The Piazza at Schmidt's, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia
As a precedent for our re-development of the UCHS site, my studio group looked at The Piazza for inspiration. This development is recent itself, having been completed in 2009. The area was once a highly industrial are. In the 1980s, Schmidt's brewery closed down and the area became a predominantly low-income housing area. Revitalization of the area began in the late 1990s and the Piazza began construction in 2000. Our group studied the demographics of the area and noted the increase of property value within the past 10 years, which was linked to the increase of residents with high-paying jobs. The Piazza has been shown to be the cause of a great deal of investments in the area. Looking at the design of the Piazza, we noted the entrances and scaling of the spaces and buildings.
The success of the Piazza helped kick off the objectives in the redevelopment of the UCHS site.
The success of the Piazza helped kick off the objectives in the redevelopment of the UCHS site.