I'm researching interesting sites in the Philadelphia area that might be of interest to a Landscape architecture studio. "Landscape as protagonist," type sites. Longwood Gardens has been offered as a suggestion.
I'm not looking necessarily for touristy places but perhaps sites that are a bit under the radar. Any Philadelphia-ites have good suggestions? Anything is appreciated.
How about Awbury Arboretum in Germantown? Interesting place in Germantown with an organic farm, community garden, "secret garden", currently focusing on stormwater management. An old quaker family estate that was designed to look like the English country side and is now trying to be a real asset to the community.
Take lindbergh boulevard all the way to the end, there is an entrance to the "wetlands", used to live over there in the korman suites, sort of weird mixture of wetlands and petroleum tanks, i think susan maxman did the ecology center there, which i think is nice but never got the chance to check it out
you can take the path all the way to the end, then it goes real "wild" all the way across the pond to the upper darby side, you have to see it to understand
i actually kind of miss that place, i used to run there
guig-
penn LARP/ARCH has utilized the following sites for studios projects around filthy over the past few years:
Wissahickon
Bridesburg
Navy Yard
North Philly
the confluence of the deleware and Schuylkill
the Reading Viaduct
the rail yard north of 30th Street
the Navy Home (is it gone yet?)
Pennypack Creek
then there is the Schuylkill Canal
Grey's Ferry Neighborhood (great mix of industrial and bombed out south philly residential)
anywhere on the delaware river front
the new jersey side of the delaware river
Camden
All the other buried creeks/storm sewers made famous by Ann Spirn...
Just be very safety conscious, some of these places are rough and potentially dangerous for outsiders to explore alone.
Last qualifier...anybody familiar with more urban sites with an element of landscape to them that might be interesting? This could even really mean a green roof, or an array of planters.
the inner city neighborhoods around philly like greys landing, strawberry mansion, near bridesburg are violent places... so if a place looks poor, keep an extra set of eyes around.
Jun 22, 07 11:15 am ·
·
This may already be cliche, but a compare and contrast study of Philadelphia's four 'original' squares--Washington, Franklin, Logan, Rittenhouse--will open up all kinds of interesting issues. And then get adventurous and compare/contrast the four squares with Norris Square in North Philadelphia, which is the exact same size as the four 'originals'. (And if anyone gives you any trouble at Norris Square, just tell them I was baptised in St. Boniface Church there--that should provide all the protection you need.)
Otherwise, there's this interesting band of empty grassland running through Northeast Philadelphia. It's not exactly under the radar, it's under major electrical wires.
theres also a lot of interesting open places under 95. nothing that has been named or documented (except fdr park) but worth checking out if you were actually in the area.
there's also the viaduct... http://www.readingviaduct.org/
or the abandoned railbed of the pennsylvania railroad (just north of callowhill street, bounded loosely by 16th and 20th)
Interesting, under-the-radar sites in Philadelphia.
I'm researching interesting sites in the Philadelphia area that might be of interest to a Landscape architecture studio. "Landscape as protagonist," type sites. Longwood Gardens has been offered as a suggestion.
I'm not looking necessarily for touristy places but perhaps sites that are a bit under the radar. Any Philadelphia-ites have good suggestions? Anything is appreciated.
The little pond behind Kahn's Richards Medical Center is nicely bizarre - feels somewhat idyllic set in the midst of a busy campus.
There are more, but I have a concert to go to and will google-earth-remind myself of them later.
Longwood gardens is definitely not under-the-radar. How about all those wetlands by I-95 near the airport?
How about Awbury Arboretum in Germantown? Interesting place in Germantown with an organic farm, community garden, "secret garden", currently focusing on stormwater management. An old quaker family estate that was designed to look like the English country side and is now trying to be a real asset to the community.
Take lindbergh boulevard all the way to the end, there is an entrance to the "wetlands", used to live over there in the korman suites, sort of weird mixture of wetlands and petroleum tanks, i think susan maxman did the ecology center there, which i think is nice but never got the chance to check it out
you can take the path all the way to the end, then it goes real "wild" all the way across the pond to the upper darby side, you have to see it to understand
i actually kind of miss that place, i used to run there
have fun if you go!
Ah, perfect, aseid, I couldn't remember the name of Tinicum. Definitely bizarre.
Also Valley Forge is huge, and weird when you consider all the family-fun biking and playing that goes on right on top of a battle field.
Thanks. I'm only going on the satellite photo but Richards Medical Center looks like it could be interesting.
Any other places? Can anyone suggest faculty at Penn, or other practitioners in Philly that have ties to landscape architecture?
guig-
penn LARP/ARCH has utilized the following sites for studios projects around filthy over the past few years:
Wissahickon
Bridesburg
Navy Yard
North Philly
the confluence of the deleware and Schuylkill
the Reading Viaduct
the rail yard north of 30th Street
the Navy Home (is it gone yet?)
Pennypack Creek
then there is the Schuylkill Canal
Grey's Ferry Neighborhood (great mix of industrial and bombed out south philly residential)
anywhere on the delaware river front
the new jersey side of the delaware river
Camden
All the other buried creeks/storm sewers made famous by Ann Spirn...
Just be very safety conscious, some of these places are rough and potentially dangerous for outsiders to explore alone.
what school is this studio for?
I'm assisting a teacher at CMU, in Pittsburgh. That' a nice list; I appreciate it. Could you say which of these are more dangerous than the others?
Last qualifier...anybody familiar with more urban sites with an element of landscape to them that might be interesting? This could even really mean a green roof, or an array of planters.
the inner city neighborhoods around philly like greys landing, strawberry mansion, near bridesburg are violent places... so if a place looks poor, keep an extra set of eyes around.
This may already be cliche, but a compare and contrast study of Philadelphia's four 'original' squares--Washington, Franklin, Logan, Rittenhouse--will open up all kinds of interesting issues. And then get adventurous and compare/contrast the four squares with Norris Square in North Philadelphia, which is the exact same size as the four 'originals'. (And if anyone gives you any trouble at Norris Square, just tell them I was baptised in St. Boniface Church there--that should provide all the protection you need.)
Otherwise, there's this interesting band of empty grassland running through Northeast Philadelphia. It's not exactly under the radar, it's under major electrical wires.
theres also a lot of interesting open places under 95. nothing that has been named or documented (except fdr park) but worth checking out if you were actually in the area.
there's also the viaduct... http://www.readingviaduct.org/
or the abandoned railbed of the pennsylvania railroad (just north of callowhill street, bounded loosely by 16th and 20th)
bartram's gardens is a cool place. a historic nature preserve right in the middle of the hood.
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