In preparation for the 2016 AIA Convention, Architectural Record asks local architects about their Philadelphia favorites.
Singh Center for Nanotechnology, University of Pennsylvania on Walnut Street east of 33rd Street. The newest addition to Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, designed by Weiss/Manfredi, continues the University’s goals for transforming the cold, fortified grounds of 25 years ago into an engaging campus that embraces the city. Singh’s dynamic, transparent form creates an extroverted public presence while housing isolated, highly controlled research labs. The building establishes a visual identity for engineering at the nanoscale, continuing a conversation about design for Penn Engineering in the 21st century begun by our Levine Hall of 2003 (accessed from Chancellor Walk heading east from 34th Street) and continuing with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects’ Skirkanich Hall of 2006 (on 33rd Street south of Walnut Street).
Barnes Foundation on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 20th Street. Now that the Barnes has been open for four years, the new building by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects makes it difficult for a visitor to understand the controversy surrounding the Foundation’s move from its original home in suburban Merion to the city. The new building takes on the requirement to re-create Dr. Barnes’ idiosyncratic hanging of the collection with superb skill, joining galleries based on the 1925 building by Paul Cret with new spaces for special exhibitions, education, gathering, and landscape. Find a seat in the central Light Court, illuminated by northern clerestory light and a view west; the space establishes a tranquil, contemplative tone in preparation for the intensity of the collection.
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