Author(s)

F.A. Jaskiewicz

Abstract

Many of the world’s great public spaces have been marginalized by continuous growth in automobile travel. This paper documents the recent successful effort to reestablish the accessibility and prominence of Logan Square in Philadelphia, one of five original public squares laid out by William Penn in 1683, despite modern traffic demands. In the 1920s, Logan Square was transformed into Logan Circle with the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a grand Parisian-style boulevard connecting the center of Philadelphia with Frederick Law Olmsted’s Fairmount Park. Although Logan Circle retained its grandeur for several decades, with Alexander Stirling Calder’s spectacular Swan Fountain as its centerpiece, the surrounding roadways were rebuilt after World War II to carry more traffic at higher speeds, leading to the ever-increasing isolation of the Circle’s interior. At present, the

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