Great New Film on Iconic Pittsburgh Architect, Henry Hornbostel

OK, Hornbostel did works all over the country, but taught at Carnegie Tech, and designed so many loved buildings (110 building in the Pittsburgh area) here he is closely identified with the city.

The original Carnegie Mellon campus including

Hamerschlag Hall
CMU College of Fine Arts Building
 Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall
University of Pittsburgh's Thaw Hall
Pittsburgh City-County Building
 Rodef Shalom Temple
The Schenley Apartments (In Oakland)
Hamburg Hall (Originally the U.S. Breau of Mines Building)
Congregation B'nai Israel (Now, The Urban League Pittsburgh Charter school)


Henry Hornbostel Biography Pitch Video from New Perspective Productions on Vimeo.




The film contains great film footage of the building and extensive interviews with local architectural scholars & historians and tries to connect his buildings to his affable, constantly curious nature.

Long ignored as a stodgy architect trapped in the past, Hornbostel is now recognised  for designs filled with beauty, sensitivity, invention and lots of amazing engineering.

He also created one of my favorite NYC bridges- The Hell Gate.



Keep your eyes out for a repeat of the film on PBS.

"Industrial Strength": The South Side's Emerald Art Glass House profiled in The Times

We were watching as this weirdly great new house was starting to loom over a factory on Pittsburgh's slopes.

From The NY Times

"It took three years to build, but the Emerald Art Glass House (named after the Zielinskis’ company, Emerald Art Glass) now hovers above the factory in the South Side neighborhood, overlooking the Monongahela River, railway line and bridges.

Eric Fisher, the couple’s architect, says proudly that the cantilevered extension is three times the length of the one at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. And that it recalls the tradition of the owner living over the shop."

It gives a lot of the back story of how it was built and the owners who built it. Also has a nice slideshow.

In case the Times link doesn't work, even if you subscibe and log in, here are a few more related links.

In Rusty Bridge

On Wreck and Salvage

Some Images From Pittsburgh's Shadyside Neighborhood

Depending on where you live in the wider region, these pictures may either interest or bore you. Hopefully, at this point some Clevelander's or other regional residents now read the blog who may not know this beautiful part of Pittsburgh.

My goal is to sort of think of the region as a menu-which many people leave the region or live in without fully looking at. If you live in Pittsburgh and don't know or explore places like Johnstown, Erie, Youngstown, Akron, Canton, Wheeling, Morgantown and Cleveland you don't know all the options available. If seeing how great the South Side or Tremont is causes some people or businesses to move around the region--great. No place is perfect for everyone or everything. The key thing is that people have seen the menu and all the potential the area holds. For the most part, it's likely better you move to Columbus than move to Los Angeles. Of course better awareness of regional assets may also attract new people from outside the area.

Likewise, greater knowledge of what has worked and not worked in various places is of great value.

These shots were taken yesterday in one of the more gorgeous parts of Shadyside and give some idea of the amazing quality of much of the city's housing stock.

I will try to get back with more images of the area as well as other parts of Pittsburgh.

Some Thoughts On The Blog's Future

Some of you may have been disappointed by the blog's slow path away from pure art's coverage, although it's always had a pretty big chaos component.

What I've always had in mind, was a blog not just about the arts here, but the relationships between artists and creative people and some broader idea of community. I also want to form some kind of group conversation about good design and urbanism on every aspect of life.

Several new people will probably be posting once in a while giving their different views on how to make the region more livable. One has some knowledge of Cleveland, but now lives in the D.C. area (without a car), the other lived in D.C. and now lives in Pittsburgh without a car. Both are seriously into biking so that's likely to come up.

Hopefully, more people will also take me up on my offer. I'd still like a lot more arts coverage. Also, more perspective from Northeast Ohio or West Virginia would be great.

A further note. All opinions are the views of their respective posters (although we often may agree) There is no real editor and certainly no intent to create groupthink. A certain level of controversy is encouraged.

Pleasures of Pittsburgh: Beautiful Buildings of Every Era

Pittsburgh has an amazing wealth and diversity of building styles. This was brought home to me recently when friends of mine, very very well traveled friends, visited John and I from D.C. They were clearly astonished by the wealth of styles, periods and the overall abundance of the architecture here.

And perhaps even more telling, John and I were fighting (politely, but still) in the car about "lets take them to see this building!" " No, lets take them to see this neighborhood"." Oh no, how will we have time to do this!!!??" "Lets go here instead...they can't miss that!! "

Then we ran into a friend...and she started to insist we go see her new favorite thing. Sigh. We have an embarrassment of riches!!

If you have lived here for a long time, it can be easy to take this for granted.

But it is an everyday joy that other cities would kill for.

Shall I give some examples?:
Downtown: Within about 10 small city blocks you can see the fabulous and famous Oz-like PPG Building (Philip Johnson); an exquisite Greek Revival Style building at 209 4th Ave. from 1836, near PPG (left over from a terrible fire in 1845 )the Burke Building;,the old County Courthouse (a famous example of the architecture of Richardson, fortresslike and medieval); the old Alcoa building (with a mid level view of the city to die for if you can ever get into the 360 degree conference room at the top); and the previous US`Steel building, now tagged UPMC, an amazing and majestic hunk of steel and bolts. And I could list many more in that same area.

Shadyside: Houses: All shapes , all sizes, all conditions, all eras. Apartment buildings (same). We are a bit weak on contemporary, perhaps. But come and just take a walk. Mansions, student housing, personally I love the variety. Standouts are the Gwinner-Harter Mansion 5105 5th Ave., The Third Presbyterian Church at the corner of Negley and 5th, The Scheibler apartment building at 342 South Highland Ave. ...........the list goes on and on. Beautiful homes everywhere, in every state of repair and disrepair (personally, I enjoy the economic diversity that one finds in many areas of Shadyside). It is great to see some interesting detail that I missed before...because there is just so much to see.

And that is just two of our many neighborhoods. Looking up, looking around, you'll see something where you are (if you are in the city limits, that is).

I'll close with a building I get a thrill out of every day as I drive off Bigelow Boulevard and go past downtown to get on 279: the Pennsylvania Station, huge and glowing, it's beautiful golden bricks picking up the surrounding light.

notes and links An updated version of the classic Pittsburgh an Urban Portrait, a great guide to our architecture by Franklin Toker was just released.

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A68801

About Frederick Scheibler:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_G._Scheibler,_Jr.

About the 1836 Burke Building, with a slide show:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/museums/s_632058.html

GREAT link of Pittsburgh buildings from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Association:

http://www.phlf.org/pittsburgh/