The
Occupy movement has been getting increasing traction and airtime over the past few months, and roughly a month ago (already?) now a branch set up in Center City Philadelphia. Occupy Philly lays on the landscape of Dilworth Plaza, and occupies it the way a Mediterranean city a hillside.
The reason Occupy's tent city is emergent is because it is assembled from a fairly standard collection of individual units (tents), combined together in a highly complex and nonstandard order. It has both the virtues of high interconnectivity and quiet streets, achieved through a natural dual-level street hierarchy. The primary streets are, however, curved slightly and bend along City Hall's façade: the only perfectly straight road is the one between Market Street and City Hall's portal, currently being used as an amphitheater for voicing grievances.
So, without further ado, pictures!
 |
| South entrance |
 |
| Looking towards the core. Note how broad path is being built over |
 |
| South fountain area. The dry fountain seems to be a staging space |
 |
| The library |
 |
| This view shows the concentration of density around the City Hall portal |
 |
| Looking north along a wider path |
 |
| The art farts' corner...supposedly |
 |
| A series of major plazas mark the north side of the Occupy Philly site now |
 |
| Sharp boundary between urbanized and non-urbanized |
 |
| Work ongoing. Foreground guy has a rather lackadaisical attitude... |
 |
| Registration tents at the entrance to the site, 15th and Market |
 |
| Sanitation tent just off the Market Street path |
 |
| Amen, bro! |
 |
| The city: the densest section is on the south side of the site |
 |
| Looking towards a more pastoral north side |
 |
| The homeless tent is surprisingly well away from the action. It is, however, on the main path right now. |
 |
| Occurring urbanization. Lower tent densities, a slightly more pastoral vibe. |
 |
| A yawning expanse between the edge of the urbanized area (approximately where I stood) and the north services area. |
 |
| Looking south across this expanse |
 |
| The sunken "waiting room" for transit--a space shied away from, even by Occupiers |
 |
| Tents with a view seem to be in demand |
 |
| The north services area |
 |
| Far from the centers of the site--the Market Street area and the north services area--the libertarians set up camp at 15th and JFK. |
That's all for this post. Next post I'll be documenting changes to the site
in the week elapsed.
No comments:
Post a Comment