BOOKISH: Philly lit events from May 17-23

This week in Bookish: Community scrabble, Toni Morrison at the library and a look at Philly in the next 100 years

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BOOKISH: Philly lit events from May 17-23

POSTED: Thursday, May 17, 2012, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts Books

Wednesday: William Penn's grid plan continues to help the Philadelphians among us not blessed with a natural sense of direction. As long as you can see the skyscrapers of Center City, you always know where you are. This was basically what Penn had in mind, except that today's landmark buildings hide what was originally intended as the central hub of the city: Penn's own image sitting atop City Hall. Whether the buildings rose up as a natural result of urban industry or as a conscious effort to cover a stone Penn that many claim depicts him in an inappropriate act is left entirely up to the viewer, but we can be sure that the skyscrapers of Center City represent one of many changes that have shaped the physical space of the city throughout its long history. Located on the once-busy Delaware River, Philadelphia's port was a hub of industry throughout the 19^th Century. By 1950, it ranked as the nation's third largest city with a population over 2 million, before a restructuring of industry led to the city's steady decline. The Philadelphia of today is a testament to that economic shift—North Philadelphia factories stand as ghosts of their former productivity, while more recent experiments in gentrification have spawned the reclaiming of these abandoned spaces for arts and housing. Some of our most beautiful buildings are remnants from a more glorious past, in danger of deterioration without money for restoration. Such a history inspires the question: What will this city look like in the future? Today at the library, Drexel Professor Richardson Dilworth asks what the city will look like in 2112. Following economic and political trends, he explores various scenarios for Philadelphia in the century to come.

11 a.m., free, FLP Central Branch, 1901 Vine St., libwww.freelibrary.org.

Have a lit event you'd like featured in an upcoming Bookish? Email the author at nina@citypaper.net.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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