Cornerspotter is a Curbed Philly feature in which we show you a historical photo of the city and you tell us where the photo was taken. The prize? Your name here along with our promise to spot you for a soft pretzel. Send your guesses to our tipline: philly@curbed.com
Readers of Curbed Philly are a tough crowd. It makes us proud, actually, that you're so cranky in such a Philly way. Do other Curbed regional sites have such knowledgeable and on-point readers and commenters—with attitude? Surely not.
The last two Cornerspotters were very tough; one of them drew no correct answer at all. A few people complained about their being too obscure, so this time we offered a bright, bold hint to light the way through the Washington Square West cobblestone streets. And you said: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? THAT WAS TOO EASY!
You're a buncha masochists, you are.
The challenge (so-called) was to identify the two gentlemen above, who were, we told you (sorry!) sitting in a spot connected in some way to a famous architect. And everyone got it right—quickly and irritably. It's Louis I. Kahn Park at 11th and Pine, built in 1971 where, as reader Jay Farrell pointed out, the Greystone Hotel used to be. Here's what the Greystone looked like before it was demolished:
Our winner this week was Point Breeze resident Omar Rosa, who got the answer so fast, we'd barely finished pressing SAVE on the post. Rosa recognized the park from the movie My Architect about Louis Kahn, but he knows the city well anyway: He's a civil engineer who works exclusively on Philly-based projects. Thanks to his job, he says, he learns new things every day. Like this: "Not too many people know that an inch in Philadelphia is less than an actual inch due to the way properties were measured when the city was established," he says. "It's called the District Standard measurement." Thanks, Omar!
Now, regarding the photo, it's a still taken from a Philly-set web comedy series called My Ruined Life written, directed and produced by Lee Porter and stars Brian Cowden and Nathan Holt. Maybe someday it'll be a TV show, and we can all be proud of it—or grouchy about it.