PHILLY PAINTING PROJECT

01 Philly Painting, Haas&Hahn (Jeroen Koolhaas & Dre Urhahn), Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. 2011-2012, Philadelphia Commission by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (MAP) to conceive a large-scale transformation of Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia. As major industries have gone bankrupt or abandoned the city, this neighbourhood has experienced a slow and steady decline for years. 

Koolhaas and Urhahn were invited by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (MAP) to engineer a large scale transformation of Germantown Ave. in North Philadelphia. The avenue and surrounding neighborhoods have been in decline for years since many major industries left the city or went bankrupt.

Koolhaas and Urhahn relocated a block from the site and spent eighteen months as committed advocates to direct and execute the project together with a local team. The team was selected together with community leaders and consisted of about a dozen young men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 who lived in the area. Additionally teams of (ex)prisoners, making their re-entry into society, worked on the project.


The facades of over 50 individual buildings on the avenue were painted after designs by Koolhaas.  All the individual tenants had input in the design for their building. Koolhaas devised a system of weaving bands of colour creating consistency while respecting the desires of the individual building tenants. The colours were chosen after extensive analysis of the palette seen on the streets of Philadelphia. A swatch system was developed by Koolhaas so building owners understood the framework and made their selections accordingly. Colours were then integrated into one building which subsequently lent its colours to the next.

As in every Koolhaas and Urhahn project, community engagement is central. The project provided training and jobs in an area where unemployment and crime is extremely high, especially within the younger population. The painters wore sweaters and shirts with the Philly Painting logo which made them identifiable as the transformers of the neighborhood. A local team of filmmakers produced monthly episodes of video updates. About half of the painters went on to work for the MAP.

Design: Jeroen Koolhaas 2012