PAINFUL SEARCH FOR FORM

1947

While the form of the Pei towers in Philadelphia may seem obvious now, it is the result of a long and painful search. The design I made (right) for the 1947 Exhibition had a series of slabs arbitrarily placed on an inward-looking system and failed to provide any elegance or order to the area around. The plan was so timid that it provided for a strip of light industry between the apartments and the river, and recreation on the river was confined to a small marina between commercial piers.

1957

After a ten-year lapse during which the historic areas continued to decline, architects Vincent Kling, Roy Larson, and Oskar Stonorov were engaged to reconsider the 1947 plan, and they produced the proposal shown here. The sweep was enlarged as a continuous design from Washington Square to the river, but the wide scattering of the complex forms of the tall towers and slabs raised difficult questions about the relationship with the eighteenth-century buildings in Society Hill.

1958

The Redevelopment Authority retained architect Preston Andrade, working with Willo von Moltke of the Planning Commission staff, to refine further the proposals for the area, prior to advertising the project for bids. The great advance was made to simplify the mass of the apartments into six towers (three at the waterfront and three at Washington Square), but even here there was a six-story apartment slab opposite the most precious eighteenth-century landmarks on Third Street.

1960

The competition was won by Mr. Zeckendorf, undoubtedly primarily because of the brilliant design of his architect Ieoh Ming Pei, lower right. It may be asked what latitude is left for the architect if there is a directive for the competition as specific as the one shown above. Pei answered this question by incorporating the good qualities of the earlier design and carrying it on to a much higher level. The apartment slabs are replaced by three-story town houses which provide a splendid transition from the Colonial houses across the street to the three towers. (See page 297.)

1947

1957

1958

1960