Humans not Highways: How Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi Helped Save South Street

South Street is one of the most iconic streets in Philadelphia. But, for a while, its demolition was imminent. In the 1930’s the Philadelphia City Planning Commission had pitched a ‘ring road’ to connect surrounding highways and by the 1960’s this plan was to come to fruition by way of a depressed highway (think the current Vine Street expressway). This was problematic for many reasons including urban economics and the displacement of lower income locals and so the Citizens’ Committee to Preserve and Develop the Crosstown Community (CCPDCC) enlisted the help of Denise Scott Brown (Penn alumna and eventual professor in what is now the Stuart Weitzman School of Design) and Robert Venturi (also had been a professor here at the School of Design). The article is so interesting and also contains many images of South street that Denise took, be sure to have a look here.