The URBN Center (No vowels!)
Thanks to an “anonymous donor”, Drexel is expanding their CoMAD programs and facilities by embarking on the re-imagining of one of Robert Venturi’s early architectural forays. Aside from the gaily tiled exterior mosaic, this otherwise nondescript building is an example of Venturi’s “decorated shed” architectural aesthetic and part of the tapestry that makes the Philadelphia design story so rich. Fortunately, it appears the right steps are being taken to make the newly-acquired building an Urban Outfitters employee incubator a well-designed studio, academic, and administrative space by enlisting MS&R architects- the same architects who transformed dilapidated shipyard buildings at the Philadelphia Navy Yard into Urban Outiftters’ current crunchy-granola-hipster-fantasy headquarters. The stunning adaptive reuse of the Navy Yard buildings bode well for Drexel and this evolving Market Street corridor- which now boasts a legit sit-down restaurant, MidAtlantic(!) and the aforementioned Landmark Americana. Great news all around, really. Strange though- this post feels like one big literary deja vu…
