THE THIN GREEN LINE

Philadelphia Art Commission is a force for sustainable building

What do you think the Phil�l�adel�phia Art Commission does? You might correctl�y guess that it approves works of art purchased by the City or pl�aced on publ�ic l�and, al�ong with some street signs. But anyone who has tuned into a publ�ic meeting of the commission wil�l� have noticed that the nine-member body does more than tal�k about aesthetics.

Green roofs, stormwater management, native species p l� antings, pub l� ic transportation access and bike racks (or their absence) al�l� come up for comment at the

story by bernard brown

meetings. And if the commission doesn’t approve a buil�ding’s pl�ans, the devel�opers have to come back again until� they get the okay. The commission’s mandate incl�udes the review of buil�dings going up on publ�ic l�and or funded with City money, and it ends up considering the sustainabil�ity of those buil�dings as wel�l� as their appearance.

The commission’s meetings inc l� ude publ�ic comment, which means Phil�adel�phians have the abil�ity to weigh in on green buil�ding issues on publ�ic l�and that matter to them, as has been cl�earl�y evident as el�ements of the Cobbs Creek gol�f course ren- ovation have come before the commission. I sat down with scul�ptor Robert Roesch, the chair of the Art Commission, to l�earn more about what they do and how the commission members see their rol�e in ensuring a more sustainabl�e city. Roesch has served on the commission since the beginning of the Nutter administration and as chair for a year and a hal�f. (The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

When I’ve watched Art Commission meetings I’ve been impressed by how deeply the commissioners have dived into the sustain- ability of the buildings being presented. The Art Commission for me shoul�d be the Art and Architecture Commission. I’ve been on it al�l� these years and I see us as one l�ittl�e step in the process of actual�izing buil�dings and art and the l�ike in parks into the city fabric. We’re one l�ittl�e bump before they go to press. That bump over the years has become very sustainabl�e.

Has it always been this way? I don’t think so. I think it evol�ved as it got very popul�ar. For al�l� of us we started to see it was a big deal�

Are there any buildings whose sustainability reviews come to mind when you think of the commission’s impact? The Barnes Foundation is a perfect examp l� e. They came to us and it was so sensitivel�y done. I bel�ieve they have a Pl�atinum LEED rating. It was just a beautiful� thing to watch it come through the process. They came back to us two or three times for l�ittl�e adjustments. For exampl�e, if you can have a green roof, why not have a green roof?

Behind the Rodin Museum, that’s a new bui l� ding that’s bui l� t actua l�l� y in the air: there’s a whol�e train network underneath it. You might remember there’s a big hol�e in the ground, so we went through three or four different architects bringing that to the commission, and they fel�l� apart because they weren’t worthy of that space. Now we have one that is quite beautiful�, but it had to have anti–bird strike gl�ass. I mean bird strikes are a big deal�, and gl�ass is a big deal�, so when it comes past our commission bird strikes are an important thing.

At the Cal�der Gardens we asked them to widen the wa l� kways that go through the garden … it’s going to be a year-round garden. Something beautiful� about it, to ask them for a wider wal�kway isn’t too much to ask. We al�so asked how many bicycl�e racks do you want to have because bicycl�es are a big thing in the city.

It’s a win-win. I wa l� k away from the meetings feel�ing l�ike I hel�ped make the city a better pl�ace.

Are you seeing the priorities that the commission focuses on in its meetings gain wider acceptance? We have one commissioner that al�ways asks about l�ighting, and I’m noting that the peopl�e who are presenting are presenting l�ighting now. They bring us a rendering of the night view of the buil�ding so we don’t have to ask about that so much anymore.

I have such respect and joy to be abl�e to work with the current group of commissioners, and without the great staff that keeps our work running smooth l�y, our work woul�d be very difficul�t.

The commission functions as a gatekeeper for projects that can have a lot riding on them. Does the commission ever get pressured to greenlight something? We sometimes get pressured. I read al�l� the email�s and basical�l�y I’m one voice. There are eight other peopl�e … We do the best we can.

For exampl�e the Cobbs Creek Gol�f Course is going to be a tough haul� because it is broken down into smal�l�er parts [with their own approval�s] and I think that there is no good answer. There are the peopl�e who dissent on the project, and there are peopl�e who see it for community benefit, and somehow we have to fit in the middl�e there, that l�ittl�e bump before it goes, and that’s a big deal� ◆