Despite the dire circumstances of the moment, lockdowns caused by coronavirus provide us with an opportunity to better know our cities and the buildings they live in. The streets are a little less busy, the sidewalks far less crowded, and for some, regular daily schedules are largely thrown to the wind, leaving more time for long, socially distant forays to discover and admire well-known and unfamiliar architectural works. Since the usual hectic pace of the cities is interrupted indefinitely, the opportunities to appreciate and document the built environment and at the same time get a little fresh air have never been greater than today.
Irish-born Raymund Ryan, curator at the Heinz Architectural Center of the Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA), is using this break to get to know his adopted home Pittsburgh, where he has lived since 2003, to better understand the steps taken by the professor of art and art Architectural History of the University of Pittsburgh, Franklin Toker, in his 1986 book Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait undertook. Photos taken during Ryan’s Toker-inspired walks in Pittsburgh will be shared on Storyboard, the CMOA’s online journal, the fourth edition of which, according to the museum, “reflects our employees and members of our community on the impact on their lives and theirs Work contains by the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. “
Ryan’s post, titled An Architectural Tour of a City on Break: Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle, covers the first of seven chapters included in the first edition of Toker’s book. (A revised edition was published in 2009.) “Since the book was published in 1986, you can imagine some things have changed,” Ryan told AN. “A few buildings are gone and of course there are some new buildings. But, by and large, it still captures the spirit of the city. “
“I’m on Instagram a lot and when the museum closed I realized I had to take a few walks during the day,” said Ryan when asked about the origins of the project. “And I had this strange idea: I would take my copy of Toker’s book – which is now on its last legs – and follow in his footsteps.”
While Ryan, armed with a smartphone and wearing a comfy pair of Timberland boots, has some way to go before completing the full Toker architecture tour, his trips to date have spawned a multitude of historical and contemporary local architectural gems that can be found revolve around the former surroundings The downtown core of the industrial center littered with skyscrapers.
“I’ve covered two of his chapters now,” added Ryan. “Let’s see how long this lockdown lasts, and we’ll see if I can work through the whole book. Though I probably won’t make it to the suburbs. But for the inner city, I hope that I can do anything. “
Ryan, who, as a relatively young transplant in tight-knit and linguistically challenging Pittsburgh, has the unique position of being both an architectural insider and an outsider, wrote in an introduction to the project:
The most valued travel guides have a voice that enables readers to feel guided by a sensitive expert. What emerges in Toker’s writing is an understanding of the urban structure of the city, coupled with his insight into various aspects of buildings that we think we know or that we have somehow overlooked. He is vigilant about small and large works and open to obscure and famous architects.
Pittsburgh’s wealth of landmark architecture makes it a rich and somewhat unsung city to explore on foot to marvel at buildings – admirers of the Gothic Revival will be delighted – as Frank Lloyd Wright once said.
Above are a handful of places in Pittsburgh: a city portrait Ryan is supposed to revisit and photograph during his COVID-era constitutions in Steel City. More photos of Ryan, accompanied by excerpts from critical comments from Toker’s book, can be found on the storyboard website.
