Author: Father Pitt

  • Allegheny Station

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    The new subway line (which in this section, obviously, will be an elevated line) to the North Side is taking shape. This will be the Allegheny station when it’s finished. The line is scheduled to open in about a year.

     

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  • Frick Park Gateway in the Snow

     

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    The gateway to Frick Park at the Homewood Avenue circle, as it appeared in the gently falling snow this morning.

  • Desert Room at Phipps

    The entrance to the Desert Room at Phipps Conservatory. The glass sculpture is by Dale Chihuly; it’s now part of Phipps’ growing permanent collection of art.

  • Cathedral of Learning in the Snow

    It’s been snowing just a little every day, just enough to keep the snow beautiful all over the city.

  • Phipps in the Snow

    Is there anything more delightful than to stand in a tropical forest looking out the window at a beautiful snow-covered landscape? It’s a rhetorical question.

  • Kodachrome

    Father Pitt seldom has much to say about things outside Pittsburgh, and he will say very little now. He has only this to say: the world is not quite as beautiful without Kodachrome as it was with Kodachrome.

  • Christmas in the Steel City

    You can do all sorts of things with metal if you put your mind to it, but it helps if you adapt your design to the material. You can make an artificial Christmas tree with realistic steel branches and needles, and it won’t look nearly as artistic as this simple but effective stack of hamster balls, which is currently sitting in one corner of the refurbished Diamond.

    The Diamond is a short walk from the Wood Street subway station.

  • Gingerbread Landscape in the Wintergarden

    The Wintergarden at PPG Place is full of gingerbread houses—and gingerbread skyscrapers, gingerbread inclines, gingerbread Russian cathedrals, and anything else that can be rendered in gingerbread.

  • Autumn Scene

    Pond and fall trees

    Autumn leaves and blue skies reflected in a pond on a farm near Wexford.

  • The New Diamond

    The Diamond (or “Market Square” as it’s called on maps) has been torn up and rebuilt. Forbes Avenue no longer goes through it; instead, all traffic must skirt the edge of the square. The plan has been radically simplified, making the space more versatile. Whether it was worth all the money spent on the rebuilding is a question best left to political writers rather than your humble servant.