A View From Above

William Penn looking down on an empty Dilworth Plaza

[Photo by Michael Johnston]

It is hard to deny that the new design is a must. From the top of the tower, the plaza is even more depressing.

Transforming Dilworth Plaza

On September 22, 2009, Center City District unveiled its plan for Dilworth Plaza at the AIA Design Center on Arch Street. Speakers included, Alan Greenberger, Executive Director of the City Planning Commission, Paul Levy, Executive Director of Center City District, and two plan architects for the project, Richard L. Maimon of Keiran Timberlake and Susan Weiler of OLIN.

The event was filmed and the videos are available here: http://planphilly.com/public-gets-look-dilworth-plaza-redo-plan

[Image from Transforming Dilworth Plaza Site Plan]

The goal of the project is to create a welcoming, healthy, green environment where people will sit and take in views of the city. The planners also wish to create a first-rate modern transportation hub on par with those found in Paris and London. Paul Levy said that the original plaza design (dedicated in 1976) looks elegant from above but with its various levels and walls, is a barrier to friendliness. Every day, roughly 185,000 people are within a 10-minute walk of Dilworth Plaza, yet not one visits. There is a need to create a space for those 185,000 people. Alan Greenberger described the design as a “simple and elegant change to what we think is obviously a very important space.” And Paul Levy hopes that visitors will “experience an animated Dilworth Plaza and illuminating City Hall.” 

[Image from Transforming Dilworth Plaza Site Plan]

The speakers stated that Dilworth Plaza, as it currently stands, is a challenging site and that its design does not work. SEPTA is not easily accessible, the plaza is not healthy or welcoming, and views of City Hall are obstructed by trees that haven’t grown in 20 years. The new design addresses those malfunctions and attempts, for the first time, to connect the four quadrants of the city. 

[Image from Transforming Dilworth Plaza Site Plan]

In over 60 minutes, Phoenix Rising was mentioned only once while Etting was not mentioned at all. Around 1:30, Richard L. Mamion states that Richardson Dilworth is not very well known and that the new design offers the opportunity to celebrate Dilworth and his accomplishments. Maimon continues that the 1982 monument, Phoenix Rising, is largely unknown and that they propose to either reuse the sculpture or find another means to celebrate Dilworth’s legacy.

Along with the overt dismissal of Etting’s sculpture as art and as memorial, Maimon states that a critical aspect of their design is “an interpretive program” about Alexander Milne Calder’s sculpture on City Hall.

If Dilworth Plaza is an unwelcoming and challenging site, wouldn’t Phoenix Rising have suffered from its start? Would it be more welcomed or recognized by the 185,000 passers-by if it is better sited and displayed? Why do Calder’s 250 figurative sculptures deserve an interpretive program while Phoenix Rising, the lone abstract piece on the plaza, deserves to be moved? If Etting was more well known like Calder or Oldenburg or Lipchitz, would Phoenix Rising still be moved or would it be incorporated into the new design?

A typical view of Phoenix Rising from street level

[Photo by Michael Johnston]

In The State of the Art, Arthur Danto wrote, “We erect monuments so that we shall always remember, and build memorials so that we shall never forget.” The author continues, “Monuments commemorate the memorable and embody the myth of beginnings. Memorials ritualize remembrance and mark the reality of ends.”

Phoenix Rising is a memorial – that is its function. Perhaps that is why Etting’s name is not inscribed on the piece. The only visible name is Richardson Dilworth’s.

[Photo by Michael Johnston]

An additional note. This is a great article about Richardson Dilworth: (http://www.phillymag.com/articles/searching_for_richardson_dilworth/)