The chief justice of Pennsylvania, Ronald D. Castille, a man who presumably has a lot on his calendar, even called me up out of the blue this week to issue his own opinion. "It's not going to be the Taj Mahal," the former Philadelphia district attorney said. "It's going to be a very utilitarian building."
Ya think?
Courthouses may be the most meaningful statement that government can make about democratic values, which is why there are so many inspiring ones. Yet for the new Family Court, EwingCole has come up with a design that is a remarkably faithful replica of the original Penn Center office towers, regarded as the most mediocre modern buildings in Philadelphia.
It's hard to believe that almost half a century after that functionalist trio of cubicle warehouses wormed their way into the city's civic heart, architects and officials are seriously proposing a fourth. And, to think, this box will become the new home for the city's Juvenile Court, now located in the grand neoclassical palace on Logan Square.
City and state officials openly acknowledge that the Family Court design is underwhelming. But that has not stopped them from defending it as the best that can be built for the $200 million budgeted. After an unusually frank critique, the Art Commission approved the project on the condition that the architects make improvements to the ground floor by the March meeting.
The general argument being voiced around the city is that the Family Court design is "good enough" given the circumstances.
