PHILADELPHIA l National Museum of American Jewish History

[Don098]

Thanks for all of the great pictures guys! I was able to see it in person last weekend and all of a sudden this thing seems to be flying. I really like how it's turning out.

[Swinefeld]

[hammersklavier]

Wow! If it weren't for the scaffolding on the bottom I'd think this thing is done!

[Don098]

This looks fantastic. The exterior appearance has really taken shape within the past two months! So is that glass frosted, or is that some sort of translucent covering on the glass that they'll remove once interior work is complete? Thanks for all the updates!

[hammersklavier]

New photos:











Most of the glass is frosted, but there are some translucent panels in the main façade.

By the way, I disagree with Inga in her assertion that since Market's the main street it borders, it should be the street it opens onto. Why? Because Independence Mall--which is what it opens up onto--trumps Market Street in this instance. It's like Logan Square: a draw for monumental architecture. (In fact, I've always been nonplussed that the Academy of Natural Sciences doesn't open onto Logan Square, and that 1 Logan doesn't is just plain wrong.) Besides, the Market Street façade is interesting and well-designed anyway. (Now, if it opened primarily onto 4th, that would be a different issue altogether.)

[Muji]

Wow, has it really been two months since the last update? Anyhow, these are from yesterday.

[hammersklavier]

Good shots!

These are from Thursday with my NEW CAMERA!!

[pwp]

Great pictures Hammer, thanks for them. I actually haven't been down there in a few months but just from judging by the pictures, I'm a little underwhelmned by this building. The facade (looking west to east) has some appeal. I like how its design is distinct from that of The Bourse. But directly infront of the building at the street-level view from Market seems unimpressive and almost ugly? There's something about the red/orange wall that rubs me the wrong way. It seems monolithic and uninteresting. But then again, I need to really see it in person before I judge.

Hammer, what did you make of it in-person?

[hammersklavier]

I thought that that Market St. facade gave the building a presence on the street I wasn't really expecting. Notice that the sheeting doesn't extend all the way down to ground level; there's a glass-enclosed gallery or something down there. I feel like this building is now a dominant presence on Market that contrasts with the understated brick office building (I keep thinking Kahn built it, for some odd reason) across the street.

But it, like (almost) every other building on Independence Mall, is definitely designed to front the Mall.

[Rizzo]

I like it, and I have to praise them on their choice of colors. It plays nicely with the building next door (I always forget its name)

[Parkway]

Originally Posted by Hayward

I like it, and I have to praise them on their choice of colors. It plays nicely with the building next door (I always forget its name)

The Bourse?

[jrdizzy]

[jrdizzy]

Not sure how to put multiple photos in the same post yet.

[theWatusi]

just do as shown below, but replace the { } with [ ]

{img}http://host.com/pic1.jpg{/img}

{img}http://host.com/pic2.jpg{/img}

{img}http://host.com/pic3.jpg{/img}

[pwp]

I saw the museum (finally) from afar earlier this week and hammer, you were right, it has a huge presence on Market. The facade facing independence mall is beautiful, I love how it contrasts with The Bourse. Can't wait for the ARC and President's House next door! Philly museum scene blowin' up

[Muji]

For those who are curious, the museum's flickr account just recently uploaded a few photographs of construction progress on the building's interior.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nmajh/

[bucks native]

source: http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/...l?ana=e_du_pub


June 7, 2010, 5:55am EDT

National Museum of American Jewish History nearing completion

by Natalie Kostelni Staff Writer
Philadelphia Business Journal

In two weeks, Intech Construction will release the building to the museum and that’s when the laborious task of moving in will begin.

By July 22, the entire museum staff will be settled into their new administrative offices. Then relocating and installing the vast collection will begin.

Terra cotta is used for the façade facing Market Street.

Each floor on the inside takes visitors through different periods of American Jewish life, starting with the first Jewish immigrants who arrived in the Colonial period through modern day.

The museum is scheduled to open with a series of events beginning Nov. 12 and be open to the public Nov. 14

[Don098]

From the webcam, it seems like the front exterior glass is missing a strip along with the upper lefthand corner. Are these covered with a different type of glass, or are they completely exposed to the elements? I was confused by this and went back to the renderings where I noticed that the're supposed to a look a little different, and I remembered that there's going to be some sort of torch in the upper-lefthand corner. Is Intech 100% finished?

Also, if anyone has more recent photos, it would be great to see this from other angles and up close in higher def than the webcam, thanks!

[bucks native]

source with renders: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magaz...sculpture.html


Thu, Jul. 22, 2010


National Museum of American Jewish History topped by a new light sculpture

By Tom Stoelker
Inquirer Staff Writer

Last month, New York media artist Ben Rubin got the go-ahead to produce an LED light sculpture to be placed atop the new National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall, set to open in November.

Conceived by architect James Polshek as an 8-foot-high flame emerging from an opening in the building's glass envelope, the sculpture uses a series of lights that will gently flicker five stories above the southeast corner of Fifth and Market Streets.

"We're calling it an LED light sculpture, because that's what it is," he said. "We're resisting calling it any one thing, because the truth is, it's derived from a number of different sources and is evocative of a number of different sources - some religious, some secular."

High above North Fifth Street, seven layers of LED emitters will condense Talmud pages down to their graphic essences. A string of inch-wide emitters will hang on a flexible mesh made of thin steel cable. The emitters plug into intersections four inches apart. Each "page" of the sculpture has 16 lights across and 24 from top to bottom. The entire sculpture is approximately 5 feet wide by 8 feet tall and about 8 feet deep. The "pages" face out toward the mall.

[FtGreeneNY]

Um, wouldn't this building actually be the last one on the east side of South the Inquirer should know the difference between North Fifth street and South Fifth Street...just sayin'

Originally Posted by bucks native

source with renders: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magaz...sculpture.html

High above North Fifth Street, seven layers of LED emitters will condense Talmud pages down to their graphic essences. A string of inch-wide emitters will hang on a flexible mesh made of thin steel cable. The emitters plug into intersections four inches apart. Each "page" of the sculpture has 16 lights across and 24 from top to bottom. The entire sculpture is approximately 5 feet wide by 8 feet tall and about 8 feet deep. The "pages" face out toward the mall.