The Art of Placemaking

By David S. McHenry, FAIA 

Our built environment and our natural surroundings are, in simple terms, a series of objects and the spaces between them. These spaces become places to the extent they are experienced by users and observers. Place is thus not physical. It is experiential.  

We need to make places in order to create communities. And in turn, communities — and our experience of communities — transform spaces into places.  

Collectively and individually we have the ability to make places that are meaningful, memorable, enjoyable, evocative, influential and intentional. Experience is inextricably connected with place. Oftentimes, experiences are remembered via the locations where they occurred. We recall the physical characteristics: whether it was day or night, hot or cold, crowded or secluded, etc.  

Place emerges through the relationships that individuals or groups have with the physical environment and with each other, and it derives from the cultural meanings people attach to sites. Place, as an experiential construct, is a product of interaction, memory and emotion. Thus, the creation of meaningful places involves more than aesthetics or functional design. It is the ongoing, dynamic relationship between the built environment and its users that gives a sense of identity and community. 

Winston Churchill’s well-known aphorism — “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us” — was said in 1943 during a debate about replacing the bombed-out House of Commons chamber. He was adamant about reconstructing it on the same spot and at the same size as the old one, despite it being much too small for the members of parliament. He argued that the overcrowding fostered a stronger atmosphere, keeping political debate lively and robust but also intimate, maintaining “a sense of crowd and urgency.” He understood that buildings have a profound impact on our lives, influencing our behaviors, moods and even our sense of identity. Churchill was arguing to recreate the experience of the former House of Commons chamber, not the physical structure itself. 

In the same way, the architecture of a neighborhood or city can contribute to a sense of community and shared identity among its residents. 

Jane Jacobs, in her seminal work The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), provides a framework for understanding the dynamic relationship between the built environment and human experience. Like Churchill, she is a shrewd observer of the connections between design and behavior. She explains the physical traits that foster lively communities: short blocks, mixed use, old and new buildings. In describing life in her Hudson Street neighborhood, Jacobs famously likened it to an intricate ballet, in which individual dancers and ensembles perform distinctive roles. The environment is the stage, not the ballet. But the nature of the stage defines the ballet. “This order is all composed of movement and change,” she wrote, “and although it is life, not art, we may fancifully call it the art form of the city and liken it to the dance… to an intricate ballet in which the individual dancers and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an orderly whole.” 

The ballet of the city, as Jacobs describes it, is a constantly evolving performance. The interactions between people, buildings, streets and public spaces never repeat themselves exactly. Every time someone walks down a sidewalk, sits on a bench, or interacts with a neighbor, a new improvisation is created — one shaped by the unique combination of personal actions, environmental influences and social dynamics. This continuous improvisation imbues the city with vitality and a sense of place, something that is only possible when the built environment supports diverse activities, fosters interaction and encourages a variety of experiences. And this is the key point: It’s not a soloist performing; the corps de ballet performs as an ensemble — a community. 

Jacobs’ vision of urban life emphasizes the importance of diversity and unpredictability. The best cities, she argues, are those where streets are alive with activity, where people from different walks of life converge, and where social interactions take place in a variety of public and semi-public spaces. It is through these interactions and improvisations that place is exposed. The streets, buildings, parks and plazas that make up the urban fabric are not neutral backdrops to human activity — they are integral to shaping the experience of place. They facilitate connections between people, provide spaces for public life, and help create an emotional and social bond between individuals and their environment. Through these improvisations, place defines and is also defined by individual and collective experiences.  

Churchill and Jacobs’ observations highlight how the spaces we design influence behavior and, conversely, how behavior helps to give meaning to places. So the question for us as architects and planners is, how do we make spaces where people come together? Jacobs’ very commonsensical observation and analysis of what works and what doesn’t might be a starting point. 

When William Penn created his landmark plan for the five green focal points of Philadelphia, he envisioned a utopian “greene county towne.” Penn understood the value of public space, both socially and economically. Each park would serve as a meeting point for city dwellers. He recognized that open space could help make his urban experiment more appealing to buyers.  

Penn, along with his planner Thomas Holme, brought a unique perspective to urban planning, creating distance between buildings to protect against the spread of fire — a lesson learned from the Great Fire of London — and aggregating public space to foster community.  

Over the course of our practice, Erdy McHenry Architecture has had the opportunity to build on the example of Penn’s “greene country towne” in the redevelopment of the Northern Liberties neighborhood, the reconnection of Center City and University City at Cira Green, and the reintegration of a disintegrated neighborhood in West Philly at Westpark. 

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN  

The Piazza at Schmidt’s played a pivotal role in the revitalization of Northern Liberties, helping transform the once-industrial area into a vibrant neighborhood by introducing a large mixed-use development with high-end residences, retail spaces, and a central open plaza, all of which acted as a catalyst for further investment and community activity. Inspired by traditional Italian piazzas, this addition to the public squares of the city was a new focal point for the neighborhood, attracting residents and visitors alike, and contributing to the area’s new character.  

The client for this urban, mixed-use project had been working with another architect to create a “piazza” based on memories of a recent trip to the Piazza Navona in Rome. He wanted to recreate that experience as part of the redevelopment of the former Schmidt’s Brewery. Together, architect and client created a plan to wall off their new piazza with decorated boxes and buildings featuring faux-Italianate ornamentation, in imitation of the client’s memories of Italy. In reality, the developer’s memories of the Piazza Navona had little to do with what the place looked like. The experience he wanted to recreate was emotional. It was not the stucco façades, tile roofs, or wrought iron railings that defined his Rome experience. It was the social activity: a cup of espresso or a glass of wine enjoyed amidst the bustle of market vendors and street performers. 

Considering the piazza as a social phenomenon rather than a physical one, Erdy McHenry’s redesign of the Schmidt’s project in 2003 treated its new public square not as leftover space but as a primary performance venue, which would provoke the kind of emotional experiences that are at the heart of any good urban space.  

To promote a stronger connection with the neighborhood and the larger urban context, activity at street level is encouraged by the way that the buildings delineating the piazza are deliberately broken in two or have passageways carved through them to encourage pedestrian circulation from the surrounding streets to and through the Piazza, connecting it to transit and shopping areas. Cafes and restaurants entice pedestrians to linger. Programmed activities, including fashion shows, flea markets, group yoga, and watch parties on the big screen, embolden the visitor to become a participant, and the sense of community is strengthened.  

The impact of this development echoes far beyond the immediate neighborhood. The Piazza has added a sixth square to Holme’s original plan for Philadelphia. It draws on lessons of urban planning tested and evolved over centuries. 

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE  

Cira Green was part of a larger vision developed by Brandywine Realty Trust in 2012 to revitalize a one-block site and create a vibrant, dynamic public space for a newly imagined vertical neighborhood. Situated atop a twelve-story parking structure between two mixed-use high-rise towers, the park is a communal space that invites residents and visitors to engage with each other and the surrounding cityscape, connecting two diverse Philadelphia neighborhoods — Center City and University City.  

Around the time we began working with Brandywine on the development of the evo Tower at 30th and Chestnut, Brandywine came to us with the idea of using additional structural capacity of the parking garage foundations to construct a public park, ten stories above the streets and train station rail yard. This would be an amenity for residents of the new evo Tower, those of the future FMC Tower, as well as the adjacent University City neighborhood. Working with Brandywine and the Philadelphia Water Department, we expanded the brief for this new park to incorporate a sophisticated storm water management infrastructure that includes a blue-roof/green-roof strategy, which delays and diminishes the volume of stormwater entering the city’s burdened combined sewer system. 

Cira Green connects people with both the manmade and natural beauty of the city, fostering a sense of belonging that stretches across adjacent neighborhoods. Joining the energy of Center City with the vitality of West Philadelphia, Cira Green helps to build a more cohesive and integrated city, and provides an accessible respite from the bustling Chestnut and Walnut Street viaducts.  

The park’s design emphasizes accessibility and inclusivity, offering a wide range of activities, from outdoor movies and concerts to yoga classes and casual gatherings. Cira Green has become a destination park, drawing people from across the city and around the region. It is even a popular spot for wedding proposals, with its stunning views and vibrant sunsets.  

At its inception, Cira Center was an experiment in the same way that Penn’s plan for the city was an experiment in urban design. The completion of Cira Green as the centerpiece of the Cira Center District establishes the Schuylkill River as the new center of Philadelphia, and exemplifies the power of thoughtful urban design to advance inclusion and cohesion in a rapidly changing city. 

REBUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH DESIGN 

In the early 20th century, federal housing policies reshaped the social landscape across the United States. The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation’s practice of “redlining” mixed-race and predominantly black neighborhoods as poor investments led to white flight and the degradation of urban centers. Social housing projects became isolated concentrations of racially segregated populations. An example of this phenomenon is the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s Westpark project (completed in 1962), which comprises three high-rise towers surrounded by public green space. That green space, intended as a gathering area, became a gauntlet of crime and despair for the families who saw their hope and optimism turn to fear and isolation. 

During our initial research about the site, we spoke with multi-generational families whose entire lived experience is tied to the Westpark community. While they acknowledged ever-present concern for their personal safety, they shared fond memories of the place where they lived and raised their children and grandchildren. These conversations adjusted our perception of this neighborhood and its place in the West Philadelphia community.  

Because pedestrian access to the sprawling twelve-acre site was limited to a narrow switchback stairway beneath the tracks of the Market Frankford L, its “ballet” (in the Jane Jacobs sense) was happening offstage — away from the larger performance venue. We judged that the best solution for this community was to celebrate the richness of their stories by reintegrating them and the mega block of Westpark into the fabric of the city. 

Our encounters with Westpark residents tracked pretty consistently with the research findings of Jessie Chien, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her work explores the symbolic meanings and experience of place among residents in public housing. In a research paper published in January 2025 in the journal Cities and Health, Chien and her research collaborators found that, despite the negative portrayals of public housing, residents often characterize their homes as meaningful sites, where they engage in place-making and community-building to challenge their social marginalization. The researchers emphasized the need to respect residents’ experiential knowledge when making housing interventions, in order to promote individual and community health. 

Our redevelopment plan for Westpark will retain and renovate all three of the existing towers and transform the site into a thriving 1,000-unit transit-oriented, mixed-use, mixed-income community with four acres of new public open space. A key component of the master plan is the creation of new streets and sidewalks, which will connect the campus to the street grid, and a more welcoming connection to the 46th Street SEPTA L station. Expanded Market Street frontage will replace the existing fifteen-foot retaining wall and the narrow stair, which separate the site from the street, creating a visual and physical connection to the neighborhood. A terraced plaza and amphitheater will provide both a threshold and a gathering place for communities long separated by economic and social policy.  

The site infrastructure is designed to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation by expanding mobility options for residents and those in the surrounding neighborhoods, enhancing access to transit, and building out infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists, and other modes of active transportation and micro-mobility. 

This public-private partnership between the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), MSquared and LMXD Development will provide critically needed affordable housing and build social infrastructure, advance equitable and inclusive growth, and support community engagement in West Philadelphia. 

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What we have learned over the years — and what these three projects illustrate — is that the creation of meaningful places is not just about physical structure but about the interactions, emotions, and experiences that define our relationships with the environment. The Piazza at Schmidt’s, Cira Green and Westpark show that thoughtful design can revitalize spaces, strengthen community bonds, and create new opportunities for connection. 

David S. McHenry, FAIA, a founding partner of Erdy McHenry Architecture, holds advanced degrees in both architecture and business administration. He is a member of the Carpenters Company of Philadelphia, and serves as Chair of ULI’s Resilience Committee and sits on their Advisory Council.  

CAPTIONS:  

The Piazza at Schmidt’s was inspired by the developer’s visit to Piazza Navona in Rome  

PHOTOS: WIKIPEDIA (PIAZZA NAVONA); FLICKR (YOGA CLASS, PIAZZA AT SCHMIDT’S) VISITPHILLY.COM (PIAZZA AT SCHMIDTS) 

Cira Green, built atop a 12-story parking structure, was an experiment that paid off  

PHOTO: ERDY MCHENRY ARCHITECTURE 

Reconnecting Westpark to the broader West Philly community is key to its successful redevelopment 

PHOTO: ERDY MCHENRY ARCHITECTURE