12/7/2006

The land that is overlooked

In "The Spectator and the Topographical City", a book recently published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Architecture Librarian and Archivist Martin Aurand takes a long view to reveal the relationship of the topography ("It is the land that is overlooked") and the built environment of Pittsburgh. He then focuses on the history and architecture of three 'terrestrial rooms'--the Golden Triangle, the Turtle Creek Valley and Oakland--helping us to see these familiar places with new eyes. Clayton Merrell, professor of art, prepared original artwork for the book, while dozens more photographs, drawings and paintings of Pittsburgh make this provocative study a real page-turner. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette architecture critic Patricia Lowry calls the book "one of the most eye-opening studies of Pittsburgh in a long time, and one of the most original." Have a history or architecture buff, a dyed-in-the-wool Pittsburgher (or even a newbie) on your holiday shopping list? Aurand has given us the perfect gift, available at the Carnegie Mellon Bookstore and other booksellers.  

Cindy Carroll