Penn’s Landing, Pylon, City of Philadelphia
Penn’s Landing, Pylon, City of Philadelphia
Penn’s Landing, Pylon, City of Philadelphia

Penn’s Landing, Pylon, City of Philadelphia

Katz Wheeler, 1985

Description

A pedestrian directional system was needed for a long, narrow 37-acre site which would accommodate 10 years of development with its essential design unchanged, and which would not impede pedestrian circulation or create a hazard along the site’s esplanade and other public spaces. A pylon with an extremely small footprint was designed, banded into informational zones: illuminated site symbol; directions to adjacent resources; map; and mandatories. All pylons are placed within the site oriented the same way, so that the user looks at the map facing either north or south. Maps facing north are south-up, and maps facing south are north-up, so the direction in which the user is facing is always at the top of the map. Orientation is reinforced by a night-illuminated wavy water’s edge on the map, which always faces the river. The map accommodates future modification by indicating all resources on the map—whether ship, restaurant, or large building—by a dot of uniform size; this permits adhesive or silk-screened additions up to the completion of the project, at which point all map panels can be uniformly produced and replaced.

Collections: Functional Graphics
Repository: Denver Art Museum
Discipline: Information design
Format: Information graphic, Signage

Credits

Design firm
Katz Wheeler
Art director
Joel Katz
Client
Penn’s Landing, City of Philadelphia
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