Last summer on the way back from a family beach trip in New Jersey, I decided to stop in Philadelphia for a bit to look for some urban images to possibly paint. I went to school in Philly many years ago so I knew some of the city parts well.
Typical to major cities, there are sections where there are challenged neighborhoods with vacant lots and blighted buildings. I happened upon this scene near Fishtown and found several things appealing about the location.
As an architect, one is usually attracted to juxtapositions. This scene had a couple going for it with the swooping curve of the elevated interstate challenging the hard linear elevated train platform. The subversive greenery growing on the empty lot and beside the church set against the more authoritative mass of man-made structures and hardscape.
My favorite juxtaposition though was the way the the older church structure had been seemingly ostracized from the overwhelmingly secular urban environment. It was as if this was a snapshot of our history made incarnate through concrete and steel. At one point in our early existence the places of worship would form the center of of our lives and our cities and now these structures were buried in forgotten corners.
Last summer on the way back from a family beach trip in New Jersey, I decided to stop in Philadelphia for a bit to look for some urban images to possibly paint. I went to school in Philly many years ago so I knew some of the city parts well.
Typical to major cities, there are sections where there are challenged neighborhoods with vacant lots and blighted buildings. I happened upon this scene near Fishtown and found several things appealing about the location.
As an architect, one is usually attracted to juxtapositions. This scene had a couple going for it with the swooping curve of the elevated interstate challenging the hard linear elevated train platform. The subversive greenery growing on the empty lot and beside the church set against the more authoritative mass of man-made structures and hardscape.
My favorite juxtaposition though was the way the the older church structure had been seemingly ostracized from the overwhelmingly secular urban environment. It was as if this was a snapshot of our history made incarnate through concrete and steel. At one point in our early existence the places of worship would form the center of of our lives and our cities and now these structures were buried in forgotten corners.