CONFRONTING I-95

Project Name

Confronting I-95

Project Type

Foundation Studio

Advisor

WG Clark

Dates

01.2013 - 05.2013

Location

Philadelphia, PA

The prompt for this project involves two distinct tasks:  select a site and select a program for a “re-imagined” community center in the city of Philadelphia.  This proposal intentionally positions itself adjacent to the I-95 expressway so that the residents of Northern Liberties will gain a vehicle for confronting this intrusive urban intervention.  By introducing a program focused around cinema and performance theater, the community will benefit from a cultural presence that is sorely lacking in the area today.  

Small-scale industry was the defining feature of the local neighborhoods for many decades, and the vertical arrangement of program in the “performance tower” gestures back to this type of factory of the arts.  A series of spaces including a cinema, banquet hall, performance theater and accompanying production spaces are stacked vertically in a clear confrontation with I-95 passing by.  Apartments are clustered near ground level and hold adjacency to both the public plaza on the south facade and the mixing chamber to the west.  This creates a building that works at two distinct scales, one local for the residents of Northern Liberties and one that is of an urban-scale for a larger region of Philadelphia.

Urban Positions

An urban analysis revealed this site as one with high potential for community growth.  It was a vacant site within 1/4 mile from the riverfront with access to the metro train system, while positioned in a zone devoid of theaters.  This marked an ideal location for future development between the Old City to the south and Northern Liberties to the north.