I’ll say straight off: It’s not architecture for the ages, but it’s an interesting, high-end model of an urban quad and a good example of how struggling downtowns are finding a glimmer of hope as satellite campuses. In design jargon, the term is “adaptive reuse,” which is the same story as turning empty office towers into apartment buildings. Universities like Hopkins are not the ultimate cure-all for what now ails downtowns across America, though, especially since they don’t pay property taxes like for-profit companies. Downtowns are still struggling. WeWork, which presently rents more office space than any other company in the United States, filed for bankruptcy this month.

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Persons: David Rockwell, Hopkins, Paul Levy Organizations: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, Rockwell Group, Philadelphia’s Center City District Locations: Pennsylvania, Washington, Texas, New York, America, United States, downtowns