About Philadelphia's Olde Kensington

If you haven't seen the Urban Topiary yet,  here is your chance to see the unique “living” sculpture designed to engage the community through arts and design. In conjunction with DesignPhiladelphia, JDT International will dedicate the Urban Topiary on Saturday, October 22.

From the press release:

Designed and constructed by PrePost, the Urban Topiary compliments the newly completed nine-unit housing development, The Flats at Girard Pointe (1221-1233 N. 3rd Street), developed by Jeffrey Tubbs of JDT International Inc and Joseph Matta of CRL2 Associates, LLC. The new housing development is surrounded by over 100 of the Urban Topiary’s digitally fabricated galvanized steel tubes that unite the public sidewalk and the adjacent private yards of the housing development. The tubes make for spiraling armature for flowering vines and ivy to grow, creating an undulating topiary in the heart of Olde Kensington.

What's in season in Old Kensington this fall? Urban Topiary.

The Flats at Girard Pointe's living sculpture will be unveiled on October 15. What is this Urban Topiary, exactly? The sculpture is made from over 100 digitally fabricated galvanized steel tubes that will host ivy and flowering vines.

During our last Meet the Builders Tour, we were hugely impressed with the Flats, but the Topiary was not ready yet. This is the element that we were most curious about and we are quite excited to see it in person, in all of its street-art-meets-eco-design glory. Go see it for yourself and take a tour of the Flats. It is one of the more innovative and cutting-edge project designs we have seen this year.

For more info on this project, please contact the Somers Team.

It's a funny thing, but as a blogger, you automatically start to become more invested in photography, more so than you ever were before. Your blog can be extremely thoughtful and provocative, but if you don't have good photography, or any images at all, you're only putting in half the effort. In the current scope of things, when smartphones are equipped to shoot above standard point-and-shoot quality, there is no excuse. Anyone can take a decent shot, right? Maybe.

But there is still something about a person who has the ability to frame and execute their images so brilliantly that they halt us. Especially photographers that can take excellent photos with pinhole cameras. These cameras have a single tiny hole and no lens, with a lengthier exposure and some real skills required to operate. Pinhole Dreams, a Nexus Gallery exhibition, will showcase pinhole photographers this month. To see some amazing scenes and the eyes behind them, don't miss the Opening Reception on Thursday, October 14, from 6 - 9 pm. The following photographers will be featured:

Chris Macan -- www.ChrisMacan.com

Scott McMahon -- www.scottmcmahonphoto.com

Chris Peregoy -- www.pinholeblender.com

Jeff Holder -- www.jeffreyholderphotography.com

Scott Speck -- www.scottspeck.com

John Fobes

Nexus Gallery, Crane Arts Building at 1400 N. American St, Suite 102

[image via Chris Peregoy, View From My Window]

Did you ever think you would spend an evening recycling and have a really good time?

Glassphemy is coming to the Crane Arts Building on October 12, and this installation/recycling center encourages you to bring your glass bottles and give it your best shot. Yes, they want you to throw your glass at it.

Sounds dangerous, but the 20-by-30 foot steel structure is designed to recycle your glass bottles and is made with bulletproof glass.

The project was conceived in Philadelphia by Macro Sea.

So whether you're blowing off some steam or just want to pretend you're pitching for the Phillies, go visit this unique installation and get some recycling off of your hands.

[GLASSPHEMY! renderings by Vamos Architects]

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Meet the Builders Tour in Old Kensington - it was a great evening in an exciting neighborhood with some new construction to match.

We started off at 1353-57 Mascher St, which gave us sunny bedrooms, handsome floors, and endless views of the city from the deck. We sipped some "House" wine and snacked on quesadillas, sopes, and chips from nearby taqueria, Taco Riendo. Then David Gleeson (Crane Arts and other development projects) stopped by to clue us in on new construction in Kensington South/Old Kensington and the future of the neighborhood. What we learned? Old Kensington is a prime example of how developers will follow the artists to an under-tapped neighborhood. The advice? Invest now, while prices are still within reach.

After that, we took a quick walk over to 3rd Street to the Flats at Girard Pointe, where this successful project already has owners moved in. We toured an unfinished unit that was waiting for custom finishings and a unit that was recently completed. One owner was even kind enough to have his home available to view and he walked us through his stunning and spacious oasis. It was an unexpected surprise and our tourgoers loved it. Developer Jeff Tubbs then hosted drinks and snacks at his own flat.

For the final leg of our tour, we had scheduled a walk through the Crane Arts Building during 2nd Thursday, which is just a quick walk from the Flats at Girard Pointe. One of the owners, Nicholas Kripal, started with the history of the building and then took us through some of the artists studios so that we could see how it all worked. Kripal is a Ceramics Teacher at Tyler School of Art and is an important and respected member of the art community in Philadelphia. He talked about some upcoming projects that they are working on, so stay tuned for more from the visionaries behind Crane Arts.

So, thank you to those who were involved and those who spent their Thursday evening with us. We hope you will join us again soon. And as always, for information on Old Kensington and what's happening there, explore more on our blog.