Vantage
Kenzo’s On The Move
Kensington's darker side seemed a long way away on a sunny Saturday as a menagerie of improbable contraptions mosied down Norris Street in the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby > more
A (Grapefruit) Tree Grows In Kensington
Ariel Diliberto visits the garden and greenhouse of Manny Rivera, fervent nexus of evolving vacant land policy, immigrant culture, and urban farming, to ask what will become of such personal--and monumental--efforts when city laws change? > more
At PHA’s New Norris Apartments, Weighing The Costs And Benefits Of Green
Sustainability is transforming public housing in ways that aren't obvious, argues Jacob Hellman. At the new Norris Apartments in North Philly, he finds a project green from the inside out. But can green goals justify ballooning construction budgets? > more
On 40th Street, A Collision Of Interests
This afternoon the Philadelphia Historical Commission will vote on the University of Pennsylvania's request to demolish a protected building in West Philadelphia. In Part Two of our report on flaws in Philadelphia's system of historic preservation, we look at this complicated case, which shows how preservation goals can be trumped by the bottom line and powerful neighborhood groups > more
A Broken System
In Part One of a two-part report on the broken system of historic preservation in Philadelphia, Ryan Briggs reveals a city historical commission that's so underfunded it's incapable of enabling the city to profit by its unsurpassed architectural heritage--let alone protect its buildings of significance and stature > more
Unsanctioned And Inspired In The Wissahickon
Steve Weinik reveals the builders--and their ideas--behind "The Spot"--the stunning handcrafted series of terraces, stairs, nooks, and hideouts along the Wissahickon > more
Why Old Schools Are The Original Green Buildings
This and other insights on the practice of architecture, the future of the School District of Philadelphia, and why there are no bad buildings from Cecelia Denegre and Joseph Denegre, whose firm CDA&I is celebrating 20 years of renovation architecture > more
At Awbury, The Landscape And The Ideals Persist
Landscape lyricist Nicole Juday explores Germantown's remarkable Awbury Arboretum, one of the few historically significant public landscapes that have endured in Philadelphia > more
Do You Believe In Reincarnation?
Maria Gorshin has the story of a counter-intuitive--and well-conceived--proposal to revive the Divine Lorraine. Turn it into a columbarium for the storage, display, and visitation of funerary ashes and mementos of the lives of loved ones, says designer Jason Lempieri of the firm RethinkTANK. > more
Deco City? One Of The Best
Ben Leech makes the case that there's as much Art Deco in Philly as anywhere and more Philly in Art Deco than everywhere else > more
A Tale of Two Goats
There may never be a fairy tale ending for the nation's poorest city, but Gayle Christiansen discovers a Billy Goat, Peter Pan and more in Camden's Johnson Park > more
The Skinny–And Everything More–On 52nd Street
Theresa Stigale conducts five epic interviews with 52nd Street business owners on their personal stories, relationships with their customers, and plans for the future of the street once called "the Strip" > more
Looks Like Wood, Rusts Like Metal
Philadelphia's row homes are often a bit plain at street level, but a look up to the roofline reveals a wealth of decorative metal cornices. We talk tin (and zinc, iron and lead) with expert conservator Adam Jenkins > more
When Northern Liberties Burned
The Inquirer's Stephan Salisbury remembers the primal fear of the Swoboda Tannery fire of 1990, one of a series of fires big and small that leveled chunks of the Northern Liberties > more
Honoring The Stars
This Sunday, on the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, the two surviving members of the Negro League's Philadelphia Stars will be honored at the site of the old stadium at 44th and Parkside. Quizzo Master Johnny Goodtimes brings us their story > more
Photographers Under Assault
With the case of a Temple photojournalism student arrested while legally photographing an arrest scene in South Philly coming to court on Monday, and other cases like it occurring daily across the country, we talk with the nation's leading advocate for photographers' First Amendment rights about shooting in public, on private property, and about Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey's attempts to reform the department > more
Court Tennis, Anyone?
It's handball’s royal cousin, tennis’ prestigious ancestor, and a distant relative of Egyptian fertility rites. It's Court Tennis, Center City's most historic, under-the-radar sport. We visit the Racquet Club of Philadelphia for a closer look > more
Hidden Mansion, Lost Dell
Forgotten waterfall, trolly route, and 18th century villa...Stephen Stofka unlocks the secrets of the lost landscape of Chamounix, in Fairmount Park > more
In Fairmount Park, Discovering Lost Landscapes
Veteran garden and horticulture writer Nicole Juday debuts a new column on Philadelphia's lost landscapes by digging through time and space around West Fairmount Park's Horticultural Center > more
The More Things Change…
Stephen Stofka takes an initial glance at a series of new projects that have the potential to transform the massive campus-like expanse in the center of West Philly. The only problem--none of them seem to demonstrate a taste for good urban design > more
A Castle Of The Occult On Rittenhouse Square
During a turbulent year in Philadelphia, Madame Blavatsky laid the foundation for the occult religion of Theosophy. Hunting down the ghosts of 1875, our John Vidumsky found himself in the Theosophy lodge off Rittenhouse Square, a stylish mansion built for the brother of John Wanamaker > more
Crude, Violent & Revolting
A look at the past--and possible future--of the Hale Building, often called Philadelphia's most bizarre skyscraper > more
South Broad to North Broad, The Immortal Swan
Bob Skiba--who does for vintage dance what the folks at the Franklin Fountain do for ice cream and 19th century baseball--reveals three stories up and down Broad Street of women in Philadelphia dance history, including Anna Pavlova, "the immortal swan" > more
The Mind Behind the Signs
We visit Gibbs Connors, creator of dozens of familiar signs and exhibit graphics across the city, in his South Philly workshop > more
Independence Gall
Philly Skyline's Brad Maule finds Independence Hall cloned 2,863 miles away in Portland > more
Tepid Urbanism At New Norris Apartments
Stephen Stofka looks under the hood at the Philadelphia Housing Authority's new LEED certified Norris Apartments and finds green design that's not nearly as green--or urban--as it should be > more
Last Of The Ragmen
After 50 years wholesaling linens from 3rd and Market, Gene Stein tells us how it's done > more
Such a Waste
When the Historic American Buildings survey photographed the Divine Lorraine Hotel in 2000 it was in fine shape. Twelve years, three developers, and millions of dollars in profits (and losses) later, the historic building is a graffiti-scarred wreck > more
Kensington is for Lovers
Join Kensington resident Katrina Ohstrom as she finds the holiday spirit alive and well in her neighborhood > more
City-Within-A-City? New Eastwick At 50
We check in with Guian McKee, historian of post-War Philadelphia, who assesses the nation's largest Urban Renewal project 50 years on with photos by Dominic Mercier > more
A Metalworking Tradition Forges On
At the former Yale & Towne foundry in Frankford, Jason Roberts produces craft metal for the commercial and residential market > more
Getting to the Root of the Problem
Urban agriculture needs to be tied to broader strategies of economic development, says Ariel Diliberto in her review of the film "Urban Roots" > more
Drexel’s New Face
Brutalism made fertile, says Stephen Stofka about Drexel University's new Papdakis Integrated Sciences Center, reviewed here > more
Suburban, Exurban, New Urban South Philadelphia
Take the Stofka tour through the deepest, farthest reaches of South Philly > more
Something New In America: Serious Opera, 1757
It was a musical winter in Philadelphia, as students of the College of Philadelphia, including Francis Hopkinson, put on the "Mask of Alfred" > more
Always A Philadelphian
John Coltrane came of age, learned from the masters, and became a legend living in Philadelphia--now preservationists are working to save Trane’s Strawberry Mansion home > more
At Holmesburg, Making Difficult Impressions
Ben Leech meets the Spanish artists who turned the walls of Holmeburg cells into architectural prints now on display at Moore College's gallery > more
Today, 1757: City’s First Public Concert
Some 30 years behind Boston, Charleston, and New York, the first concert was successful enough to draw at least one quite prescient concertgoer to the second > more
The Architecture of Wissahickon: Urban, Suburban, Mid-Century, Victorian
Wissahickon--the extreme lowest part of Lower Roxborough--moves from city to suburb and back again, in both Victorian and mid-century variations, in little more than a short trek up or down the hill. Join Steve Stofka as he probes this area with his ever-inquisitive eye > more
Holy Smokes: What Do We Do With All These Churches?
As we face a spate of newly abandoned sacred spaces, ideas and inspiration from the dozens of church reuses in Philadelphia > more
Here Comes Joe
Architect, artist, teacher, writer, rower--Joe Brin brings his curious eye on Philadelphia design to the readers of Metropolis magazine > more
Dye Job: A Massive Factory Makeover Continues in Frankford
We sit-down with Globe Dye partners Charlie Abdo and Peter Kelly on the transition to the second phase of redevelopment of the industrial behemoth > more
Henry Magaziner: An Appreciation
The architect, who died Christmas day, helped to counter the notion that preservation means colonial restoration, and led the campaign to save Germantown's Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, pictured above > more
Behind Victorians
Take an exhaustive grand tour of Parkside with the careful--and hopeful--eye of Stephen Stofka > more
Remembering MLK In Philadelphia: Complexity and Courage
Out to dinner with a group of friends, King learned early on about Jim Crow in the North; and later his visit to the Girard College protests only hardened lines against the Southern Christian Leadership Conference staking ground in Philly > more
Hippest Street in Town, Circa 1766
South Street was Philadelphia's original performance district, starting with the Southwark, the first permanent theater in America > more
Almost Nude
Ben Leech interviews the architects who will renovate the 1952 Mercantile Library on Chestnut Street, the long-boarded up building that Louis Mumford called one of the best examples of mid-century modern architecture in the nation > more
Embrace and Enliven
A critical review of Drexel University's ambitious master plan--can so many urban mistakes be overcome? > more
Imagine Another Way
In 1928 city engineers completed an almost 50 year sewer engineering project that completely removed the Wingohocking Creek (among dozens of others). Adam Levine visits the sewer outlet in Juniata Park > more
In Front Of Your Nose
Hidden behind the stone wall: the life of George de Benneville, pioneering founder of the Universalist Church, and a doctor who treated patriot and loyalist alike in the War for Independence > more
Subdued Christmas in Center City
Our correspondent takes us on a photo tour of the good, the bad, and the ugly in Center City this holiday season. Shouldn't downtown have the best displays? And why doesn't it? > more
Philly As Waffle, Or How The City Was Built
That iconic grid? It was wrought from hill and lowland, wetland and forest, a process that created what was probably the world's largest waffle > more
Subversion in the Rowhouse City
Review of the new book "Hip and Hidden Philadelphia: The Unexpected House in a City of Tradition," by Virginia Restemeyer and E.I. Weiner > more
At Drexel, Knocking Down The Fortress Door
With three new buildings and a Master Plan, the University adapts its long-standing Brutalist architectural tradition to foster new-found urban ambitions > more
Your Favorite Public Spaces
Hidden City Daily readers explain their favorite spots, from Boathouse Row to Wayne Junction Station to the prosaic Philadelphia stoop > more
What’s In A Name?
With eight vacant schools threatened with demolition, we trace city history through the people who were honored with an eponymous school > more
In South Philly, Subtly Staking Territory
Exploring the shopping center architecture of Vietnamese Washington Avenue > more
Jefferson’s Monticello on the Schuylkill
Eager to escape the crowded city and yet unwilling to give up political influence on the direction of the new nation—and the world—the third president settled on the east bank of the Schuylkill at Grays Ferry > more
Rina Cutler Wants Us To Think Big
The city's deputy mayor for transportation on old and new Philadelphia, city-SEPTA relations, City Hall station, the fare system, bus shelters, subway lines, and why America cities are losing > more
“Philly Feels Like Home”
Lane Savadove, the sage behind the magnetic theater company EgoPo, talks about looking for a place to belong and finally finding a home in Philly, from ditching New York (twice!) to being stranded after Hurricane Katrina > more
Beachcombing by the Airport
Beachcombing near Philadelphia International Airport, with musings on the origins of whiskey bottles, cold cream jars, and the original Delaware River shoreline > more
Occupy Philly As Spontaneous Urbanism, Part III
Steve Stofka's evolving photographic analysis of the Dilworth camp--final chapter > more
Occupy Philly’s Spontaneous Urbanism
The tent city at Dilworth Plaza displays a spontaneous, complex, emergent urbanism--Follow Stephen Stofka's camera through Occupy Philly and see why > more
A Peek Inside South Philly’s Lerro Candy
As fourth generation John Pasquale Lerro attends Wharton, the nearly century old Lerro Candy on South Broad sees a future with younger customers who appreciate fresh to order chocolate. > more
Doomsday Cult on the Wissahickon
The New World's first doomsday cult called Philadelphia home. Aside from being wrong about the date of the apocalypse, they built the first observatory and pipe organ in the colonies > more
Urbanized, Not Quite Radicalized
Filmmaker Gary Hustwit's ambitious, intelligent film on urban design gives us a common language for understanding this century of the city but fails to account for underlying economics and ignores the issue of jobs (and joblessness) > more
Eyes on the River
Talking with the creators of Marquee on the Race Street Connector, the new public art project that leads to the Race Street Pier > more
Something’s Missing
Well into the immense reconstruction of the Parkway, some questions remain...as a piece of the puzzle opens Friday....in New York > more
“Dr. Sangrado” in Hart’s Cemetery, Rattling the Dead
The Friends of Poquessing Creek work to salvage a forgotten 328-year old cemetery in the Northeast > more
Let’s Begin By Re-imagining
Katrina Ohstrom sits down with Teddy Cruz, who brings his provocative approach to West Philadelphia > more
Do Not Stammer!
A rowhouse on Spring Garden Street once promised "deliverance from lingual bondage" > more
Seashore of the Northeast
With a Wawa rising on the former site of Boulevard Pools, time to revisit one of the first great pool spots in the nation > more
A Building Is Never Completely Lost
Bruce Laverty on the secrets of the archives, Thomas Ustick Walter, and the joy of collecting > more
“The City Will Not Remain Static”
Bruce Laverty, Athenaeum archivist, on the past, present, and future of preservation > more
There’s No Place Like Home?
Can St. Gabriel's in Grays Ferry recover its place in the community? > more
Inside the Shimmering Nave
Once the center of Irish Grays Ferry, the monumental St. Gabriel’s has been stunningly restored, but can it prosper? > more
Nine Lives of Charlie Rivera
Post-electrocution, a Philadelphia carpenter regained his form building the bars at Frankford Hall > more
Liddonfield Gone, Northeast Village Lingers (in memory)
A tale of two post World War II public housing projects in Northeast Philadelphia > more
The Frankford Advice
How a little known meeting in Northeast Philadelphia, changed the course of American history > more
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