Logan Squared: Ode to Philly

A monument to Philadelphians’ voices and visions.

artist Emeka Ogboh

Logan Squared: Ode to Philly by Emeka Ogboh atop the Skyline Terrace of the Parkway Central Library. Photo by Steve Weinik.

  • location Logan Square
  • Neighborhood

    Center City

  • completion date

    November 30, 2017

Logan Squared: Ode to Philly by Emeka Ogboh atop the Skyline Terrace of the Parkway Central Library. Photo by Steve Weinik.

About the Project 

As a monument to Philadelphians’ voices and visions, Emeka Ogboh’s Logan Squared: Ode to Philly featured a collaboration with beloved Philadelphia poet Ursula Rucker, members of the Chestnut Street Singers, and hundreds of Philadelphians whose ideas were documented during Monument Lab’s discovery phase. Throughout his work, Ogboh creates soundscapes to honor and understand cities. For Monument Lab, Ogboh conceived of a collaboration to channel public participation and reflection.

Responding to the Monument Lab open dataset, Rucker composed an epic poem serving as the backbone of this composition. Visitors accessed the sound monument at listening stations around the square where they could plug in their headphones, or attended a special weekly iteration on the Skyline Terrace of the Parkway Central Library. In the rooftop version, attendees were invited to experience a multichannel sound installation, including the sounds of Rucker’s poem and a special choral arrangement of Louis Gesensway’s Four Squares of Philadelphia: “Logan Square at Dusk,” as well a singular view of the city from above.

Listen 

Funders 

Lead Monument Lab partners include the City of Philadelphia; Philadelphia Parks & Recreation; Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy; Historic Philadelphia; Independence National Historic Park; Penn Institute for Urban Research; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Price Lab for Digital Humanities; and the University of Pennsylvania.

Major support for Monument Lab projects staged in Philadelphia’s five squares has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

An expanded artist roster and projects at five neighborhood sites have been made possible by a significant grant from the William Penn Foundation.

Lead corporate sponsor is Bank of America.

Additional support has been provided by Susanna Lachs & Dean Adler, William & Debbie Becker, CLAWS Foundation, Comcast NBCUniversal, Davis Charitable Foundation, Hummingbird Foundation, J2 Design, National Endowment for the Arts, Nick & Dee Adams Charitable Fund, Parkway Corporation, PECO, Relief Communications LLC, Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square, Stacey Spector & Ira Brind, Tiffany Tavarez, Tuttleman Family Foundation, Joe & Renee Zuritsky, and 432 Kickstarter backers. Support for Monument Lab‘s final publication provided by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.

Media partner: WHYY

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