Name: Patricia Culley, AIA Firm: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Family: Husband Peter and three children Years in practice: 15 years Education: Carnegie Mellon University Your first job: Muralist – during school I worked as a teaching assistant for CMU drawing professor and muralist Douglas Cooper. After graduation, I continued work with Cooper on a series of panoramic mural projects, including for the Seattle King County Courthouse and the University of Rome. Cooper’s work manipulates techniques of perspectival drawing to create visual stories from history and memory. Project you’re proudest of: Eighth-grade classroom.  I am currently working on a small classroom project for the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh. Modest in its budget, yet ambitious in its performance requirements, this project will be one of...

The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Book by Matt Zoller Seitz.  Imprint: Abrams Books There’s never a bad time to pick up a good book.  In anticipation of the cold weather sticking around for a while and the fact that there may be more than a few members looking for last-minute holiday gifts, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite architecture books.  We tried to find something for everyone, like the Wes Anderson architecture-focused book pictured above that takes a deep-dive into the set design for The Grand Budapest Hotel and is an equally perfect gift for your film-nerd or history-buff friend: architect or not.  We also asked a few of our members what book they would recommend that struck...

Lina Bo Bardi, Study for furniture design at Milan Triennale (detail), ca. 1946. Courtesy of Instituto Bardi / Casa de Vidro “Drawing, with its slow and intimate gestures, was her way of dwelling in the world. Drawing was one of her solitary anchors in a constantly transforming existence. Drawing conveyed, at the tip of her hands, a representational purpose and also a somewhat magical realism spell.” —Zeuler R. Lima, introduction to Lina Bo Bardi, Drawings In need of some color during these cold winter days? Lina Bo Bardi Draws is open now at the Heinz Architectural Center and brings together nearly 100 drawings by one of the most inspirational twentieth-century architects.  This whimsical exhibit is open now through March 29, 2020, so, just enough...

Members of the AIA-MBA Joint Committee Chartered in 1965, the AIA-MBA Joint Committee in western PA was one of the first committees in the United States to bring together AIA member architects with general contractors and owners.  The group provides a unique forum to meet and discuss existing conditions of the construction industry. As a result, a set of guidelines have been created to reflect the best practices for procedures involving drawings and specifications, bidding, contract documents and administrative procedures during construction called The Best Practice Guides. These guides were originally published as the Yellow Book of Recommended Construction Practices in 1967, and for decades existed as a yellow book, or binder, that floated around offices or constructions sites, and served...

This Monday, November 18 Ray Gastil, AICP will present the David Lewis Lecture on Urban Design to close the Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture’s Fall Lecture Series for 2019. Gastil’s lecture, titled “Learning From Where You Live: Innovation and Connection,” will touch on his five years as Planning Director for the City of Pittsburgh as well as his experience in similar positions in Seattle and New York City. In advance of Monday’s lecture, COLUMNS sat down with Ray to learn more about his lecture topic and hear about his new role heading the Remaking Cities Institute. COLUMNS: What does innovation mean for architects and planners? One of the reasons that we [City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning] called the...

Name: Chuck Parker Firm: Stantec Architecture and Engineering LLC (Philadelphia office) Family: Wife – Paula; 2 daughters – Dulcinea (28) and Kendra (25) Years in practice: 44 Education: BArch from CMU (Went back for my Doctorate a few years ago but it didn’t work out) Your first job: Cutting neighborhood lawns (age 9). Project you’re proudest of: Magee-Womens Hospital 4800 / 5800 ICU / Med Surg Expansion. It was a 2-story addition in a very difficult area to expand vertically and was a collaborative project delivery between Stantec, AES, FMRW, PJ Dick, and UPMC which was also LEED Silver and won the 2013 MBA Building Excellence Award in its category. What have you always wanted to tell your clients? Good, Fast, Cheap: You Can Only Pick Two! What’s the...

Presley’s Place just received the People’s Choice Award at AIA Pittsburgh’s Design Awards, demonstrating that there is a growing recognition of the strong impact design has on mental and physical health. Located at the Pittsburgh International Airport, Presley’s Place is named after the son of airport heavy equipment operator Jason Rudge, who originally pitched the idea of a sensory room to Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO, Christina Cassotis, through an employee suggestion box. That simple suggestion led to the design and construction of a 1,500-square-foot space that serves as a respite for travelers with sensory processing issues, and their companions, who may have a need to de-stress while traveling.  Pittsburgh International’s space isn’t just a room, it is an entire...

Name: Lee Davis, AIA Firm: ESa Family: Wife – Julie; Daughter – Simms Years in practice: 15 Education: Bach of Arch from University of Tennessee Knoxville Your first job: Domino’s Pizza Delivery…until my parent’s car insurance carrier caught wise Project you’re proudest of: Gulch Crossing Office Building – Relocating our firm after 30+ years was a painful endeavour, but a rewarding conclusion What have you always wanted to tell your clients? “That’s a terrible idea.” What’s the most annoying thing architects do? In spite of wearing goofy, outlandish glasses, I’m going to have to say “wearing goofy, outlandish glasses”. Favorite tool (can be digital, drafting, physical,…): Litter Picker Arm Grabber Favorite building: Case Study House 22 Favorite outdoor space: Capitoline Hill Architect you’d like to have a drink with: Mies van de Rohe Best gift...

Palaces for the People cover.  Image courtesy Penguin Random House. On the same day I received Palaces for the People to review, I wandered through the Carnegie Library Downtown & Business on my lunch hour. A whiteboard faced the front door advertising the month’s events. Book clubs, reading lists, support groups. Men and women in suits mingled with the less well-heeled to browse the new book tables and utilize the free WiFi. In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg (who also authored a previous work of social history chronicling the Chicago heat wave of 1995 that inspired this book) advocates for stronger “social infrastructure,” of which the library is a prime example. The author defines social infrastructure as “the physical...

AE Works employees show off their CANstruction structure.  With the support of local business partners, AE Works has donated over 6,000 cans of food during this annual event Volunteerism is an integral part of the architecture profession whether it is through individual architects’ efforts to give back in their own communities or ingrained in firm culture. In this article we take a closer look at different ways two firms make community support integral to their bottom line. This article is part of a series; read Part 1 here. AE Works: Business for Good The architects, engineers, and building consultants at AE Works think about how they are affecting the environment, community, employees and their clients in each project. To measure...