Jacob Elisii

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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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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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

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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”

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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

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8’

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31.

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”

EL.

- 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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