Photopost: Occupy Philly as Spontaneous Urbanism, Pt. II

This is the long-awaited weeks-late follow-up to the first part of this photo essay--especially important since Charlie, Emily Washington, Linda DePillis, and Phillip Kennicott, have all picked up on the same idea. Emily additionally suggests that the same pattern is likewise evident in the annual Burning Man festival.

Primary north-south avenue through Occupy Philly. This Baroque way seems to have come about through campsite reorganization.

A back street in Occupy Philly.

Another Occupy Philly back street.

Packed in tight, but with variation. Here we see how the structural variety and footprint uniformity create emergent urban form--even in a tent city.

Urban panorama, looking south.

Back street. To the right is the tech tent.

This court is a remnant of a previous major artery through this burg. The tech tent, in the background, when erected blocked the through street off and forced the Baroque boulevard to be driven through.

No longer is the homeless tent on the main road.

On the north side of town, space between dwellings grows. Urbanization eats this space away, though.

The north plaza, a huge unurbanized space at the north edge of the encampment.

Heavy-duty urbanization along alleys behind buildings facing the north plaza.

Some tents, such as this, even have claimed "yard" territory.

Another look.

This wide avenue branches off the north plaza and is a sleepy village in comparison with the concentrated downtown area along the Market Street axis.

The north meal tent.

Higher-use tents nestled in a suburban downtown on the north side.

Dilworth Plaza's great sunken area has not been filled in by tents, despite its bordering downtown. It is as much a barrier as a lake or fen, and is clearly separating the central urban area from the north side.

This is not some isolated thing, either. Even the most rudimentary group camping self-organizes as a village around the center of the campsite (i.e. where the picnic tables and campfire are).

I may well get around to a Part III...Stay tuned!