Architecture Isn’t The Kimmel’s Real Problem

Peter Dobrin says that the settlement between the Kimmel Center and architect Rafael Viñoly is filled with elements of “pure fantasy” that don’t begin to hold up under scrutiny. “It is a stunning fantasy to call the Kimmel Center a wonderful civic space. It could be a wonderful civic space. Nothing in the architecture prevents it from becoming one. But in its current state, there’s nothing wonderfully civic about the center’s gorgeous, oft-deserted rooftop garden and ground-level plaza… The Kimmel won’t be done until it has an appropriate amount of money – that is, an endowment – to make it fully come alive.”