Architects unveiled their vision of the planned campus center yesterday, revealing an untraditional six-story structure to be built on Walnut Street between 36th and 37th streets. Bill Pedersen -- of the firm Kohn, Pedersen and Fox -- presented slides of a cylindrical building with several rectangular wings and a second separate building built diagonally from it. The so-called "master plan" contains preliminary concepts for the center site and its surrounding blocks, but no definite decisions have been made on the structure. During their two-hour presentation, the Manhattan-based architectural firm showed only the size and shape for the Revlon Center and did not make specific suggestions about what goes inside the structure. Pedersen also proposed landscaping renovations for the block and suggested longer-term construction for the 33rd and 38th street area between Walnut and Chestnut streets. But while several people at the presentation praised the architectural firm's work, some questioned whether the University had the money to build the center as the architects planned it. The architects said their goal for the plan was to connect the campus both in style and in traffic patterns. Currently, Pedersen said, campus space is divided in half, with Walnut Street as a dividing line. The audience -- approximately 40 students, faculty members and administrators -- laughed as Pederson described the blank walls of the Graduate Towers, Van Pelt Library, the Annenberg School and the Annenberg Center facing the campus center site as "relatively hostile" spaces. Yet Pederson also pointed out that Sansom Street had "the scale and vitality" to bring the part of campus north of Walnut street to a style similar to Locust Walk. In his firm's proposal for the Revlon Center site, Pedersen showed two buildings on the block, one which featured a six-story cylindrical drum with rectangular sections built into it, and another, smaller, rectangular building which might contain a clock tower. The drum of the main building would be the focal point of the campus center, Pedersen said. Stairway access to all six floors would be placed in the center of the drum, although the architects planned for elevators adjacent to the drum. The site would be terraced downward from the outside of the drum of the main building to the smaller building, set on the corner of 36th and Walnut. The main building will be on the 37th and Sansom street portion of the lot and a partition, or "veil," would run diagonally between the two. The architects proposed placing The Book Store underneath the terracing so it would not take up as much space on the site. The architects proposed that the main building hold lounges, performing-arts space, office space, retail areas, and meeting rooms, with lounges in the drum space. The architects suggested placing library space, a music listening room, and computing facilities in the smaller building. All the rectangular sections of the main building would be "paired" with buildings across the street, Pedersen said, so that the section would be approximately the same height as the building across from it. Vice President for Facilities Arthur Gravina said that the campus center committee would have to look closely at finances when forming a more detailed plan for the center. "I'm very cautious," Gravina said. "As we move forward [people should understand] that what we present is not cast in stone." However, Gravina said last night that fundraising for the center would be easier now that potential donors can see even a tentative plan. The architects said yesterday that cost had not been taken into consideration while formulating their initial ideas for the center, and Gravina said last night that the plans are too preliminary to estimate a cost. Students attending the presentation offered tentative praise for the program. Some expressed reservations about the area's safety, the ability to integrate the campus center into its surroundings, and the Book Store's underground site. The firm also proposed increasing pedestrian traffic patterns north of Walnut Street by closing one lane of traffic on the south side of Walnut in order to widen the south sidewalk, plant rows of trees and pave it in a style similar to Locust Walk. Other concepts the architects presented as long-term possibilities included creating a "campus gateway" at 33rd and Chestnut streets and building additional dormitories on Hill Field. Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, who co-chairs the campus center committee, praised the forum, saying that the architects now understand better what the University community wants.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.