Difficult to traverse and develop slopes surround the Three-Rivers region where Pittsburgh was first formed. Development on these slopes expanded with the growth of the steel industry - mills along the river, and homes spreading across the hills.

Unlike other cities around the world, Pittsburgh real estate values are not commesurate with location, or view. Following the fall of the industry and tremendous population decline, many neighborhoods are left vacant, which continue to degrade, with housing and property values far below the median level.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Of Pittsburgh, as well as local Community Development Corporations (CDCs) are taking a strong effort to change these perceptions with aggresive development, taking advantage of previously untapped opportunites. The Bloomfield Garfield Corporation, a client and partner of another UDBS project, is one of these CDCs.

Southern Exposure is a comprehensive investigation into facade prototyping and implementation. It begins as an offshoot investigation into a self-shading window wall facade system for affordable replication, which would be designed, implemented, and monitored by the UDBS design team.