Portal Bridge Picnic: a celebration of modernist design at Point State Park

601 Commonwealth Place,Pittsburgh PA 15222

09 October, 2021

Description

PORTAL BRIDGE PICNIC: Join the Pittsburgh Modern Committee for our free outdoor celebration of modernist design at Point State Park! We invite you to join us on Saturday October 9th - as part of Docomomo US National Tour Day 2021 highlighting architecture & design aspects of travel & leisure at mid-20th century - for Portal Bridge Picnic, an outdoor celebration of modernist design at Pittsburgh's beloved Point State Park. Enjoy refreshments and a walkabout with members of the Pittsburgh Modern Committee highlighting design context and details of the Portal Bridge* (1963, Stotz brothers wtih Gordon Bunshaft/SOM ) and the surrounding Point State Park - opened in 1974 and a National Historic Landmark within the Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District. *Presented with the challenge of integrating a pedestrian connection between Point State Park and Downtown, beneath an 8-lane highway-interchange, Pittsburgh architects the Stotz brothers responded with an elongated arch and walkway. Simple, soft, and elegant to the eye, but involving complex engineering and crafted of reinforced concrete, the 1963 vaulted portal invites an open view toward Gateway Center. Gordon Bunshaft, architect with SOM, amongst others, consulted on the design. Illustration of the 1963 Portal Bridge at Point State Park by artist Shane Henderson/Buildings by Shane in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Modern Committee. Pittsburgh Modern Prints is an ongoing series celebrating sites of 20th century modern architecture and design. The Pittsburgh Modern Committee of Preservation Pittsburgh surveys our region’s 20th-century modern and postmodern architecture, design, and public art (circa 1945-1970s) as a groundwork for preservation in collaboration with community members and the City of Pittsburgh. Our mission is to engage public awareness of local modernist design and related community experiences through documentation, public programming, education, and advocacy - and together explore its significance and potential to be reinvigorated and relevant throughout Pittsburgh’s diverse neighborhoods.