George Pepper Middle School in Eastwick and the International House in University City are two of Philadelphia’s most representative examples of Brutalist architecture. The former, a commanding pile of rigid geometry – designed by Claudill Rowlett Scott in 1969 – currently sits vacant and vandalized following a wave of Philadelphia public school closures in 2013. The latter, designed by Bower & Fradley architects in 1966, is a landmark of the so-called “Philadelphia School” whose future was put into flux by the changing mission of its founding organization. Are these buildings oppressive, blighted eyesores – as some have characterized them – or are they utopian visions worthy of a second act? Take-in both of these concrete behemoths while discussing their history, architectural significance, and their future potential for serving the community again.

Philadelphians were introduced to the value of modern planning in shaping the future of the city during the landmark, Better Philadelphia Exhibition of 1947. This show laid the groundwork for a reform era where public investment in urban renewal and community building brought figures like Edmund Bacon to the forefront of urban design and planning.

The Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia is one of those rare urban locations that has exceptional examples of architecture and landscape design from every period of United States history. This is especially true of the 1960s when global attention came to focus on Philadelphia as it’s architects and planners were energizing modernism with a broader sense of history, as well as social and environmental concerns.