The current landscaping scheme creates a broad, open recreational area in the middle, but with plenty of shade around the edges. The central jet of the fountain can reach 150 feet on a good day.
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Point Park
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“Exit to Street”
A geometric composition in the Gateway subway station.
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Oliver Building
One of sixteen buildings designed by the great Beaux-Arts master Daniel Burnham, the Oliver Building, finished in 1910, is typically elegant, and its scale is magnificent. It spans a whole city block. The back of it is a typical tripartite division that allowed large buildings like this to have more windows, more cross-ventilation, and possibly more of those desirable corner offices.
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Tower at PNC Plaza in Progress
The Tower at PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh’s biggest new skyscraper since the 1980s, is still rising. Some of the exterior shell is appearing at lower levels, even though the skeleton hasn’t topped out yet. Here we see it from the Diamond (which is spelled “Market Square” on maps). Earlier pictures are here and here.
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In the Lobby of Heinz Hall
Heinz Hall, the home of the Pittsburgh Symphony, began its life as a 1920s movie palace. Although the decorative scheme was subdued somewhat in the restoration, there is still a strong element of fantasy in the interior.
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Sunset from Schenley Park
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Gateway Center from the Subway
Gateway Center seen from the Gateway subway station.
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St. Michael’s Cemetery
Downtown skyscrapers viewed from St. Michael’s Cemetery on the South Side Slopes. This picture is only as metaphorical as you want it to be.
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View from Schenley Park
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EQT Plaza (CNG Tower)
The skyscraper boom of the 1980s gave us some remarkable buildings, among which PPG Place instantly secured a place as the locals’ favorite skyscraper. Old Pa Pitt has nothing to say against PPG Place, but if you asked him which of the 1980s skyscrapers was his favorite, he might (depending on the day, the hour, the lighting conditions, and so on) tell you it was this one. Like the best Art Deco skyscrapers (and indeed we find it in Wikipedia’s category “Art Deco architecture in Pennsylvania“), it is bold and subtle at the same time, playing with references to downtown Pittsburgh’s most famous landmarks.
Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, a firm that has since grown into quite a big deal in the world, this building fits extraordinarily well with its urban environment. It presents very different faces from different directions, and yet the whole is entirely harmonious.
EQT Plaza is just across the street from the Wood Street subway station.
