1+3+9 round 2

Homestead was once a thriving industrial town, but when the steel industry left it took with it the population, creating a need for a revitalization strategy that addresses the history of the site in the context of the modern era.

The development of the Waterfront shopping center attempted to solve some of the economic problems of the area, but as a result ended up sucking much of the life and culture out of Homestead due to a break with tradition. The goal here is to emphasize the layering of the different systems of the site such as ecological, transportation, historical, and the building typologies in an attempt to study unique overlaps. These systems developed independently of each other, but also fed off the others to create a thriving steel economy so the issue remains how a town that once relied on steel continues to operate once the steel has left.

Due to the fact that people are already travelling to the Waterfront for commercial purposes, they can begin to appreciate the area for more than just big-box retailers and change their current patterns of movement through the area. Homestead was not only a town of steel workers and mills, but also small business owners and an area of many shops, restaurants, and ice cream parlors. The region developed from farmland to industry and most recently decline, but due to strong cultural influences, river accessibility and good housing stock, revitalization is possible. Ecology is the key factor to begin to reconnect Homestead with the city of Pittsburgh and make it a vital entity in the rich fabric of neighborhoods that exist in the city. The solid and void relationship that the river makes with the Waterfront can promote a spatial condition that emphasizes the views from the streets perpendicular to the river. There are inherent conditions that will present themselves with the process of layering, and the need will arise to play off the existing infrastructure to redirect people entering the area. The layering of the slope where the residential regions are located, with the flat main street that feeds down past a void to the river will produce a unique condition of interaction. Accessibility is a big issue, as many regions are not able to be accessed from the riverbank, so this idea of ecological conditions along the river can be carried back to the main streets of Homestead in an attempt to begin revitalization. Through learning from the past and looking at the affect of layering over time, the negative impacts that came from the development of the Waterfront can be reversed, and Homestead can once again become a thriving commercial center.

Analytical Diagrams

These diagrams look at the different ways that the site can be viewed in terms of its context, with many connections leading down to the river, but the Waterfront serving as a large obstacle to reach the water. The connections horizontally are also important, because they will emphasize the revitalization of a commercial corridor that is desired, as well as the points of connection across the river.

"Site Matters"- Response to Place

In defining a project in terms of place, the reading “Defining Urban Sites” speaks about looking at sites on an urban scale and how to define the boundaries of a site. This can be looked at as both the whole city, as well as in terms of limited sites within the city. What a site actually “does” in the city must be taken into consideration, and how it affects the broader urban context. By observing these conditions with many boundary conditions and on multiple scales, it can become a new model for describing, interpreting, as well as analyzing places. Looking at precedents, in some cases there are very set and defined boundaries, while in other cases the city is seen as floating in space. Urban sites become incredibly influenced by their surroundings and become the ideal place for interactions and intersections to occur. An example that I found very interesting because I find that it applies to my own thesis project is that of Hell’s Kitchen in New York serving many different urban uses. It is a residential neighborhood, a commercial district, and a key intersection of transportation infrastructures. This also further reinforces the idea that urban sites are dynamic, porous, and “messy.” Multiple realities must be looked at when site representation is undertaken, and this representation helps to give definition to the urban site because it is a process in which different ideas of the site are able to settle down.

Intersections between different agents become incredibly important in terms of the “mobile ground” of a site, as many interesting overlaps begin to occur. Workers, owners, neighbors, builders, developers, politicians, bankers, preservationists, ecologists, and economists among others must all inhabit the space of the site and they all have their own terms of use. Different sites will also have different reaches, and this will depend on spatial and operational extensions. When sites are looked at in terms of regional, metropolitan or local, different aspects of the site can be studied and this can begin to shift the site boundaries. Links to outside spaces are also crucial to understanding, and drawing a clear distinction between the “inside” and “outside.” With all of these new ideas, the challenge of the thesis project will be to define something that is indefinite.

No urban sites are stable, and this is an idea that I would like to build upon as I move forward with my thesis. Homestead has a very rich history that is plagued by instability due to strikes by locked out steelworkers. Henry Frick hired armed guards from the Pinkerton National Defense Agency, and when barges carrying the Pinkertons arrived at the mill, the workers met them at the riverbanks, emphasizing the strong connection to the river. The population of Homestead has also seen many ups and downs, as in 1900 there were 12,554 people with more than half employed in the plants. By 1940 there were 19,041 people, but in a few years half of the population was displaced as the US government added to the steel mills to prepare for WWII. After the end of the war, there was a great decline in the steel-making industry in the US. In 1948, the mill closed and was replaced by the Waterfront shopping mall. By 2000, the population was down to 3,569. These ups and downs show the instability of the site, as well as the porous boundaries due to out-migration. The site directly impacted the activity that was occurring there due to the access to the river, and the goal is to let the site once again guide the project in a major revitalization effort.

"The Muses are Not Amused"

The reading, “The Muses are Not Amused” brings up many ideas that are reiterated over and over again in Architecture school. The convergence of forces, specifically cultural, social, economic and ideological as well as technical and ideological is something that is essential to design. The urban lab studio looked at systems on a broader scale to include environmental conditions as well as demographics and diverse transportation systems which overlapped in a unique way to define a specific condition. The emphasis of this article is on the form and how it is always the form which will impress us. The emotional affect of form is also a factor to be considered, such as the twin towers, which were never significant until they were gone. The fad of sustainability is alluded to in the sense that technology cannot exist on its own, but must be given intention. I think that this is a wrong way to look at things, because looking at how to give form to technical achievements seems forceful, whereas is would be more beneficial for form and technology to work hand-in-hand, and not impose one on the other. “Programism” is criticized due to the fact that it is not critical enough and always presents information as neutral data. I don’t believe that programming always has to be neutral, and this is a very broad statement to say that it is. Silvetti describes programming as an, “arbitrary graphic rearrangement of data.” (pg. 23) The next problem addressed it thematization, which looks at exerting total control over the forms of an environment in a sort of “theme” park sense. An example given is that of Las Vegas, which creates a, “heterogeneous conglomerate of adjacent ‘theme’ experiences.” (pg. 25) This creates mass entertainment by means of parody, and also creates a double fakery, meaning that a well-known architecture is mimicked and then it is promised that this architecture will deliver a good way of life. This goes back to ideas about vernacular and regional architecture, as a lot of times in an attempt to relate back to the past, the resulting design becomes extremely kitsch and as a result does not relate to the vernacular at all. This also ties into the idea of a consumer society and tourism, and how many of these places are developed in an attempt to create revenue through nostalgia, and brining people back to a better past. Programism looked to avoid associations with prescribed rules by laying out neutral information, while thematization looks to an exclusive moral example.

The appeal of creating blobs rested in the idea that there was freedom from history and culture, and form could be created without having to deal with these restraints. The fact of the matter is, it is these “restraints” that create form and give it a deep-rooted connection to the cultural heritage of the place as well as the site specific characteristics. Silvetti says, “But what did we actually do with this “thing” that appeared on our computer screen? Very quickly we stuffed it with meaning.” (pg. 26) Once again, meaning is given after a form has already been created, which is contradictory to the design development process of developing meaning while simultaneously developing the form. The ideas about literalism speak about how metaphor is all and good in terms of developing a concept, but that’s where it should stop. “The use of metaphor in architecture… should be looked at as an enrichment of meaning and not as a replacement for the thing itself.” (pg. 28) There is an inherent danger in becoming too caught up in the metaphor and losing the focus on design. The multidisciplinary nature of the arts is also talked about towards the end of the article, and speaking about how the arts have collapsed into a single idea of “Art.” The question is also brought up about architecture as art, or the art of architecture. The current trend in architecture is to move outside of traditional formal and material boundaries, and architecture is now serving two very distinct roles. One is as the support of artistic ideas, and the other is the inspiration for buildings. I believe that it is possible to be both, and that taking the different artistic elements out of architecture would be a mistake. Architecture either stands in the art realm as an elite discipline, or it resides in the social arena where real life takes place. It really needs to fuse these two ideas, and be able to relate to the people while at the same time taking on the beauty that other disciplines of the fine arts demonstrate. Although there are some questionable statements made in the article, I think that the underlying idea is clear, of the “logical integration of advanced computer technologies with tectonic consciousness and an historical/anthropological knowledge of the discipline.” (pg. 33) Architecture is not about making a blob and giving it meaning, or creating large tourist destinations that evoke nostalgia among people, or looking at neutral programming information. It is about a clever combination of new and progressive technologies with looking at historical and cultural considerations and using this information to help derive the form and work hand-in-hand with the development. It is not a linear process, but there are many checks that must be made throughout the course of the design process to ensure that all of the disparate elements are considered and are able to be brought back together into a coherent whole. In looking at all of the layered systems that occur in Pittsburgh, it is essential to make sure that they develop simultaneously to really observe the overlaps and consistencies.

Concept Sketch #3

This image demonstrates the underlying idea of the different layering of the systems of the site over time. It begins with looking at the void that the river makes between the river's edge and the more linear urban fabric of homestead. The vertical and horizontal relationships are also explored in looking at the steep slope relating to the great topographic variations in Pittsburgh and how the buildings will engage this. Lastly. looking at revitalization of a business district or a main street will complete the layering in an attempt to create a cohesive whole. Social, physical, and environmental conditions are all studied in this analysis to break down the research into different components before they are brought back together.

Conceptual Sketch Description

This montage shows the five different systems that I am looking to address- transportation systems, ecological systems, cultural influences, regional architecture, and industrial systems, and their interactions with each other. The montage represents a timeline, and shows how these different systems will overlap and rely upon each other for their own success. The overlaps will be key in this project, and looking at how successful overlaps occurred and how these strategies can be utilized in the future to bring industry back to Homestead.

Conceptual Sketch #2

1+3+9 Statement

The importance of looking at layers that have accumulated over time in the history of Pittsburgh, and how interactions of these complex systems can be studied and the lessons learned serve to bring industry and ecology back to Homestead.

The layering of transportation systems, ecological systems, cultural influences, regional architecture, and systems of industry have served to create complex overlaps over time. This combination of systems led to a thriving environment in the history of Pittsburgh during its glory days due to optimization of conditions. Looking at how each system developed both separately from each other as well as together will start to reveal complex overlaps and show the successes and failures that resulted.

These five systems had a very strong reliance on each other to form a complete whole in the industrial development of Pittsburgh. A major part of this is the people who inhabit the different neighborhoods, as they shape the culture of the region and serve as the basis for a deep-rooted pride in their community. All of the systems studied are constantly changing based not only on the people of the region, but also on environmental factors as well as the changing economic climate of the country. Studying how these systems have interacted with each other will redeal what was successful and unsuccessful in the previous decades to create a future reminiscient of Pittsburgh’s magnificent past. Hierarchically, the different systems will prove to be strong at different times in their development over time. In the present day, Pittsburgh’s greatest strength is the pride of the people who live there, and their deep attachment to the place. The river have been a natural element that brought the city much of its success, and this should be utilized in the revitalization of the areas that have seen better days.
Access to the river is limited in many neighborhoods, and this creates a disconnect between the potential that the river can bring and its actual affect on communities due to the fact that people who live directly adjacent to the river often have little to no interaction with it. By creating better access to the river, it will be possible to reveal and strengthen these systems that brought industry, wealth, and culture to areas like Homestead. Through learning from the past and looking at the affect of layering over time, the conditions necessary to once again make Homestead a thriving commercial center will be revealed.