[BenKatzPhillytoParis]

Originally Posted by ajaxean

This is another [probably unwelcome] comment from a perennial cynic, but the fact that Penn would even entertain this idea infuriates me. This piecemeal approach to architecture is exactly the reason why HUP and the Perelman Center are so disastrously disjointed and confusing. Instead of laying out a well-defined development plan and following it, administrators keep makes changes, adjustments, and incongruous additions. In the end, we get a Frankenstein-ian jumble which is a sorry excuse for a medical campus.

Trying to navigate HUP is a mess because it's just tiny buildings all crammed together without any grand plan. Then, when Penn Medicine had the opportunity to build a new major building, instead of learning from their mistakes with HUP, they just doubled down and made the exact same mistakes all over again. Instead of having an intelligent development plan for the Perelman Center, they just keep adding things onto it without rhyme or reason. It started with the Perelman Center, then they put the Smilow Tower on top of the Perelman Center, then they added the South Pavillion in the back, then they added the Jordan Center on top of the South Pavillion, and now they're adding the Cellular Therapeutics Center on top of the Jordan Center. Not only is it an eyesore, but it's also a confusing mess which is almost impossible to navigate for patients, and even Penn employees frequently find themselves on the wrong elevator.

If Penn tries to build its New Patient Pavilion in phases, I can almost guarantee that it's going to get mucked up by administrators and poor planning.

Just to play the devil's advocate, it may be difficult in this day and age to have a grand plan and stick with it since technology and economic conditions can change so quickly. They may be doing this in a seemingly ad hoc way on purpose so that once they build something, they know it's going to suit precisely the purpose for which it's built, instead of being part of some quickly obsolete grand plan.