Rittenhouse Vibrant Despite Loss Of Chain Store HQ

Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron, the limerent object of many of Philadelphia blogger, has a piece in this month’s Metropolis about the shiny new-ish Urban Outfitters headquarters down at the Navy Yard.

It’s, as usual, a fine article about the buildings; in a contrast to what Robert A. M. Stern Architects did for a city planning commission, the Urban headquarters kept in remnants from the building’s past. (And, for example, wood was reclaimed from a convent’s school’s basketball court, and added into the project. Neat!) Judging from the photos, the whole look is so much more better than any one-liner t-shirt.

And while the loss of any Center City business besides Dollar-O-Rama or whatever is a disappointment, I don’t think we were ever in this much danger:

When I first heard that Philadelphia’s Urban Outfitters (UO) was relocating its headquarters from its cozy Rittenhouse Square offices to the city’s decommissioned navy yard, it sounded like bad news for every­­one concerned. The idea of yanking more than 600 of Philadelphia’s most creative—not to mention best-dressed —workers out of downtown was the equivalent of exiling Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue fashion houses to an industrial park near JFK. Losing so many trendsetters would surely diminish the Center City District’s hard-won cool quotient.

She’s right a bit, though. Now that Urban is positioned like 20 blocks south of the Wachovia Center, my personal cool quotient has dipped a bit.

A Stitch in Time [Metropolis]
Philly’s Best New Company HQ? Forget Comcast. Try Urban Outfitters [Skyline Online]

Leftovers: Don’t Meet Me Tonight In Atlantic City

• The former Atlantic City Council president who pled guilty to taking $36,000 in bribes has been banned from future city council meetings in advance of his sentencing. A judge said letters about Craig Callaway made him seem like “a one-man crime wave.” Awesome. [Inquirer]

• Tons of new state laws go into effect on January 1 all across the country. In Pennsylvania, there are things like more sex offender regulations and protections from identity theft. And lobbyists finally have to disclose their contributions. Yay! [Stateline.org]

• Everyone’s favorite Inquirer columnist, Inga Saffron, destroys the New River City proposal in a column today for reasons other than NIMBYism. [Inquirer]

With Penn Kids, All Stereotypes Always True

It’s been a while since Philadelphia Will Do has checked in on Penn’s Stephen Morse, online columnist and white Darfur supporter, even if you black people are too busy to support a brother.

Let’s see what he’s up to on the Daily Pennsylvanian’s blog:

One month ago, Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron hailed Penn’s newest building, Skirkanich Hall, as “the city’s best new building in years.” Well, Inga, I have no architecture degree, but you should really be out of a job. To me, this building is nothing more than a giant glassy booger. [...]

Speaking of Pottruck, it’s architecturally a pretty cool building. So is Huntsman Hall. But why didn’t the architecture critics step up to bat for these structures? Our side of the Schuykill is also blessed with the awesome Cira Centre, but Inga Saffron arrogantly calls the creation “standoffish.” She also believes that “the difference is that Cira is a commercial office tower and Skirkanich is a work of art.” [...]

Maybe Skirkanich hall is just a butterface, and her real beauty lies on the inside. Editor’s Note: Link to Urban fucking Dictionary for “butterface” not added by me.

Yeah! Why didn’t the architecture critics agree with Stephen Morse, Knower Of Everything?! They should totally lose their jobs — lose their jobs! — so we can get better architecture commentary like “it’s like a booger!” I can’t wait until his treatise, “City Hall: A Piece Of Poop,” comes out.

Skirkanich: One not-so-fab lab [DP's The Spin]