Perhaps in apposition to the question (posed by Brian) as to today's"mental
health" diagnosis of the United States, "Learning From Girard Avenue" offers
a microview of this situation. Philadelphia's Girard Avenue is for the most
part a large, cross-town street that runs through poverty and near poverty
level neighborhoods, yet the street itself is named for Stephen Girard, once
the richest man in America, and indeed sixth on the list of the United
States' all-time richest men (Bill Gates is number five). There is Girard
College, the school for orphans willed by Stephen Girard, and site of quite
remarkable architecture--Founder's Hall and the early dormitories are by the
same architect as the Capitol of the United States--which literally defies
the grid of Philadelphia. Then again, one of the few American Saints thus
far, St. John Neumann, rests under the lower church altar of St. Peter's
Church at Fifth and Girard Avenue, and there is the fairly new (1995)
Calcutta House, an AIDS hospice run by the nuns of Mother Teresa (just two
doors east of the house that Venturi likes so much).
I've taken three automobile trips down Girard Avenue since 1 February,
taking almost 200 images, and there is still so much more to record,
assimilate and learn. The United States is a big place, yet so is Girard
Avenue. One of my favorite 'discoveries' so far is Hatfield House, an 18th
century structure with a Greek Revival porch addition (with a rare
columnation of five columns holding up the pediment) that was moved from its
original site in Nicetown (a more northern Philadelphia neighborhood) to a
piece of Fairmount Park at 30th St. and Girard Avenue, directly adjacent to
the Girard Avenue Bridge, (the other side of which is the Philadelphia
Zoological Gardens, the first such place in the United States). Hatfield
House was part of the Underground Railroad.
Today, there is lots of construction within the street of Girard Avenue.
Street trolleys are going to run there again--urban renewal in a very real
sense.
I'm really looking forward to learning a whole bunch of stuff from Girard
Avenue, and I also look forward to sharing what I find with you.
Steve
ps
"Learning From Girard Avenue" reenacts the first (ie, large) edition of
LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS. Part III of LLV presents the work of Venturi and
Rauch Architects from 1965 to 1971. Within this presentation are "8 Houses
of Ill-Repute." I can't wait to start reenacting that part of LLV with (at
least) "88 [mostly newly designed] Houses of Ill-Repute."
health" diagnosis of the United States, "Learning From Girard Avenue" offers
a microview of this situation. Philadelphia's Girard Avenue is for the most
part a large, cross-town street that runs through poverty and near poverty
level neighborhoods, yet the street itself is named for Stephen Girard, once
the richest man in America, and indeed sixth on the list of the United
States' all-time richest men (Bill Gates is number five). There is Girard
College, the school for orphans willed by Stephen Girard, and site of quite
remarkable architecture--Founder's Hall and the early dormitories are by the
same architect as the Capitol of the United States--which literally defies
the grid of Philadelphia. Then again, one of the few American Saints thus
far, St. John Neumann, rests under the lower church altar of St. Peter's
Church at Fifth and Girard Avenue, and there is the fairly new (1995)
Calcutta House, an AIDS hospice run by the nuns of Mother Teresa (just two
doors east of the house that Venturi likes so much).
I've taken three automobile trips down Girard Avenue since 1 February,
taking almost 200 images, and there is still so much more to record,
assimilate and learn. The United States is a big place, yet so is Girard
Avenue. One of my favorite 'discoveries' so far is Hatfield House, an 18th
century structure with a Greek Revival porch addition (with a rare
columnation of five columns holding up the pediment) that was moved from its
original site in Nicetown (a more northern Philadelphia neighborhood) to a
piece of Fairmount Park at 30th St. and Girard Avenue, directly adjacent to
the Girard Avenue Bridge, (the other side of which is the Philadelphia
Zoological Gardens, the first such place in the United States). Hatfield
House was part of the Underground Railroad.
Today, there is lots of construction within the street of Girard Avenue.
Street trolleys are going to run there again--urban renewal in a very real
sense.
I'm really looking forward to learning a whole bunch of stuff from Girard
Avenue, and I also look forward to sharing what I find with you.
Steve
ps
"Learning From Girard Avenue" reenacts the first (ie, large) edition of
LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS. Part III of LLV presents the work of Venturi and
Rauch Architects from 1965 to 1971. Within this presentation are "8 Houses
of Ill-Repute." I can't wait to start reenacting that part of LLV with (at
least) "88 [mostly newly designed] Houses of Ill-Repute."