Not surprisingly, the inclusion of a 53-foot-tall pop-art paintbrush by Claes Oldenburg grabbed the attention. PAFA is clearly hoping that this tilted artwork will become a Philadelphia icon like the sculptor's Market Street Clothespin. True love rarely strikes twice, however, and the oversize paintbrush seems too literal a choice for an art school famous for its devotion to the antique craft of putting paint on canvas.
Instead, it's the plaza, designed by the landscape architects at Philadelphia-based Olin, that offers the real seductive possibilities. While there is no shortage of dreary plazas nearby - negative connotations are virtually built into the word - Olin reconfigures the formula to create an exciting new urban space.
The original impetus for the plaza was to unite the academy's two halves: its celebrated Furness & Hewitt building and the adjacent annex recently carved out of a 1920s automobile showroom. PAFA will pedestrianize Cherry Street from Broad to Carlisle Street, and outfit the 40-foot-wide passage with benches, restaurant tables, and sculpture in time for the Convention Center's opening next spring.
At its most basic, the plaza will open up a crack of ventilation on a stuffy stretch of Broad Street, marred by Hahnemann University Hospital's disgraceful off-limits park. PAFA's plaza provides a congenial spot where students, conventioneers, and Philadelphians all can mingle.
Over time, expectations for the plaza have grown. Its job now is to tie together two strands of Philadelphia's economic strategy: hospitality and culture. The passage - which is being named Lenfest Plaza for its main donors, the philanthropists H.F. "Gerry" and Marguerite Lenfest - is envisioned as the start of a city arts walk.
