(Public) Program in Philadelphia

The studio course investigates contemporary Philadelphia through the lens of architectural design. Students engage in a design project focused on proposing a new building or space for a specific site within the city or its surroundings. The program for this building emerges from the student’s analysis of existing conditions and their proposals for how architecture can intervene to improve the quality of life for Philadelphians.

Our main focus is on the architectural design itself and less on the formulation of the challenge itself. As a consequence, proposed projects emerge from a critical understanding of Philadelphia, or it can also emerge from a subjective feeling or dream concerning Philadelphia. We are most interested in the positivity of the proposal itself—be it a wish, a fantasy that can be realized or simply a cool building able to address specific needs of Philadelphians.

Common urban challenges, such as gentrification, shortage of affordable housing, transportation inequality, increased flooding, extreme heat, aging infrastructure, lack of green space and community infrastructure can be the starting point of a student’s projects. But architecture can also derive from a simple wish and enchant us by its mental or physical beauty and elegance.

We are generally looking for innovative projects for larger Philadelphia. That can be on the level of community building, buildings supporting our minds and bodies, low carbon construction based on new spatial programs providing multiple usage, re-use of materials or abandoned buildings, smart geometries providing intelligent microclimate, or simply very good public places that humans like and want to take care of.