history of ideals, idealism, tolerance, and diverse thinking. Additionally, this movie serves to remind the viewers that Philadelphia has always been a “place to test ideas” -- whether those ideas were developing a democractic system of government or building steam locomotives. 2 PLANNED PROJECTS Winter Street Greenway Installation of a new playscape, play equipment, dog run, landscape, and new amenities. http://www.lsnaphilly.org/announcements/winterstreetgreenwayconstructionstartssoon Maja Park The Association for Public Art (aPA) is working with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (PPR), Ground Reconsidered, and Aimco to install Gerhard Marcks’ Maja (pronounced \MAI-uh\) sculpture in a newly planned park for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, to be located in front of Park Towne Place Museum District Residences on the south side of the Parkway at 22nd Street. https://www.associationforpublicart.org/apa-now/news/maja-sculpture-for-new-park/ Calder Museum Herzog & de Meuron has been selected to design a museum dedicated to the work of Alexander Calder. The museum is scheduled to break ground in early 2021. NY Times article Art Net article Architectural Digest Logan Square Neighborhood Association Updated Statistics on Recent Apartment/Condo Development (provided by Dennis Boylen, President, LSNA, on 10/26/20) Project name Location Units 2301 JFK 2301 JFK 275 Riverwalk I 60 N. 23rd 291 Riverwalk II 60 N. 23rd 321 23rd & Cherry 23rd & Cherry 119 Edgewater 230 N. 23rd 219 Trader Joe lot 33 N. 22nd 341 Cathedral Place 200 N. 17th 270 The Hamilton II 1520 Hamilton 320 3 1823 Callowhill 1823 Callowhill 57 TOTAL 2213 Fairmount Area Proposed Developments (provided by Lawrence Reynolds, member of the Parkway Council, on 10/27/20) There are currently three good sized apartment developments going up between Poplar Street and Girard Avenue. They have 160 units, 108 units, and 49 units respectively totaling 317 units and close to 400 bedrooms. There are 4-5 mid sized developments along Girard each with 20-25 units. There is ongoing development in Brewerytown just above Girard that is filling in many open lots and abandoned homes. This has been in progress for a few years. There is similar development in Francisville. Ten years ago 30-40% of the lots were vacant, now they are largely developed with single family and small multi- family homes. 4 RESEARCH and RESOURCES Philadelphia Buildings and Architects Parkway Buildings Published References ● Thomas, George E.Buildings of Pennsylvania Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, Society of Architectural Historians, University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, 2010, p. 110 Links: View citation information Client/Project Name: Fairmount Park Art Association / Benjamin Franklin Parkway Architects Referenced: Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945); Greber, Jacques (1882-1962); Kelsey, Albert (1870-1950) ● The Fairmount Parkway (Philadelphia: Fairmount Park Art Association, 1919) Links: View citation information Client/Project Name: Benjamin Franklin Parkway Architects Referenced: Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945); Greber, Jacques (1882-1962); Trumbauer, Horace (1868 - 1938); Zantzinger & Borie (fl. 1905 - 1910 and 1929 - 1950); Zantzinger, Borie & Medary (fl. 1910 - 1929) ● Morrone, Francis. An Architectural Guidebook to Philadelphia. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 1999., p. 195-197 Links: View citation information | Buy this book at Amazon.com Client/Project Name: Benjamin Franklin Parkway Architects Referenced: Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945); Greber, Jacques (1882-1962); Trumbauer, Horace (1868 - 1938); Zantzinger, Clarence Clark (1872 - 1954) ● Greber, Jacques. L'Architecture aux Estats-Unis. Paris: Payot, 1920., v. 2, p. 151-152, plate 12 Links: View citation information Client/Project Name: Philadelphia Parkway Architect Referenced: Greber, Jacques (1882-1962) ● Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Cultural Resources Database Links: View citation information Client/Project Name: Benjamin Franklin Parkway 5 ● AIA/T-Square Yearbook, p. 264, 1925 Links: View citation information Client/Project Name: (untitled) Architect Referenced: Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945) ● Brownlee, David B. Building the City Beautiful: The Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia, PA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1989. (link) Drawings, Photos, Papers, etc. Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania ● Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania - Edmund Beaman Gilchrist Collection Holding Name: Parkway from City Hall to Fairmount Park Quantity: 3 sheets; 1 item, Call Number: 007.51; 007.154 Architect Referenced: Gilchrist, Edmund Beaman (1885-1953) ● Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania - Paul Philippe Cret Collection Holding Name: Fairmount Park Art Association / Philadelphia Parkway and Schuylkill River Embankments Improvement Plan Quantity: 6 items, Call Number: 062.132-062.134 Architects Referenced: Borie, Charles Louis, Jr. (1870 - 1943); Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945); Trumbauer, Horace (1868 - 1938); Zantzinger, Clarence Clark (1872 - 1954) ● Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania - Paul Philippe Cret Collection Holding Name: Bok, Edward W. / Improvements to Penn Square Quantity: 4 items, Call Number: 062.309-062.310 Architect Referenced: Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945) Drawings, Photos, Papers, etc. Athenaeum of Philadelphia ● Athenaeum of Philadelphia - Ballinger Collection Holding Name: [Aerial view of Philadelphia, Pa., from the Philadelphia 6 Museum of Art, down the Parkway to City Hall] Quantity: 1 photoprint: b&w ; 8 x 10 in., Call Number: 007-P-4783 ● Athenaeum of Philadelphia - Cret Collection Holding Name: Lamp posts, Benjamin Franklin Parkway Quantity: 1 Folder, Call Number: 27-F-123 Architects Referenced: Cret, Paul Philippe (1876 - 1945); Voight Company ● Athenaeum of Philadelphia - Cret Collection Holding Name: Bird's Eye View of the Park Boulevard from City Hall to Fairmount Park Quantity: 1 item, Call Number: 27-P-060 Architects Referenced: Smedley, Samuel Lightfoot (1832 - 1894); Windrim, James Hamilton (1840-1919) ● Athenaeum of Philadelphia - Cret Collection Holding Name: The Parkway Quantity: 1 Sheet, Call Number: 27-PS-087