Editing WHYY Building (section)

== Architectural Recognition ==

The WHYY Building received recognition from architectural critics and organizations who praised its successful response to challenging contextual conditions. The building demonstrates that contemporary design can achieve compatibility with historic settings through careful attention to scale, materials, and proportions rather than through imitative styling. This approach, sometimes called "contextual modernism," offers an alternative to both aggressive modernism that ignores surroundings and timid historicism that merely copies past styles.<ref name="hine"/>

The building's success has influenced subsequent development along Independence Mall and in other sensitive historic areas. Projects that followed have referenced WHYY's approach as model for achieving contemporary design within historic contexts. The building thus serves educational purpose beyond its broadcasting function, demonstrating architectural possibilities that other architects and clients can adapt to their own circumstances. MGA Partners' design contributed to Philadelphia's ongoing discussion about how new architecture should relate to the city's historic legacy.<ref name="gallery"/>