Ashley Takacs
Recent articles
Senior Goodbye from Ashley Takacs | The game of Penn
With my days at Penn numbered, I’ve become acutely aware that my time here is more like Chutes and Ladders than I’d like to admit.
Ash Wednesday | How I love Locust — let me count the ways
Maybe it’s all the fresh flowers, latent affects of fling or my own senior nostalgia, but I am in love with Locust Walk.
Ash Wednesday | Lose the cheesy marketing
Developers need to lose their delusions of grandeur and see that Philly is pretty great just the way it is.
Ash Wednesday | Keeping design local
I was excited that a Philadelphia firm won a competition to design the new U.S. embassy in London. Because, despite the decrease in star power, there is real value in investing in local architects.
Ash Wednesday | It's hard out here for a painter
An art store could add a lot to the University City community by becoming a hub that this area is severely lacking.
Ash Wednesday | Flush away green design
When the University introduces green technologies that don’t function as well as their non-green counterparts, they are not only hurting students; they are also doing a disservice to the sustainability movement.
Ash Wednesday | Going up in smoke unfairly
The smokestack behind 30th Street Station was an architectural treasure that should not have been demolished.
Ash Wednesday | Trashing our treasures
In treating the Button like a canvas for some poorly conceived message, the vandals turned an iconic campus focal point into an eye sore that we must shield from tour groups.
Ashley Takacs | The squirrel-theft accords
The squirrel-theft ridiculousness has gone on just a tad too long — here are my open letters offering solutions.
Ashley Takacs | A true partnership
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood as Penn's Architecture Department joins hands with local groups to build housing
Ashley Takacs | Opening art to all
For me, Sundays at the Philadelphia Museum of Art were like going to church. I went because it was good for my soul, it got me thinking about the big picture (literally and metaphorically) and, like Sunday mass, it was free.
Ashley Takacs | Preserving treasures
Moving the Barnes Foundation gallery to Philadelphia is a way to save the collection and educate more guests
Ashley Takacs | Taking the 'High' road
Philadelphia can apply elements of NYC's High Line Park's success to a Chinatown project
Opinion Art | Ilana Millner
Ilana Millner is a rising College senior from Washington Crossing, Pa. Her e-mail address is millner@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Ashley Takacs | Sensible sustainabilty
As an architecture major, I get pangs of jealousy every time I hear that the architect du jour is building some shiny new super building on someone else's campus. Whether it's Frank Gehry at MIT, Renzo Piano at Columbia or Norman Foster at Stanford, it's tough not to be envious when Penn's last superstar designer was Lou Kahn back in the 50s.
Ashley Takacs | You're my inspiration
We've all been told to stop and smell the roses - but this is Penn. We don't stop for anything. I get annoyed if someone breaks to tie his shoes on a busy Locust walk. I don't even know what I would do if I saw a student stopping to sniff the daffodils in front of Huntsman Hall.
Ashley Takacs | Selling cultural cred to the highest bidder
There's gold in them there art museums - but please don't tell the University trustees. As endowments shrivel and budgets tighten, Penn is no doubt looking for ways to make ends meet. But, let's hope they're not eyeing our veritable treasure trove of art, rare books and artifacts as a solution.
Ashley Takacs | Living the high life, on a budget
While many Penn students jetted off to tropical locations last week, I forwent the daiquiris and drug cartels of Cancun in favor of budget-friendly Buffalo, where I could enjoy home-cooked meals and free laundry. If it were any other year, I would not be admitting to such a lame spring break - and I certainly would not be writing it for all of Penn to read.
Ashley Takacs | Giving a good first impression?
As I walked to class last Friday morning, I was abruptly shaken out of my 10 a.m. stupor by a series of CNN trucks and secret service vehicles blocking my path to the Fine Arts Library. I looked up to hear students buzzing about Vice President Joe Biden's visit and thought to myself, Toto, we're not in Buffalo anymore.
Ashley Takacs | Reading more interesting artwork
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this year's Penn Reading Project is certainly the shortest work to date. Rather than reading (or, in most cases, not) a book, as entering freshman have done for the past 10 years, the class of 2013 will be asked to "read" The Gross Clinic - a painting by Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins.
