Soapbox
In Defense Of Zoe And Her City
PhillySkyline.com's Brad Maule returns to Philadelphia to catch Zoe Strauss' Ten Years at the PMA. He entered, and left the exhibition, which closes on Sunday, beaming with Philly pride > more
Louis, We Hardly Knew Ye
Ben Leech traces the undeveloped connection between Philadelphia and the great architect Louis Sullivan to forgotten plans for Island City, an amusement park that was to be built on Petty's Island > more
Heartache And Violence
"It really could be something," said the former owner of the Buck Hosiery building that burned Monday. Now, four years on, the neighborhood is burning up piece by piece. Nathaniel Popkin condemns our failure to protect neighborhood and industrial architecture > more
Think Neighborhood Park
With construction on a first phase of the Reading Viaduct park planned to begin next year, we invited the Center City District's Paul Levy to give readers insight into the planning process, scope and costs. Don't think of the project as a connector or trail, but instead as public space for a neighborhood without it--space with awesome views > more
Hoist Up Your Azure and Maize
Today, on Philly Flag Day, architect and Hidden City Daily contributor Michael Burlando wonders if it isn't time to reconsider the design of the city flag > more
Mr. Mayor, Seal This Building
If the City doesn't start keeping a closer eye on the Divine Lorraine, a fire like the one that occurred there yesterday could happen again--with far more devastating consequences > more
Confessions of a “Ruin Pornographer”
Call it "ruin porn" if you like, but for Abandoned America's Matthew Christopher, photographing lost places is an act of interrogation--there are no answers, he says, only questions > more
North Broad’s Other Tower
The Divine Lorraine is getting a lot of attention from the city and the media (ourselves included) these days. But as Ethan Wallace points out, there is another magnificent apartment building rotting in relative anonymity a scant three miles up Broad Street > more
Second Time’s the Charm?
As ground was broken on the new Dilworth Plaza, we look back at what went wrong the first time around > more
In Roxborough, Will Land Use Mistakes Follow Ethics Violations?
A developer's proposal for the former Ivy Ridge Personal Care facility, which closed in 2009 after massive criminal violations, falls short of our urban expectations > more
South Philly Crosstown Bus Is A Mistake
Here's a transit-minded counter-thesis--and a way forward to leverage the wonderfully dense, but also hidden, bus network > more
Make No Small Plans
On the elusive potential of the Ben Franklin Parkway and the necessity of thinking big (while recognizing the value of small interventions and organic change) > more
When Caesar’s Palace Meets Publisher’s Clearing House
Fishtown's near run-in with a casino den last week was a first, but by no means will it be the last. Here's how a "sweepstakes cafe" operates and why we should worry > more
Still Trashing Ourselves
A lament for the lost buildings of the year, and a reckoning for a city that isn't quite serious enough > more
City Controller’s Plan to Demo Schools Short-Sighted and Uninformed
The vast majority of empty schools are anything but threats to the community--they're architectural assets waiting to be leveraged > more
At The Foot Of The Mountain
Why "traditional architecture" isn't necessary at the Museum of the American Revolution and how the new Acropolis Museum in Athens can point us in another direction > more
Sign of the Times
Why is the city ignoring illegal bandit signs, which clutter vulnerable neighborhoods and prey on the poor and desperate? > more
Friends In High Places
Furness Week, day two: Frank Furness was architect to the post-Civil War stars, the super-rich who built the city we occupy today > more
Sexy-Ugly
First up for Furness Week here at Hidden City Daily we have Paul VanMeter of Viaduct Greene with his take on the Philadelphia architect's life and work: complex, powerful, and almost "deliberately perverse" > more
Not So Bad for an S.O.B.
Development imminent, the writer reconsiders his long held impression that the building is a failure > more
Designing Together
With 500 projects in 20 years, the Community Design Collaborative shows us how to get it done > more
Rowhouse Revised
An innovative affordable housing project in North Philly transcends its suburban appearance > more
A Beer Garden, Philly-style
A look at the German restaurant's architecture, which blends 19th century industrial ruin with 21st century beer garden > more
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