It can be easy to get discouraged these days. Everywhere we look, there are signs of a struggling planet and, often, it’s difficult to see a clear path to an effectual response. 2022 may well eclipse recent years as the hottest on record. Rainfall has alternated between being absent or violent in Pennsylvania, one of
MoreIllustration by Mike L. Perry The Unmaking of DM+D by Alex Vuocolo For the Department of Making + Doing (DM+D), a collaborative makerspace situated on the western edge of University City, location is a blessing and curse. Michael Darfler, program manager at the space, says that DM+D owes much of its success to its
Moreby Alex Vuocolo Before taking part in the Philadelphia Water Department’s (PWD) new vocational training program, Ayanna Turner, 19, never thought much about stormwater and how it affected the city around her. “I just thought about the sewer, to be honest,” Turner said. “I didn’t know there were other ways you could save it
Moreby Jacqueline Klecak Donning a face mask, gloves and goggles, Evan Dormont, owner of Urban Cabin Soap Co., prepares his soap making station with bowls, mixing instruments and ingredients. As he unwinds from the week in his one-bedroom apartment in South Philadelphia he allows his mind to mull new soap recipes. The soap making scientist
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Regeneration Nation interview by Heather Shayne Blakeslee Long before the triple bottom line, which takes people, planet and profit into a business’s accounting ledger, and biomimicry, which looks to nature to solve challenging design problems, there was permaculture. The word, first coined in 1978, was used to describe methods of farming that would feed the
MoreInside the Walls by Alex Dews Streets, bridges and power lines all come to mind when we think of infrastructure, but the reason all those things exist in the first place is to connect and power the buildings we inhabit. In Philadelphia, our building stock is perhaps our most valuable infrastructure asset. Earlier this
MoreMore than just a Pretty Face by Alon Abramson We all love before-and-after pictures, but sometimes it’s hard to see beyond the superficial even when a radical transformation has taken place. At first glance, you might think the brightly painted storefronts and homes on 60th Street in West Philadelphia are simply spruced up versions of
MorePushing the Envelope by Alon Abramson A recent change in how low income housing is financed in Pennsylvania, spearheaded by sustainability leader Tim McDonald of Onion Flats, could create a sea change in how all housing is built. To entice developers into building affordable housing, the government provides funding at the federal, state and local
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photo by Lindsay Docherty Man with a Plan by Heather Shayne Blakeslee Andrew Stober is perhaps best known as one of the architects of Indego, the Philadelphia bike share program, which he helped launch while working as the Chief of Staff at the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU). Now, he’s running as an
MoreProject HOME, which seeks to empower homeless individuals and families to break the cycle of homelessness, continues to bring their social consciousness to a string of green building projects, most recently in Fairmount and Chinatown. JBJ Soul Homes1415 Fairmount AvenueJBJ Soul Homes offers units for formerly homeless individuals. Within its four stories are 55
MoreHome Front by Alex Vuocolo It’s happy hour on a Friday at Lo Spiedo, a Marc Vetri-owned Italian restaurant located beside the main gate of the Navy Yard. There are only a few patrons sitting at the bar. One pair sips their draft beers as they look over paperwork. Another is getting the check, ready
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