Civic Design Studio
Through the Lindy Institute, the Civic Design Studio tackles pressing civic design infrastructure challenges in Philadelphia and the surrounding region while advocating for robust civic design policies. Initiatives include developing plans, crafting research white papers, convening design charrettes, hosting community forums, and facilitating stakeholder working groups. This leverages the Lindy Institute’s in-house expertise and well-established outside partnerships. It also cultivates additional collaborations and develops new positions to deliver on these civic design initiatives. Projects would be in line with similar past endeavors like A Civic Vision for the Central Delaware, Visioning the Reuse of The Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery Complex, and Reimagining the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
A Civic Design Studio for the Philadelphia region is an ideal avenue of growth for the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation. Lindy has strong and diverse expertise in urban planning, architecture, municipal finance, and research. The Institute often serves as a conduit between communities, organizations, and policymakers, bringing a non-partisan and holistic approach to its initiatives. The development of Civic Design Studio allows Lindy to employ and expand on its expertise, influence, and collaborative approach to problem-solving. Furthermore, Lindy’s unique position within Drexel University offers the potential to connect this work with the knowledge and skills of faculty and students.
The Civic Design Studio reflects a desire to be a leader in fostering a more livable, sustainable, and equitable Philadelphia while respecting community identities and aspirations. The focus should also be on the need to bring together local communities, design professionals, leaders, and policymakers. Outcomes should present innovative solutions, foster collaboration, and be both impactful and inspirational - creating a legacy of lasting impacts on Philadelphia and the region. The Civic Design Studio should ultimately reflect a commitment to functional, attractive, and resilient design, active stakeholder engagement, creative and innovative solutions, positive change through advocacy, and leveraging collaboration, partnerships, and Drexel’s faculty and students. The Civic Design Studio’s work is based on its position as a neutral party and an honest broker.
Principles to consider as Philadelphia's City Council vets the Sixers arena proposal
Principle 1
Create a world-class transit hub that attracts city and suburban riders, convinces drivers to leave their cars at home, enhances daily use, and exceeds the goals of 40% of attendees arriving via public transit.
Jefferson Station is an incredible asset where all our transit lines come together. Can the arena be designed to allow for a truly grand civic space with a gracious Market Street entry, creating a sense of arrival into a beautiful, well-lit, active station that incentivizes transit use? We need only look to New York’s Penn Station and Madison Square Garden as a cautionary tale. Philadelphia must get this gateway right as part of the arena design.
Principle 2
Connect the arena to the rest of the city with great public spaces that rival Reading Terminal Market, the Grand Court at Wanamaker’s, and the waiting room at 30th Street Station.
Imagine the ground floor of the arena as a great public space that stretches from Market to Filbert Streets and beyond: capturing the energy of Reading Terminal Market and connecting with Chinatown to the north. It will be critical to ensure that this civic space remains truly active and public on nongame days, and not fall prey to the fate of other public buildings with deadening interior spaces.
Principle 3
Design a great civic building on par with City Hall, Reading Terminal, and the PSFS building.
The arena must set the tone for the character and quality of design on Market East, using materials of substance and lasting consequence. Allowing the inside to be more visible to the street, incorporating public art worthy of the city’s heritage, and designing gathering spaces both inside and outside that serve as everyday great civic rooms could help to create a sense of place and a new civic landmark.
Principle 4
Be a good neighbor by ensuring the building can attract new development to East Market Street and positively reach out to adjoining neighborhoods.
The proposed arena design will be able to have signage with advertising up to 10 times larger than what Market Street currently allows. Will Times Square-scale signage and brightness levels contribute to a lively mixed-use district that attracts residents? And if we can successfully create a mixed-use community on Market, how can we work in parallel to apply zoning and historic preservation protections to Chinatown to support thoughtful cultural preservation and mitigate displacement?
Principle 5
Contribute to economic vibrancy and the life of Market Street and adjacent neighborhoods.
We must ensure the arena is designed to serve as a civic gateway to Chinatown, and not turn its back on that great neighborhood. Could the design create a new gateway through an open mid-block lot on Arch Street? Could this area provide new green space and a potential market space owned and programmed by community leaders? City leaders can ensure nearby parcels targeted for redevelopment create a 24-hour community that supports public life so that the arena is not an island of intermittent activity. Included with this should be developing a vision for Market East that places the arena in the context of a vibrant city street connecting seamlessly with the historic district and the vitality along the central Delaware riverfront.