Imagining Penn Center

The 2006 competition is closed. Congratulations to all the winners!

Penn Center is a complicated site, built in the 1960s along with a series of nearby, connected civic spaces. It sits across from City Hall at the head of the business district, housing a regional train station, office towers, public plazas, and an underground concourse. It is a business, civic, and tourist destination at the heart of Center City.

Today, despite its central location, Penn Center is highly underutilized by the public. Competition entrants are challenged to build sustainable concepts for shaping Penn Center's future, understanding the layers of history behind the genesis of the site. Entrants should respond to the successes and failings of the space, as well as to changes in usage of the urban landscape over time, creating new functions and design features, focusing on today's user. Designs should be visionary and yet functional, re-enlivening Penn Center in the spirit of Ed Bacon's work.

At a Glance

• Open to any college or university student in North America, studying planning, architecture, urban design, or any related field
• Deadline for entries is September 15, 2006
• The total prizes are $6,100 including $2,000 for first place
• National panel of judges [judges list]

Note: This competition is strictly for the purpose of generating ideas and dialogue about the revitalization of Penn Center. Students will not retain ownership of the ideas presented.

Edmund N. Bacon was Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission from 1949-1970. During that time he conceived numerous visions that dramatically changed the face of his hometown. Bacon's portrait was on the cover of Time magazine in 1964, and his book Design of Cities is still considered an important work on urban design. "Ed Bacon" came to be known as one of the most significant planners of the 20th century. Bacon died in October 2005. More on Edmund N. Bacon

The Ed Bacon Foundation is a tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 2004, with the mission of preserving and strengthening the vision and legacy of Edmund N. Bacon. More on the Ed Bacon Foundation