Plan Philly: Engaging in Urban Dialogue

These three 31-story condominium towers, which sit atop a five-acre hill, act as the anchor that stimulated Society Hill neighborhood revitalization, the landmark achievement of Philadelphia city planner Ed Bacon. Built on the old food distribution site in 1964, the Towers provided hundreds of luxury units that attracted wealthy urbanites to a former slum neighborhood. Designed by world-renowned architect I.M. Pei, the Towers serve as an interesting visual contract to the surrounding townhouse fabric and a terminus to Bacon’s curving greenway path. Pei’s innovative design techniques (example: orienting the buildings so that no views are impeded by the other two towers) led to the Towers being placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1999.