This once drab and dark alley way will soon be draped with lights, motion and love! Armed with a permanent, sure to be iconic sculpture, and a temporary sculpture design, the plaza's unveiling will be an impressive addition to Broad street.
Designing this significant public urban space meant "dealing with the negotiation between public and private infrastructure, usually structurally sound materials, and working within a tight schedule and through multiple agencies– the Streets Department, SEPTA, telecom, water and sewer," says David Rubin, and OLIN partner and lead designer on the project.
The goals for the plaza include better linking the two Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts buildings, as well as creating linkages to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the west and the Pennsylvania Convention Center to the east, across Broad Street.
The first temporary sculpture titled "Grumman Greenhouse,"by local sculptor Jordan Griska is crafted from a decommissioned Cold War-era U.S. warfare aircraft, made of armored aluminum. Griska has folded the metal of the nose and body so that the plane appears to have nose-dived into the plaza.
The plaza itself, ambient lighting will be in place via projectors placed on top of Hamilton, and lamps along the ground that will give off patterns of dappled light. The designers have also placed lighting under OLIN's honey-colored sinuous bench. In the mean time no greenery is planned for the space.
Project Manager: Becker & Frondorf
Landscape Architects: OLIN Partners
Lighting: The Lighting Practice
Gemeral Contractor: INTECH Construction
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