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PITTSBURGH ARCHITECTURAL COMMUNITY / ARCHITECTURE FIRMS / CARNEGIE MELLON UNI?

Paulina

There is a chance in the air that in a year or so.. I would relocate to Pittsburgh pending some personal steps in my life... anyhow Im curious to know what kind of architectural community dominates and if its active in the city itself. I have been to Pittsburgh before and found it charming...

Are the firms dominantly small? residential? into historic preservation/commercial etc? Are there events / lectures and an active architectural community? Tied to any universities - such as Carnegie Mellon? Does Carnegie Mellon have any impact on the arch. community? How is the school itself? Any advice or commentary on the state of architectural practice in Pittsburgh??

 
Mar 22, 07 5:46 pm
garpike

GREAT CITY!!!

OW MY FREAKIN' EARS!!!

Mar 22, 07 6:28 pm  · 
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vado retro

come to pittsburgh just don't shoot me!

Mar 22, 07 8:25 pm  · 
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fulcrum

There are several some big firms in Pittsburgh, such as Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Burt Hill, Astorino, Perkins Eastman, Urban Design Associates... but there are also a lot of small firms, too. You can look up the list of firms at AIA Pittsburgh.
A lot of adjuct professors at Carnegie Mellon are practitioners, so there's usual help/get helped between students and professors. I believe U Pittsburgh doesn't have arch. department; they might have something like architectural history.
If you're experienced architect, you should be able to get a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon and establish some connections with local practitioners easily.
It's somewhat slow town... I'm sure it happens everywhere, but thing that bothered me the most in Pgh arch. has been the fact that large projects tend to be awarded to outside architects, even though there are many talented local architects (BCJ, come on!) right there. idiots.

Mar 22, 07 10:49 pm  · 
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myriam

fulcrum covered a lot. There is an active local arts community and the Carnegie Museum of Art hosts a decent amount (and good quality) of architecture-related events, including some solid lectures. The city's doing a decent job of moving toward sustainable practices, and CMU is a leader in that. There are awesome bike paths, great riverside trails were coming together when I left town, it's gorgeous in spring and summer and fall, winter isn't anywhere near as bad as the midwest, and there's lots of people doing lots of interesting things. But, it moves at a slower pace than the big cities, of course. I haven't lived there for a few years so I don't have the most up-to-date info.

Mar 22, 07 11:36 pm  · 
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vado retro

well i got my first real kiss there. and won fourth place in a model car contest in the summer of my 13th year...

Mar 22, 07 11:37 pm  · 
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garpike

My umbilical was cut there.

Mar 23, 07 12:11 am  · 
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liberty bell

How old were you when that happened, garpike?

Mar 23, 07 12:16 am  · 
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garpike

0

Mar 23, 07 12:18 am  · 
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Paulina

Garpike.. the fact that your ears are hurting from (maybe implying you are sensative to CAPS TEXT) is concerning... perhaps you should get that checked for possible crosswiring between your eyes and your ears...

Mar 23, 07 10:20 am  · 
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Paulina

Everyone else thank you for your comments! They are very helpful

Mar 23, 07 10:21 am  · 
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garpike

Sorry. Hang out a bit longer...

Mar 23, 07 12:46 pm  · 
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Paulina

never apologize

Mar 23, 07 1:13 pm  · 
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FRO

I have realized in retrospect that the Burgh is a cool town, but while I was there (90-95) the lack of sunny days prevented me from feeling good about anything. Maybe that's just me, but something to think about,

Mar 23, 07 3:59 pm  · 
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garpike

BTW, Ow my freakin' ears was Rod. Or was it Todd?

Was there from 77 to 83 and then 95 to 99. Love that town.

Mar 23, 07 7:59 pm  · 
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fulcrum

yinz

Mar 23, 07 10:11 pm  · 
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dml955i

I hear they're doin a lot of new development dahtahn n'at!

Mar 23, 07 10:15 pm  · 
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myriam

It's not as sunny as Boston and much more sunny than Chicago or Paris. Good point on something important to consider, FRO.

Mar 24, 07 12:56 pm  · 
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Paulina

sunnier than Chicago you say that sounds good.. from driving through there a couple of years ago i remember lots of trees a valley bridges and river surrounding a pretty small downtown....


cobblestones. yes .....

"dahtahn n'at!" is that Pittsburghian?

Mar 24, 07 3:39 pm  · 
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dml955i
http://www.yappinyinzers.com/
Mar 24, 07 3:43 pm  · 
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