Client: Historcial Society of Pennsylvania
Project: PhilaPlace: Sharing Stories from the City of Neighborhoods

Inspiration

PhilaPlace was envisioned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as a collaborative, community-oriented website that illuminates the history and culture of Philadelphia’s unique neighborhoods.

Narration

Exploring the role that place plays as a repository of memory and change, PhilaPlace brings to light multi-ethnic settlement stories, links diverse neighborhood resources, and illustrates the changing nature of neighborhoods over time through historical records and personal stories from local residents and community organizations.

Design

Night Kitchen Interactive’s design provides visitors with multiple ways to explore the same content – through topics and collections, or an interactive map that features stories and historical records about specific locations within Philadelphia neighborhoods. To evoke a sense of community and personal storytelling, stories are enriched with historical and contemporary photos, audio narratives, and video interviews. Recent updates now allow visitors to view enhanced historical maps revealing in-depth patterns of change over time for specific neighborhood blocks.

Interaction

Night Kitchen Interactive’s innovative solution integrates two open source solutions – Google Maps and the CollectiveAccess collections management system – to create a sustainable, extensible model for place-based storytelling. Most importantly, the platform encourages visitors to share their own stories, create tours, and access HSP’s rich database of curatorial content associated with the different locations.