http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron RSS Feed for Inq Col Inga Saffron en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:21:41 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091120_Changing_Skyline__Let_the_master_planners_decide_how_to_get_to_the_Delaware_waterfront.html Philadelphia's new Delaware waterfront manager isn't supposed to choose a master planner until its Monday meeting, but in characteristic fashion, the politicians are laying the dynamite to sabotage the effort. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091113_Changing_Skyline__Struggle_to_make_season_bright_on_the_square.html In this winter of our discontent, when Philadelphia's City Hall is too broke to fund parades, keep libraries open on weekends, or even scoop up curbside piles of raked leaves, you can't help longing for a little brightness during the holiday season. Just don't count on finding that old seasonal twinkle in Rittenhouse Square. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091106_Changing_Skyline__Powering_down.html There comes a point in the life of our workhorse industrial buildings when we stop seeing them for the marvels they perform, and soon after that, we stop seeing them altogether. In Philadelphia, which abounds with the unused relics of a mighty industrial past, it's all too easy to forget that these are the structures that made the city modern. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091030_Changing_Skyline__Pedaling_in_a_lane_that_s_their_own.html I was idling at a red light on 17th Street the other afternoon, at ease on my nameless, burgundy-colored three-speed as I enjoyed the gentle fall sun, when a taxi driver pulled up in the left lane and barked: "Do you always stop at lights?" http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091023_Changing_Skyline__A_design_that_s_a_teaching_tool.html How to instill moral values in America's youth is one topics that is guaranteed to start a spirited conversation. Religious groups, of course, have always been big on teaching the difference between right and wrong. Others argue that you can't have the discussion without talking about ethical behavior, compassion, or economic justice. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091016_Changing_Skyline__Perking_up_the_Parkway.html From the moment that the Barnes Foundation decided to move to Philadelphia, the arrangement was cast as a perfect marriage of interests. The Barnes would become financially sustainable in a new home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The city would finally get a lively cultural attraction to occupy a primo spot on that great boulevard of dead space. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091009_Changing_Skyline__Phila__architects_offer_some_homegrown_ideas.html It's not a new story, but the biggest and best architectural projects in Philadelphia always seem to end up in the hands of out-of-towners. The Barnes Foundation has a New York firm designing its new home. The Art Museum went to Los Angeles to snare Frank Gehry for its underground expansion. Even Drexel University chose a Minneapolis outfit to retrofit Market Street's iconic decorated shed, the ISI Building, one of Robert Venturi's important early works. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20091002_Changing_Skyline__Proving_green_can_be_gorgeous.html You can be pretty sure that the smell you smell in most fancy new hotels in America is not the scent of money. More likely, it's a gassy brew of glue, formaldehyde, and ethylene, sublimating off the walls, floors, and furniture and into the guest-room air. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20090925_Changing_Skyline__Erdy_McHenry_s_new_Drexel_dorm_ambitious__flawed.html The rap in Philadelphia on Erdy McHenry Architects is that their buildings are show-offs. They're too stylish, too trendy. They lack real depth. You don't want to look too closely at the details, either. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/inga_saffron/20090918_Changing_Skyline__Subtle_subterfuge.html Philadelphia has not been lucky with parking garages. Architects are always promising to dress up these concrete monsters so they're indistinguishable from the other buildings on the city's streets. Has anyone ever been fooled?