Figure 9.12 – Philadelphia, Penn and Holmes's plan of 1683 (north at the top). The city was approximately two miles in length, from the Delaware in the east to the Schuylkill in the west, by one mile in width. The two main cross streets were 100 feet wide; the eight east-west and twenty north-south minor streets were 50 feet wide. The grid blocks were 425 feet by 675 feet and 425 feet by 500 feet. The main central square was of 10 acres, the four minor squares were each of 8 acres. The 'Dock', off the main stream of the Delaware, was the first harbour.

Plans for Philadelphia
Penn's Plan 1682

William Penn looked upon his grant of lands in America as an opportunity to conduct a "Holy Experiment." He proposed to found a society based upon justice and tolerance and chose to name the city Philadelphia for its Greek meaning, "City of Brotherly Love."

The original city was located at the narrowest part of the peninsula, between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. The plan was laid out for Penn by his surveyor, Thomas Holme, in 1682. The area covered was 1,280 acres, and the boundaries to the north and south were the present Vine and South streets. Holme's plan differed substantially in execution from Penn's initial idea of a green country town with houses set in the middle of large plots of land. Under the influence of military camps and English towns, particularly Londonderry, Holme laid out a rigid grid system of streets. He gave purchasers

narrow lots in the city and compensated for this with free lots in the Liberty Lands to the north of the city.

Two main thoroughfares approximately bisected the town, High Street (now Market Street) and Broad Street. At their intersection a center square of ten acres was set aside for the town hall. In the center of each of the four quadrants, eight-acre squares were set aside for the common use and enjoyment of all the citizens.

Penn was a real estate entrepreneur. He offered initial purchase lots along both riverfronts and tried to encourage development to move inward thereby increasing the value of the land he continued to own.

After the revolution all of Penn's land was taken over by the Commonwealth and sold off rather

rapidly. The Liberty Lands of North Philadelphia were quickly developed on a speculative basis, with rows of identical builders' houses. In Center City the back alleys designed for service access were declared public streets, which encouraged further subdivision of the small city lots and laid the foundation for present street plan and traffic problems. Small three-story houses with one room per floor (popularly known as "Father-Son-Holy Ghost" houses) were built on the backs of lots in these small alleys, further adding to the problems of congestion.

Cities planned in advance of the construction of the first buildings are comparatively rare. In colonial America, none was as carefully planned as Philadelphia. Beyond the central city Penn was concerned about the connections to other areas and made sure that roads were laid out before the land was divided among the various purchasers.

Penn's Plan 1682

80

Most of these roads remain in the present plan of
the city. In addition to the Liberty Lands Penn
established eight manors outside the city, given
mainly to his family, to control expansion. To
persons with a similar background, he also sold
townships, generally around 5,000 acres, which
could in turn be sold by lots to individuals. The
most successful of these was Germantown; Radnor,
Merion, and Haverford townships were also start-
ed in this way.

Philadelphia grew steadily within the context of
Penn's plan of 1682. The fact that Penn's heirs
continued to hold large pieces of real estate until
1790 almost ensured that his vision would be real-
ized. In succeeding decades few changes were
made, as can be seen in the plan prepared by John
Hill, surveyor and draftsman, in 1796. It was not
until 1960 that a major new plan for Philadel-
phia was developed under the auspices of the re-
vitalized City Planning Commission.

1796 Plan

mackley houses

Stonorov and Kastner Philadelphia, PA 1935

lot area 4.5 acres | apartments 284 total units, 26% five-room, 45% four-room, 29% two-and-a-half room | lot coverage

32% project cost $1,153,607 | cost per room $1063 | rent per room $10.75 | social amenities community hall, swimming pool, kindergarten, roof laundry and play areas, tennis courts, shops and filling station | parking lower level garage | original

occupants American Federation of Hosiery workers | current occupants lower-income | construction type industrial tile
facing, steel casement windows, reinforced concrete floors, asphalt-tile flooring, electric ranges | drawings Mike Harshman

The Carl Mackley Houses, built with federal funds, provided community living for hosiery workers in Philadelphia.
Breaking from the local tradition of row houses, the Mackley Houses won high praise for its European-inspired modernist
design applied sensitively in an American context. Notable features included interior landscaping and open spaces,
below-grade parking, common rooftop laundry facilities, swimming pool and community center. Apartments were grouped
around common stairwells, and small ground-floor apartments opened onto shared courtyards.

Block plan: 1" = 64'

Unit plans, typical floor: 1" = 16'

Views connect interior courtyard spaces, 1999

Unit plans, ground floor: 1" = 16'

Bar building seen from courtyard, 1999

mackley houses

32% **project cost** $1,153,607 | **cost per room** $1063 | **rent per room** $10.75 | **social amenities** community hall, swimming pool, kindergarten, roof laundry and play areas, tennis courts, shops and filling station | **parking** lower level garage | **original**

**occupants** American Federation of Hosiery workers | **current occupants** lower-income | **construction type** industrial tile

facing, steel casement windows, reinforced concrete floors, asphalt-tile flooring, electric ranges | **drawings** Mike Harshman

Block plan: 1" = 64'

Logan Towers, which was never built, represented a sort of combination of 1930's setback design and Johnson's current use of diagonal forms. The project was planned to include a condominium apartment tower and a hotel; its unique massing inflects toward Logan Circle and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, beyond.