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Pittsburgh: one of America's great urban treasures
through the eyes of Evergrey
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#1
- Hamlet
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Posted 20 December 2005 - 07:31 PM
Brendan Gill, architecture writer for The New Yorker, 1990: "The three most beautiful cities in the world are Paris; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Pittsburgh. If Pittsburgh were situated somewhere in the heart of Europe, tourists would eagerly journey hundreds of miles out of their way to visit it."
MultiQuote
Excellent job though!
#8
- Gigalopolis
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Posted 21 December 2005 - 05:43 AM
Great pics Evergrey. There was one building that showed a lot of 'staining'. I was curious if it's because of the materials used or could it be partly because of Pittsburgh pollution problems in the past?
#10
- Whistle-Stop
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Posted 21 December 2005 - 12:50 PM
Great pictures. I didn't know Pittsburg was that nice. Perhaps it is an underrated city?
Some pictures even remind me of Europe, especially the "small" houses on the hills.
Some pictures even remind me of Europe, especially the "small" houses on the hills.
#12
- Hamlet
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Posted 21 December 2005 - 08:25 PM
[quote name='Mith242' post='278532' date='Dec 21 2005, 06:43 AM']Great pics Evergrey. There was one building that showed a lot of 'staining'. I was curious if it's because of the materials used or could it be partly because of Pittsburgh pollution problems in the past?[/quote]
I assume you're referring to the Cathedral of Learning... which is a skyscraper completed in the 30s in the Gothic Revival style. It's 42 stories and 535 ft. tall. It is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh and is the tallest educational structure in the Western Hemisphere. The grime on the structure is due to the heavy pollution of the steel industry through the 1970s. Today, steel is mostly a distant memory in Pittsburgh. It is now one of the cleanest cities in the country. Its industrial base has been replaced by health care, finance, robotics, computers and other service and high-tech industries. There was recently a proposal to clean the grime from the Cathedral of Learning (something I support!)... however, there the proposal failed because many people actually like the look of the grime... I suppose it adds to the gothic element and is a reminder of Pittsburgh's past.
Another notable structure in Pittsburgh that features "pollution staining" is this beautiful downtown church. A century of heavy industry turned the church black... but people loved it... so the grime stayed... it certainly gives it a distinctive look.
I assume you're referring to the Cathedral of Learning... which is a skyscraper completed in the 30s in the Gothic Revival style. It's 42 stories and 535 ft. tall. It is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh and is the tallest educational structure in the Western Hemisphere. The grime on the structure is due to the heavy pollution of the steel industry through the 1970s. Today, steel is mostly a distant memory in Pittsburgh. It is now one of the cleanest cities in the country. Its industrial base has been replaced by health care, finance, robotics, computers and other service and high-tech industries. There was recently a proposal to clean the grime from the Cathedral of Learning (something I support!)... however, there the proposal failed because many people actually like the look of the grime... I suppose it adds to the gothic element and is a reminder of Pittsburgh's past.
Another notable structure in Pittsburgh that features "pollution staining" is this beautiful downtown church. A century of heavy industry turned the church black... but people loved it... so the grime stayed... it certainly gives it a distinctive look.
#13
- Gigalopolis
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Posted 22 December 2005 - 05:40 AM
Thanks for the info, I had thought that but figured I should ask to make sure. Yeah I had heard Pittsburgh is certainly a lot cleaner today. I don't think people think as much about it now but for a while they were having to convince people it really was a clean city. I believe I've seen some pics of buildings in some of the more historical industrial areas of Europe that have that grime on some of their buildings too.
#17
- Metropolis
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Posted 04 February 2006 - 12:24 AM
This is why Pittsburgh has been one of my favorite skylines for so long. Great shots! 
MY dad grew up there and I've been back several times since my youth many years ago. His family later moved to central PA, so my trips to visit them did not often take me directly to Pitt. However, since I had family in Toledo as well, I would pass through and get to experience the city my dad knew as a boy.
MY dad grew up there and I've been back several times since my youth many years ago. His family later moved to central PA, so my trips to visit them did not often take me directly to Pitt. However, since I had family in Toledo as well, I would pass through and get to experience the city my dad knew as a boy.
#20
- Crossroads
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Posted 13 July 2006 - 07:35 AM
Thanks Evergrey, for posting Pictures of Home.
To those newly acquainted with Pittsburgh, I can understand why you would see a contrast with the fantastic architecture, and the grimy soot that covered it up.
Allow me to explain “The Rest of the Story”!
Yes, Pittsburgh has a grimy, industrial past. And we can be thankful. Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Richard Mellon made Pittsburgh the Steel production capital of the world. And that's not just a boastful bit of trivia.
My dear Mom used to tell me that during the Great War, the mills were pumping out so much pollution, that the sky was dark enough for the streetlight photocells to turn on the streetlights at noon. In those days, in order to make Steel, you also made a mess.
Pittsburgh mills made the steel that made the M1 Rifle, the Sherman Tank, the 500 pound iron bomb casings, the howitzer barrels, the engine blocks for Jeeps and Liberty Ships, the cranes that moved men and material, and the landing craft that Private Ryan, and countless others used to land at Utah, Sword, Juno, Gold and Omaha Beach.
The Greatest Generation of Pittsburgh Men and Women poured more steel to make more tools for war, faster than their slave-labor nazi counterparts. As a result we were able to re-supply our Armed Forces faster than the nazi, or Japanese threat. Even though both had a considerable geographic advantage for supply routes.
My Father was a Staff Sergeant in the Great War, and he made many trips to what was known as a “Reppel-Deppel” all through the European Theater, otherwise known as the “Replacement Depot”. A Reppel-Deppel gave a Soldier the Steel tools of war, and other supplies so that he might go fight just one more day.
So yes, Pittsburgh paid a heavy price for making steel at a pace that didn’t allow for luxuries such as clean air. But they did so in exchange for Liberty. Else, we might be writing in German or Japanese right now. And one of Pittsburgh’s grand Boulevards is Liberty Avenue, just down hill from the immense “Liberty Bridge”.
Call it “Steel Town” and you’ll make us grin. Call it “Liberty Town”, and we swell up with tears of emotion about how we did our part – dirty as it was – to change the destiny of the world.
To those newly acquainted with Pittsburgh, I can understand why you would see a contrast with the fantastic architecture, and the grimy soot that covered it up.
Allow me to explain “The Rest of the Story”!
Yes, Pittsburgh has a grimy, industrial past. And we can be thankful. Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Richard Mellon made Pittsburgh the Steel production capital of the world. And that's not just a boastful bit of trivia.
My dear Mom used to tell me that during the Great War, the mills were pumping out so much pollution, that the sky was dark enough for the streetlight photocells to turn on the streetlights at noon. In those days, in order to make Steel, you also made a mess.
Pittsburgh mills made the steel that made the M1 Rifle, the Sherman Tank, the 500 pound iron bomb casings, the howitzer barrels, the engine blocks for Jeeps and Liberty Ships, the cranes that moved men and material, and the landing craft that Private Ryan, and countless others used to land at Utah, Sword, Juno, Gold and Omaha Beach.
The Greatest Generation of Pittsburgh Men and Women poured more steel to make more tools for war, faster than their slave-labor nazi counterparts. As a result we were able to re-supply our Armed Forces faster than the nazi, or Japanese threat. Even though both had a considerable geographic advantage for supply routes.
My Father was a Staff Sergeant in the Great War, and he made many trips to what was known as a “Reppel-Deppel” all through the European Theater, otherwise known as the “Replacement Depot”. A Reppel-Deppel gave a Soldier the Steel tools of war, and other supplies so that he might go fight just one more day.
So yes, Pittsburgh paid a heavy price for making steel at a pace that didn’t allow for luxuries such as clean air. But they did so in exchange for Liberty. Else, we might be writing in German or Japanese right now. And one of Pittsburgh’s grand Boulevards is Liberty Avenue, just down hill from the immense “Liberty Bridge”.
Call it “Steel Town” and you’ll make us grin. Call it “Liberty Town”, and we swell up with tears of emotion about how we did our part – dirty as it was – to change the destiny of the world.
