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.

Take an immersive stroll along Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway to experience and learn about the public sculpture installations dotting this grand boulevard including the works of three generations of Calders.

As portrayed in films like The Philadelphia Story (1939), Philadelphia’s Main Line is a quintessentially elite enclave, both geographically and socially impenetrable – a “state of mind”, as one historian has observed, where “everyone here knows everyone else, or, if they don’t they never will.” In reality, the Main Line is a place profoundly shaped by technological and cultural change, and a location ripe with interesting modern architecture (and certainly, good architecture of other eras as well).