Imagining the Modern: The Architecture and Urbanism of Postwar Pittsburgh

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Imagining the Modern: The Architecture and Urbanism of Postwar Pittsburgh

Credit

Bob O'Conner

Site overview

In the 1950s and ‘60s, an ambitious program of urban revitalization transformed Pittsburgh and became a model for other American cities. Politicians, civic leaders, and architects worked together to re-conceive the city through local and federal initiatives that aimed to address the problems confronting Pittsburgh's postwar development. Imagining the Modern, which ran from September 2015 to May 2016, untangled this complicated relationship with modern architecture and planning through a history of Pittsburgh's major sites, protagonists, and voices of intervention.

Awards

Documentation

Award of Excellence

Commercial

The Survey/Inventory Award of Excellence is given to the Imagining the Modern: The Architecture and Urbanism of Postwar Pittsburgh exhibition. In 2015, the architecture and design firm over,under was selected by the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Heinz Architectural Center to design the inaugural exhibition of a new initiative known as HAC Lab. The firm curated, designed, fabricated, and installed a nine-month exhibition with a series of programmed events and broadsheet publications (the results of this effort are currently being transformed into a book, to be published by the Monacelli Press in 2019). Imagining the Modern sought to untangle Pittsburgh’s complicated relationship with modern architecture and planning and addressed both positive and negative impacts of the era by examining what took place during the city's urban renewal era, what was gained and lost, and what these histories might suggest for the city's future.

“This comprehensive and multi-dimensional project established a broad context to understand a cross section of modernism through multiple lenses in the context of a single city. The project team is recognized for this deeply researched and beautifully presented exhibition that encouraged participants to take a fresh look at the architecture and urbanism of postwar Pittsburgh.”

- 2018 Jury
Client

Heinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Restoration Team

over,under - led by Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo, and Rami el Samahy with Ann Lui, Mark Pasnik, Cameron Longyear, Shannon McLean, Brett Pierson, Andrew Potter, Rebecca Rice, Valny Aoalsteindottir, Silvia Colpani, Lindsay Dumont, and Victoria Pai (Architects-in- Residence)


Martin Aurand – Carnegie Mellon University (Curatorial Consultant)

 

Raymund Ryan (Heinz Architectural Center Curator)
Alyssum Skjeie (Heinz Architectural Center Program Manager)

How to Visit

The results of this effort are currently being transformed into a book, to be published by the Monacelli Press in 2019

Location

4400 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA, 15213
Credit:

Bob O'Conner

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