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Exposed Brick Walls Looking for a way to add drama to a room? Consider incorporating an exposed brick wall. This accent style can serve as the focal point of a room, giving it a sense of elegance or prestige. Exposed brick walls have fallen in and out of favor over time. During the Renaissance, for [...]
Since the building collapse at 22nd and Market, the building trades union, represented by Pat Gillespie, have been saying that if union labor had been on the job there, rather than non-union, the collapse would not have occurred. While this is obviously a terrific PR opportunity for the unions, Philly Mag’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood says the question is, in fact, moot due to the size of the job.
“Small projects tend to gravitate more towards the non-union,” says longtime engineer and Drexel professor Bob Brehm. “And the larger projects tend to gravitate towards the unions.” (Why? Cost.) Likewise, the small-scale collapses that I studied involved non-union workers. On the larger-scale projects, the opposite was largely true. Whether a property owner goes open-shop or closed-shop, in other words, might not guarantee anything.
The Hunting Park Hoagie City. Photo: Liz Spikol
One of the most iconic things about the Hoagie City building that collapsed last week–perhaps the only iconic thing about it–was its sign, the one that crashed down in a most dangerous fashion in the demolition video posted here. Something about the lettering and the illustrations struck us as familiar, and that’s because Hoagie City used to be a chain. (It was originally owned by Joe Carangi, father of Gia, the subject of Steve Fried’s Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia.)
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SPOTLIGHT LISTING: Chester Springs Home for Sale Here’s your chance to live in a custom-built home in Chester Springs—perfect for an entertainment junkie. The homes “entertainment wing,” has top-of-the-line sound and media systems and an extravagant glass bar. Making it easy to entertain is a 500-bottle wine room with tasting bar, which is located next [...]
Imagine Scranton, Pa., on Rittenhouse Square. Plop the office of The Office behind a 4-story historical facade. Quarantine paper execs in single offices with depressing furniture that looks to have come from a shuttered Red Rose Inn. Wait a few seasons, and set Mad Men in there, and have Don crush a cigarette out on the sofa arm in a fit of melancholy. That’s kind of the feeling you get from the decor of this former law office, as Estately blogger Ryan Nickum pointed out in an email.
But forget the decor. As an investment, it’s a solid bet. There are eight office suites in a location that could fetch a good price for commercial space. There’s also an (occupied) apartment on the top floor that gets rented out; it has a roof deck, and given the location surely generates significant income.
Photo: Liz Spikol
Strawberry Mansion Bridge isn’t something folks think about a lot, even with the changing lights that now underline its curves. But Alie + the Brigade did an outdoor performance project, “Invisible River,” last night that involved two performers hanging from the bridge and doing aerial ballet above the water while haunting choral music played. The grassy banks were crowded with spectators amazed by what they were seeing–these two people who coordinated their movements, their dance in the air, in a rather beautiful and courageous fashion.
The performance was almost canceled due to problems with L&I. Alie’s thanks to the city is post-show announcements was interestingly phrased: “I want to thank the city of Philadelphia as much as it was difficult to work with you in the past few days.”
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Take advantage of the great weather, and check out these upcoming weekend open houses in the Philadelphia region. 1615-17 Spruce St., #100 Philadelphia, PA Open house: June 16 1:30-2:30 p.m. Three-bedroom home in Rittenhouse with upgraded kitchen Price: $1,790,000 Bed: 3 Bath: 2.1 3,300 sq. ft. 237 S. 18th St., 3CD, Philadelphia Open House: June [...]
Perhaps one of the most mystifying trends in interior design in the last 20 years is the advent of the man cave, that place where men must go to be alone with other men, as though this is a rare pleasure that cannot be enjoyed in any other context. The man cave represents the notion that women don’t drink beer, don’t like sports, don’t play darts or billiards, don’t talk dirty, don’t listen to loud rock ’n’ roll, and don’t get stoned. Who are these women? They’re not from Philly, that’s for sure.
At any rate, the man cave necessitates a very specific aesthetic: beer paraphernalia, sports-related souvenirs, vintage signs and, sometimes, posters of buxom ladies. And there is no better place to outfit a man cave than Craigslist, where it takes just the words in the search bar to call up all kinds of suggestions from fellow spelunkers trying to sell off the last vestiges of their own Neanderthal residences. Here, for your pleasure, are some items that were all posted within the last couple weeks with mention of putting them in a man cave.
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You may have read by now that the Dow Chemical Company is putting its historic–yes, historic; it’s listed on the National Register–office building on Independence Mall up for sale once again.
Rohm and Haas built the building in 1965 as its headquarters, and the building designed by Pietro Belluschi and George M. Ewing Co. (now EwingCole) is considered a Modernist masterpiece.
