Benjamin Franklin Parkway

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is an avenue of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. This avenue crosses the district of the museums of Philadelphia. Its name is in the honor of Benjamin Franklin, one of the fathers founder of the nation the United States which resided and took part in the urban development. The avenue off connects the town hall to the Philadelphia Museum Art. It is often compared with the Avenue of the Fields-Élysées to Paris or with the Pennsylvania Avenue with Washington D.C.

Description

The avenue is long of 1,6 kilometer and cut in diagonal the North-western district of the city.

Some of the most famous monuments of Philadelphia are visible since this avenue: the Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul cathedral, the Swann Fontaine, which are surrounded of the Logan Circle , the Free Library of founded Philadelphia she also by Benjamin Franklin, the Municipal Short Building (these the last two buildings are copies of the twin palates present Place of the Harmony at Paris), the Franklin Institute , (a kind of Palais of discovered the in the honor of Benjamin Franklin and its inventions and experiments), the Moore College off Art and design , the Academy off Natural Sciences and the museum Rodin. Opposite the Rodin museum one can see celebrates it Penseur .

At its end, the avenue gives an access to the Kelly and the Martin Luther King Drives in the Fairmount Park but also to the highway Schuylkill (I-76).

In the film Rocky , it is on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum off Art which finishes the avenue, that Rocky Balboa involves. Moreover a statue of Rocky was set up on the edges of the avenue in homage to film.

At the end of the avenue, right before the town hall, is located Coils it Park and its famous sculpture COILS Robert Indiana.

Symbol of the urban renewal

In a famous city for its urban plan, the avenue is one of the first examples of the urban revival of the United States. The avenue was built to facilitate circulation in the center of the city and “to restore the natural and artistic beauty of Philadelphia”.

The idea of a diagonal avenue had been proposed in 1907 by Trumbauer for the Fairmount Park Art Association , association wanted an avenue which can " to provide an direct access, and an approach worthy and interesting towards the administrative and economic center of the city, including/understanding places of educational activities grouped around Logan Public garden and an artistic center around Fairmount Plaza, the entry of largest and prettier of the parks of the ville"

The town planners saw the avenue like the future place of the campuses of the Université of Pennsylvania and the Université Temple.

In 1917, the project of the French town planner Jacques Gréber and of the French architect Paul Cret is finally accepted by the Fairmount Park Art Association . The avenue takes as a starting point the Fields-Elysées to Paris.

The layout of the avenue was visible in 1919, however none the current buildings was still set up. The avenue was really finished in 1926.

Must be waited until 1935 to see on the edges of the avenue the Franklin Institute , the Free Library off Philadelphia , the Philadelphia Museum off Art and the museum Rodin .

The avenue off ends in the Philadelphia Museum Art rather than the Triumphal arch, giving to Philadelphia and the avenue a Parisian key. By the presence of many museums, the avenue is also compared with the Pennsylvania Avenue of Washington D.C which starts with the Congrès of the United States and finishes with the foot of the White House

The avenue is also an international avenue. It is bordered by the flags of the countries of the whole world.

Recently, it was recognized that the avenue with its great width and its six lanes, is not very engaging for the pedestrians. The traffic (and congestions) were however reduced considerably by the completion of Interstate 676 which connects Schuylkill Expressway with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. That made it possible to increase the width of the pavements around the Logan Circle

A place of festivity

Thanks to its localization, the avenue is the place in many concerts and parades, In July 2005, the walk of Philadelphia Museum off Art, accommodated the Live 8 with artists such as Dave Matthews Band, Linkin Park and Maroon 5.

For a few years, the avenue has been the starting place of a cycle race belonging to the international circuit.

In September, there is a demonstration called Super Sunday or all the public institutions of the town of Philadlphie take part. It attracts more 250 000 people.

Gallery

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