Comparison Of City Hall And Dilworth Park

During this summer, I attended an Architecture Summer Program at the University of Pennsylvania, designed a children’s water park in the campus and hand-made a model of it. However, the visit of City Hall and Dilworth Park inspired me much. City Hall, as the heart of downtown Philadelphia and the nation’s largest municipal building, serves the city’s government and politics for over 100 years. It boasts over 250 architectural relief’s and freestanding sculptures including the statue of William Penn, which stands atop the City Hall Tower . The classic Second French Empire style of City Hall buildings and the modern sense of the Dilworth Park in front of City Hall perfectly integrate and mutually impact each other. The dynamic energy of the fountain in Dilworth Park does not affect the majesty of City Hall, rather add vitality to it .
Moreover, the existence of Dilworth Park brings more family with children rather than only politicians or adult visitors to enjoy friendly public space with new plantings, a café and two iconic glass entrance to the underground concourse
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Going off from this combined design, I was inspired to design a livelier architecture to ease off the solemn environment in the campus. I adopted the elements of water and the idea that making serious architecture a more welcoming outdoor space , designing climbing sponges and running water to get people involved . Meanwhile, I chose the materials of concrete and glass to fulfill the combination of classic styles and modern ideas.
Ultimately, I transformed the ideas from the design of City Hall and Dilworth Park, and turned them into feasible models .