Springboard Design News

Location: Hall of Architecture, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

Portal to the Point: A Design Ideas Exploration is an ‘Idea Generation Project’ funded by Colcom Foundation.

Five multi-disciplinary teams have focused on public art and design in Point State Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.”

Innovative visions for Point State Park’s Portal Bridge will be on view at the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of

Architecture. Interdisciplinary teams from across the United States were invited to explore ideas relating to the

form, function, artistic elements and interpretative design of Point State Park’s Portal Bridge and its vicinity.

Portal to the Point’

realistic. But, hopefully, they will stir discussion and excitement about the potential for the Portal Bridge… In that

regard, I think they are all a great success. I can’t wait to share these projects with the public and see whether they

stir Pittsburgh’s blood.”

Colcom Foundation President Tim Inglis believes that the exhibition of these ideas will foster greater appreciation for

the Portal Bridge. Adds Inglis, “I am excited about the potential of these proposals and how they will stimulate

public imagination. Where this leads, time will tell.”

The Portal Bridge is an elevated highway thoroughfare that bisects the park north to south and leads to bridges that

span the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. The focus of this project is the space underneath this overpass (a

dramatic, modern space) and a deliberately undefined area surrounding the portal.

invited to submit their qualifications. The participating teams, their team leaders and collaborators are:

Marlon Blackwell Architect, Fayetteville, AR

Team Leader: Marlon Blackwell

Collaborators: dlandstudio; Renfro Design Group; Guy Nordenson & Associates; Kendall Buster

MAYA Design, Pittsburgh, PA

Team Leader: Dutch MacDonald

Collaborators: The Gray Circle, Clear Story

SCAPE / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE PLLC, New York, NY

Team Leader: Kate Orff

Collaborators: The Living

Weiss/Manfredi, New York, NY

Team Leaders: Marion Weiss, Michael Manfredi

Collaborators: Magnusson Klemencic Associates; Green Shield Ecology; Mark Dion

wHY Architecture, Culver City, CA

Team Leader: Kulapat Yantrasast,

Collaborators: Reed Hilderbrand; WET Design

Point State Park has a long, celebrated and, at times, contentious history. The most visible landmark in Pittsburgh,

it is the subject of countless photographs of the city. It is a place of paramount importance to the history of the

United States, once a significant historical crossing and battleground, a symbol of resistance and independence.

Today, it is the city’s focal point for recreation, celebration and enjoyment, the site of festivals, concerts and

regattas. What will the next generation make of Point State Park?

 Portal to the Point is focused purely on the development of ideas. Whether or not any work is commissioned is outside the scope of this exploration.

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To facilitate public feedback and information about the explorations, additional public exhibition of the teams’

presentations will be displayed at multiple Pittsburgh locations to be determined. A public symposium will be held

with the teams, and a book will be created to document the process and the results. The book will be available

online and will establish an extended platform for the dissemination of information about the project.

www.cmoa.org