PennPraxis is the clinical arm of the School of Design at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and is a
501c(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
non-profit subsidiary of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. The group offers community collaborative design opportunities for Penn faculty and students to test ideas and theories in practical real-world applications. Also offered are architectural and planning services to individuals and groups who are either in need or are otherwise unable to procure these services from traditional sources. In its first ten years, it earned $16m in fees.
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About the project
Requirements for project proposals are that the projects do not meet the university's guidelines for "sponsored research projects"; they must also provide educational benefits and/or serve the interests of the (Philadelphia) community. PennPraxis has been working on ideas for urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
for the city of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Pennsylvania according to a 'civic vision' it has for the city, including the Delaware River waterfront, and the western banks of the Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...
, where Penn's campus faces. The group is led by executive director and Penn faculty member Harris Steinberg. Some of the group's funding comes from the William Penn Foundation.
PlanPhilly, or www.PlanPhilly.com, is the group's independent news website, covering the city's Planning Commission, the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Zoning Code Commission, the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. (formerly Penn's Landing Corp.), development, housing, streets, commercial real estate and other, related topics. Its editor is Matt Golas, formerly of the ''Philadelphia Inquirer''. The main writers for the site are Kellie Patrick Gates and business writer Thomas J. Walsh.
History
On June 26, 2008, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter
Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...
accepted PennPraxis' recommendations for the introduction of Foxwoods
Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more th ...
and SugarHouse casinos in the redevelopment of the Delaware River waterfront. The plan, while not binding on the two casino operators yet, strongly recommends serious redesign of the casinos' plans, including the use of off-site parking accessible to non-patrons. Representatives from both casinos accused PennPraxis of being biased against them. It was later reported that PennPraxis hired five experts to devise alternative plans for the casinos, accommodating for reduced on-site parking, a breakdown from a more singular building mass to allow more public access to the river, a 30-percent allotment of the area for open space, use of green roof
A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
s and accommodations for mass transit, to conform to PennPraxis' civic vision, parts of which the mayor has since promised to accept.
References
External links
PennPraxis
official website
PlanPhilly.com
- independent reporting arm for PennPraxis
Philadelphia City Planning CommissionPhiladelphia Zoning Code CommissionDelaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)
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Architectural education