Society Hill Towers
Residential in Pennsylvania, United States
39°56′44″N 75°08′41″W / 39.9455°N 75.1447°W / 39.9455; -75.1447Progressive Architecture Award for Design (1961)[1]
Society Hill Towers is a three-building condominium located in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The complex contains three 31-story skyscrapers with 624 units on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) site.[1] The towers were designed by I. M. Pei and Associates and are constructed of cast-in-place concrete, with each apartment featuring floor-to-ceiling windows.[2] Completed in 1964, the apartments were originally rental units but were converted to condominiums in 1979.[1]
History
In the late 1950s, Society Hill was considered a slum neighborhood,[2] which was targeted for redevelopment by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and the Redevelopment Authority.[1] From 1957 to 1959, the Greater Philadelphia Movement, the Redevelopment Authority, and the Old Philadelphia Development Corporation bought 31 acres (130,000 m2) around Dock Street. They relocated and demolished the Dock Street Market, setting aside 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land that would become the Society Hill Towers.[3] In 1957, Edmund Bacon, the executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, awarded developer-architect firm Webb and Knapp the competition for the redevelopment of Society Hill. Architect I. M. Pei and his team created a plan for three 31-story Society Hill Towers as well as the Society Hill Townhouses, a low-rise project.[4] The Towers and Townhouses project was completed in 1964, while the entire plan was completed in 1977.[5]
The buildings were listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on March 10, 1999.
See also
Philadelphia portal
Architecture portal
References
- ^ a b c d "History" on the Society Hill Towers website
- ^ a b Gallery, John Andrew, ed. (2004), Philadelphia Architecture: A Guide to the City (2nd ed.), Philadelphia: Foundation for Architecture, ISBN 0962290815, p. 119
- ^ Le Faivre-Rochester, Carole (2003). "Society Hill Towers: A Bold and Graceful Venture". In Baron, Herman (ed.). I. M. Pei and Society Hill: A 40th Anniversary Celebration. Philadelphia: Diane Publishing Co. p. 35.
- ^ Perkins, Dorothy (2003). "Biography of I. M. Pei". In Baron, Herman (ed.). I. M. Pei and Society Hill: A 40th Anniversary Celebration. Philadelphia: Diane Publishing Co. p. 8.
- ^ Le Faivre-Rochester, p. 36.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Society Hill Towers.
- Official website
- Society Hill Towers Apartment Development data from the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) project of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
- v
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I. M. Pei
- List of projects
- 131 Ponce de Leon Avenue (1949)
- Roosevelt Field Mall (1951)
- William L. Slayton House (1960)
- Erieview Plan (1960)
- Town Center East (1960-61)
- Government Center Master Plan (1961)
- University Apartments (1961)
- Cathedral Square of Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (1962)
- Hale Manoa Dormitory (1962)
- Waterfront Tower (1960s)
- Kips Bay Plaza (1963)
- Luce Memorial Chapel (1963)
- Society Hill Towers (1964)
- MIT Green Building (1964)
- S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications (1964)
- Washington Plaza (1964)
- The Century Towers (1965)
- University Village (1966)
- Mesa Laboratory (1967)
- Des Moines Art Center sculpture wing (1968)
- Everson Museum of Art (1968)
- Cleo Rogers Memorial Library (1969)
- Columbia University Master Plan (1970)
- Sundrome (1970)
- Grave of Robert F. Kennedy (1971)
- I. M. Pei Building (1971)
- Paul Mellon Arts Center (1972)
- Commerce Court West (1973)
- Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (1973)
- Lamar Building penthouse (1976)
- Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Centre (1976)
- Dallas City Hall (1977)
- National Gallery of Art East Building (1978)
- John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (1979)
- One Dallas Center (1979)
- Biltmore Building (1980)
- Museum of Fine Arts West Wing (1981)
- Eskenazi Museum of Art (1982)
- Sunning Plaza (1982)
- Texas Commerce Tower (1982)
- 16th Street Mall, Denver (1982)
- Energy Plaza (1983)
- IBM Somers Office Complex (1984)
- Wiesner Building (1984)
- Raffles City (1986)
- Swissôtel The Stamford (1986)
- Miami Tower (1987)
- Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong) (1989)
- Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (1989)
- The Gateway (1990)
- The Kirklin Clinic (1992)
- Four Seasons Hotel New York (1993)
- Louvre Pyramid (1993)
- Louvre Inverted Pyramid (1993)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1995)
- Buck Institute for Research on Aging (1996)
- Miho Museum (1997)
- Oare Pavilion (2003)
- Deutsches Historisches Museum Zeughaus Wing (2003)
- MUDAM-Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (2006)
- Suzhou Museum New Wings (2006)
- Embassy of China in Washington, D.C. (2006)
- Museum of Islamic Art (2008)
- Macau Science Center (2009)
- Pei Plan (1964)
