Spolia Redux:
Spring 2019 | Semester II | University of Pennsylvania
Urban Market Studio with Brian DeLuna & Patrick Danahy
Publications:
Pressing Matters IIX
“One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its people, and like memory it is associated with objects and places. The city is the locus of the collective memory.”
- Aldo Rossi
Since its purchase in 1686, Manayunk has existed as an industrial settlement, utilizing the Schuylkill river as a means for transportation and production for the businesses that exist there. In the first half of the 20th century however, Manayunk began to experience financial troubles, beginning with a redlining act by banks and the government in the 1930’s in which they deemed the area unfit to receive loans. Right before the turn of the century in the late 1990’s Manayunk began to experience a wave of interest from a younger, wealthier population. This transition in demographics drastically changed the industries that called Manayunk home as well as the local businesses that situated there. Spolia Redux examines the changes in income and property value to better understand the impact that this younger generation has had. Using this information as a lens, the beginnings of a formal language is created for a proposed future market, hoping to address the issue of gentrification within Manayunk.
Connecting to the past textile industry that existed in Manayunk, the proposed market re-introduces the blue-collar worker back into the town with a leather market. Keeping up with new innovations, health concerns, and environmental problems, the new market specializes in synthetic leathers, free of noxious gases and pollutants into the land.
As an ode to the ancient Italian leather makers, and as an adaptation to the site, the Manayunk Leather Market situates itself onto the pedestrian bridge that borders the site. Similar to the Rialto bridge of Venice and the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the market and the bridge are not separate entities working together, but rather one in the same, weaving together in an unbreakable form. With close proximity, just yards away from the Schuylkill River, the market can function as both a means of production and a store for those visiting. In addition, the existing industrial rail line flowing through the site from Philadelphia offers a means of supply transportation.
