82

Citizens' Plans 1960-1970

The extensive urban renewal program begun in the 1950s drew many architects to the city and involved them in major projects. Many, however, were as concerned with the total character of the urban environment as the City Planning Commission and expressed that commitment in plans that went beyond concern for single buildings in conception. The Planning Commission had asked Louis I. Kahn to develop ideas for the Market Street East area, and from this beginning Kahn gradually expanded his work to consider all of Center City. Under a grant from the Graham Foundation, he developed a series of ideas including a hierarchical pattern of street movements, coupled with a system of parking garages (harbors).

While few of the ideas in Kahn's plan found their way into public policies, his personal Philadelphia plan provided a precedent for many young designers in the late 1960s when the city began considering ideas for a major celebration in 1976. At least eight citizen groups produced plans for the location of bicentennial activities or for an international exposition. The Committee for an International Exposition in Philadelphia in 1976 produced a plan for the Thirtieth Street area, which was subsequently adopted as public policy but was then succeeded by a series of other plans developed by the Philadelphia 1976 Bicentennial Corporation.

A Center City Plan
by Louis Kahn

MAP 7: Pre-1956 Housing Authority Projects and Racial Change, 1940–1950

Source: Adkins and Associates, Architects

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
FOR LOCAL SWIMMING

Swimming Pool Area by
Planning Analysis Section

TABLE 7. THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR SWIMMING POOLS

<table><thead><tr><th>Type of Swimming</th><th>Required<br>Water Area<br>(Sq.Ft.)</th><th>Existing<br>Water Area<br>(Sq.Ft.)</th><th>Proposed<br>Water Area<br>(Sq.Ft.)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Local Swimming:</td><td>665,000</td><td>116,000*</td><td>549,000</td></tr><tr><td>A - Center City</td><td>13,000</td><td>-</td><td>13,000</td></tr><tr><td>B - South Philadelphia</td><td>76,000</td><td>20,000</td><td>56,000</td></tr><tr><td>C - Southwest Philadelphia</td><td>46,000</td><td>6,000</td><td>40,000</td></tr><tr><td>D - West Philadelphia</td><td>98,000</td><td>14,000</td><td>84,000</td></tr><tr><td>E - Lower North Philadelphia</td><td>86,000</td><td>18,000</td><td>68,000</td></tr><tr><td>F - Upper North Philadelphia</td><td>50,000</td><td>15,000</td><td>35,000</td></tr><tr><td>G - Kensington</td><td>40,000</td><td>7,000</td><td>33,000</td></tr><tr><td>H - Roxborough-Manayunk</td><td>19,000</td><td>6,000</td><td>13,000</td></tr><tr><td>I - Germantown-Chestnut Hill</td><td>40,000</td><td>6,000</td><td>34,000</td></tr><tr><td>J - Olney-Oak Lane</td><td>61,000</td><td>3,000</td><td>58,000</td></tr><tr><td>K - Near Northeast Philadelphia</td><td>88,000</td><td>21,000</td><td>67,000</td></tr><tr><td>L - Far Northeast Philadelphia</td><td>48,000</td><td>-</td><td>48,000</td></tr><tr><td>City-Wide Swimming</td><td>225,000</td><td>129,000</td><td>96,000</td></tr><tr><td>TOTAL</td><td>890,000</td><td>245,000</td><td>645,000</td></tr></tbody></table>

*Includes 27,000 square feet of local swimming area in existing park pools. This figure has been deducted from the area in park pools used for city-wide swimming.

## Center City Plan 1960-1963

The City Planning Commission was originally established in the Charter Revision of 1919. By 1931 it had initiated a number of major transportation projects including the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Schuylkill-River Drive, Roosevelt Boulevard (now the longest street in the city), the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and the Broad Street Subway.

Early planners considered the business of the city to be economic growth and, therefore, concentrated their efforts on Center City and allowed the strictly residential areas to grow haphazardly. When a new interest in planning began in the early 1940s, it also focused on Center City problems. Initial citizen attention concentrated on the decay of the historic areas. By the late 1940s this concern for physical change coincided with a broader concern for governmental reform.

The Better Philadelphia Exhibit of 1949 at Gimbel's Department Store (now in the Civic Center Museum) showed Philadelphians what the city could be like. A major part of the exhibit was a model of Center City with moving sections to show new projects. The Revised Charter of 1951 which was in part a response to the exhibit, gave the City Planning Commission new powers, the most important of which was the preparation of six-year capital programs for all city capital expenditures. Under the leadership of the executive director, Edmund N. Bacon, the Planning Commission started to carry out the ideas in the exhibit. A comprehensive plan for the development of the city was approved and adopted in 1960. In 1963 the Planning Commission completed its plan for Center City, covering the same area as William Penn's original plan.

That plan had survived quite well in the interning 280 years. The City Hall had been built in the Center Square, the four parks were still in their original locations, and urbanization reached from river to river. The one major change was the diagonal slash made by the Benjamin Franklin Parkway cutting across the grid.

The Center City Plan initiated the major projects that have begun to change the appearance of the city: the completion of Penn Center and Independence Mall, the reconstruction of the retail commercial areas (known as Market East), the restoration of Society Hill, the construction of Penn's Landing along the Delaware River, and the provision of new highways and parking facilities.

### 1960 Plan

Center City Plan 1972

The Center City Plans of 1960-1963 indicated preliminary ideas for the major downtown projects. By 1972 these plans had changed considerably; nevertheless, many original projects are now complete. Others have undergone substantial redesign and are now nearing construction, but almost all of the projects identified in 1960-1963 can be seen in one stage or another throughout Center City. Many that were not identified in the early plan have developed as a result of publicly initiated projects. These include the Hahnemann and Jefferson Medical Centers, Washington Square West residential community renewal, and the Franklin Town Project. Only one major project of the 1960-1963 plan—the Market East Transportation Center—remains in the planning stage.

1972 Plan

1947

1957

THE 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 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

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, shown below. 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.

1960

## PARKS

Nine new parks are proposed within the study area.

The amount of available land, surrounding uses and location determine to some degree the nature of the parks.

Four basic park types are proposed.

## Neighborhood Parks

These would consist of small scale intensely developed parks, within easy walking distance.

The neighborhood park will provide facilities for small children, adults, and court games for older children where space permits. It is felt that in all parks of this nature, small fountains should be included and designed so that children may use them as spray pools. The neighborhood parks would be located near the centers of commerce and activity within each neighborhood, so that they provide the residents with a pleasant place to meet, wait for a bus or relax after a shopping trip.

## Shopping Parks

In three cases, commercial development could be integrated within the park, to provide convenience shopping for areas in which there is need. Where possible, short term parking would be included.

The Powel-Mantua Village Square, Spruce Hill Park and a portion of the Mill Creek Park would be of this nature.

MILL CREEK PARK, SPRUCE HILL

# WARRINGTON PARK PLAN

## Recreation Center

This park type would consist of a full range of recreation facilities, including playfields, court games, tot areas, adult recreation, community recreation building and swimming pool. Warrington Park will be a park of this type.

## VEST POCKET PARKS

Within a five minute walk from every resident, it is proposed that sites for Vest Pocket Parks be found. Except in a few cases, specific locations have not been included in this study, since this report deals with the overall open space framework.

These very small parks would be developed on vacant lots or where a derelict house might be acquired for the purpose. In most cases facilities for small children and provision for seating would be provided. Court games for teenagers could be developed where the surrounding conditions and size of lot permit.

The vest pocket park plan shows a typical scheme for vacant lots between houses. This basic plan can be varied to meet the needs in each neighborhood.

TYPICAL VEST POCKET PARK PLAN

DESIGN STRUCTURE
WEST PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT PLAN

PHILADELPHIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION - JANUARY, 1964
2 MILES

BUILDINGS AT POINTS OF MAJOR
ACTIVITY CONCENTRATION

BUILDINGS AT POINTS OF MINOR
ACTIVITY CONCENTRATION

PEDESTRIAN GREENWAYS

PROPOSED PROJECT PROGRAMMING

MAP

10

SOUTHWEST TEMPLE AREA

REDEVELOPMENT AREA
P L A N

200 100 0 200 400 600
SCALE IN FEET
DECEMBER 1949
PHILADELPHIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION

92. Proposed order of programming the redevelopment of the Southwest Temple area, one of several blighted areas for which the Philadelphia City Planning Commission made redevelopment studies in the early 1950s