Pittsburgh Private Tours

11/25/2023

We can do it. We have the technology.

01/23/2023

Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA is the steepest street in the United States. Find out everything you need to know to drive up this amazing public roadway.

01/18/2023

Hi, my name is Phil, seeking help for Volodymyr, a Ukrainian citizen an… Philip Johnson needs your support for Ukrainian disabled soldier wants to move to US

12/10/2022

Need a bite of some Italian goodness? This new and exciting food trailer in Pittsburgh will give you just that. Little Nicky's Italian serves up hot Italian sandwiches with meatballs, lamb, or spicy sausage & peppers! Check them out at Food Truck-a-Palooza — Under the Big Top! Tickets on sale now at www.goodtastepittsburgh.com!

11/25/2022

11/20/2022

12/16/2017

Last updated: 12/14/17 Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. By using our affiliate links we will receive a small commission that helps us run our sites. The Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning are one of Pittsburgh’s true gems. These rooms function as classrooms for the Un...

06/08/2017

This story collection explores Wright's influence on the field and the role that historic preservation plays in his legacy.

05/24/2017

In 1949, two years after he designed the Pittsburgh Point Park Civic Center project, Frank Lloyd Wright was again at work for Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., this time to design a large parking garage on a lot next to Kaufmann's department store. The garage would serve not only the store next door but a large segment of Pittsburgh's downtown area, desperately in need of parking space.

"The project for Kaufmann was entitled Self-Service Garage. The notion of self-service was then gaining popularity around the country. Markets and drugstores were beginning to use it as means of reducing labor costs and keeping the end product more reasonably priced. In 1949, Mr. Wright created a garage parking system that would be no more difficult to use than parking on the street.

The building ascends in a series of double ramps to a height of six levels, with a basement level for underground parking. The total parking area would accommodate· over twelve hundred cars. The center is an open court for ventilation, but the sides facing the streets of the block are closed to prevent strong wind currents during stormy weather or icy blasts in winter. The central court holds a spacious fountain pool to help cool and refresh the air. Smaller pedestrian ramps around the court service the car ramps, and the exterior ramp -- the descending exit -- is open to the elements on the side but protected from above.

There are two elevators, and the roof parking is combined with planting for greenery and landscaping. The central court contains tall, structural members that rise above the roof in the center to support cables from which the inner edges of the ramps are suspended. The principle of construction is, therefore, the cantilever, made by reinforced concrete slabs and further stabilized by suspension cables, much like a suspension bridge. The waiting room on the entrance level is a small theater with a curved television screen, designed so that persons who have to wait for someone to come with a car can sit and watch projected TV.

The level that faces Kaufmann's department store contains space for show windows, with access at the basement level. A closed bridge on the sixth-floor level connects again to Kaufmann's at the office level. But the plan was definitely conceived as a downtown parking facility to serve the entire area."

Quote from "Treasures of Taliesin" by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer