We had pretty exciting class to look up to this week. Don took us all, the urban design students to his office, a splendid space some 30 floors high in a skyscraper that once boasted of being the tallest building around. Rising up the elevator, we made our way through a corridor flashing by pictures of building projects done by his esteemed firm urbanxyz. The office space was 'justly' designed with circulation on the periphery to give everybody who works in there a view of the city around.
We looked out of the windows to the river, bridges,roads, buildings both historic and modern, that make the cityscape of Pittsburgh. It was a fantastic view to look at with the golden triangle defined by the vertical highrise buildings as well as horizontal bridges. Only, the large stretches of grey parking lots disrupted the fabric of the city below.
Some of the employees presented us the design process followed in the firm. There are different teams for different tasks; project management, design, presentation, construction and they coordinate together to work on a project. It was interesting to know that a design handbook is prepared for every project studying the contextual architectural characteristics of the site. Since the projects are on different locations all around the world, it becomes important that each site is studied in detail to recognize its unique qualities and designed accordingly. The handbook introduces this layer of sensitivity in the design. we saw few project presentations highlighting this process.
Later, We moved a few blocks further from the office to a grand historic building, which was once a gateway to the city of Pittsburgh. Amtrak, an old railway station is now conserved and reused as residential apartments and here is where Don lives. We went to his lively, cozy house where we all chatted over some delicious sandwiches and drinks. It was wonderful to share some time this way out of our busy schedules.
No comments:
Post a Comment