Maggie Rusch | Pairing innovation with preservation

As a recent grad, I’ve come to terms with the fact that Penn will never again be quite the same place; it’s a given that our dear old Penn is in need of constant rebuild and repair (she is pushing 270 years, after all). But where a facelift might have been more appropriate — a little nip here, a tuck there — it looks like we’re headed for full-blown facial reconstruction, and not the good kind. Penn’s recent and upcoming campus renovations are at best incongruous with its more historical buildings, and at worst, an eyesore.

Think about your first campus visit. When our savvy Kite and Key-ers led you down Locust as a prospective student, they steered you clear of our notorious aesthetic landmines, like the gulag-style high rises or DRL.

Fast forward a few years and you’re checking out the Penn Fund website to see where your hypothetical donations will go once your diploma eventually pays off. There, the images plastered across the computer screen display a picturesque, yet distilled, portrait of campus. Present? The likely candidates: Houston Hall, Franklin Field, the Quad, the Penn Museum — all collegial icons built around the turn of the 20th century. Missing are the Hills, the Radians and even the Van Pelts of campus.

Clearly, the legacy that both the Penn Fund and Admissions aim to project is of a more traditional look and feel. And yet, if you browse the many upcoming PennConnects projects, the University’s land use and urban design campus plan — funded in part by the Penn Fund — the building blueprints portray a radical departure from our more classical Georgian architectural past. By transforming the University’s image — whether for visual, environmental or functional appeal — those in charge are risking our campus’s strong sense of cultural identity or continuity.

You have the upcoming Nanotechnology Center and the Neural-Behavioral Sciences Building, both in the spirit and look of the recently completed Skirchanich Hall. Then there’s the new college house in Hill Square, which may as well be dubbed Radian II. All of these are modern, forward-looking and functional designs — but designs that drastically stray from the image of Penn that we consciously project.

Now, I’m not arguing for conformity, or even against progress — I’m arguing that our direction should be headed toward reform versus revolution. While Penn has taken some steps in the right direction in recent years, such progress appears to be brief. For example, Ann Beha, designer of the recently renovated Music Building, had the right idea. The April 27 issue of Penn’s Almanac reported her goal to “build something contemporary that has a dialogue with history.”

Beha proved that it is possible to create spaces that are functional and efficient, while historically and culturally relevant. Her vision was rewarded when the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia granted the building the 2010 Preservation Achievement Grand Jury Award.

While other similar projects are slated — from the recently completed Weiss Pavilion area to the upcoming ARCH and University Museum renovations — these successes are largely overshadowed by the overpowering and monolithic structures seeping onto our West Philly skyline.

Rather than mirroring a past fraught with raze-and-rebuilds urban planners should seek to preserve Philadelphia’s rich culture through historical preservation — whether literally, through renovation or metaphorically. Look at cities such as Paris or Prague, or even New Orleans: the local culture and character permeate the location thanks to careful renovation and historical inspiration and not as a result of the architectural whims of some pricey outside firm.

Penn has a unique opportunity to lead the way for the preservation of Philadelphia, especially with postal expansion eastward. With such a culturally influential campus, we have to remember that the preservation of a historical location — whether through renovation or inspiration — must go hand-and-hand with innovation.

Maggie Rusch graduated from the College in May. She is currently working for the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C. Her e-mail is mrrusch@gmail.com.

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