Day 1
The first thing I notice when I arrive is all the coverups. Everything is plastered over something else: The trees are laden with creeping ivy, the telephone poles bristling with iron staples, the stores covered in countless notices and signage. Even the street, a dark grey strip, bears the mark of countless black tar band-aids.
The streets are mostly quiet, save for the occasional residents chasing their dogs around the sidewalk. The air smells like rain and wet stones- something about Pittsburgh I’m still getting used to. The majority of traffic runs down Maryland street, comprised of smartly-dressed college students and residents walking their dogs. They’re walking from the shopping district- where big-name brands like Banana Republic and Apple have set up shop among the older, quirky stores. Pittsburgh is a growing city, and sometimes that means covering the old with the often short-lived new. Speaking of new- I counted a total of 4 shiny BMW cars, all different colors, roaring past me.
Sitting in this intersection, I become aware of a disconnect between older authenticity and sudden progress in this college town. I’m not sure of the nature of this rift, but it is readily apparent.
Day 2
As I was sketching house facades, a cyclist stopped by to ask if I was a student. Turns out, he was a 5th year student in CMU architecture and knew a little about my intersection. He told me that Walnut Street Express, the vacant general store across the road, was actually only about a year old. People often gathered outside to smoke, to his annoyance. This neighborhood, he confided, was a living area for students looking to escape campus. Students and locals seldom interacted. Shortly after, we shook hands and he left.
I took a photo of the Walnut street express storefront because its advertisements were unmistakably local in appearance. The low-budget organic design suggested that they were probably made by the owners themselves, printed out at a local shop and tacked up personally. I can’t attest to their effectiveness, but apparently their smoking advertisements worked.
Above the store sits a residential unit. Every now and then, I see a pedestrian enter from the side door. An element of privacy is created by the locked door-gate separating foot traffic from the inside. Many homes in this area have a similar setup on ground-level windows: a clear pane of glass protects the depressed window and trim. Unlike other homes, however, the Express features a mix of the rectangular building shapes and angular home shapes discussed in class. Sections of the roof are flat, while the corner features a chimney and gabled roof. Perhaps I ought to ask around more, in hopes of finding someone like that cyclist again.
Day 3
When it came to assembling my paper photograph of the intersection, I was hesitant to solely depict the Walnut Street Express. While iconic of the intersection, it didn’t necessarily capture the homely, residential feel of the neighborhood. I didn’t see people entering its doors to buy groceries or even smokes. Instead, I saw people walking past as they went about their daily lives jogging or commuting or simply taking a stroll.
For that reason, I based my construction around the side of a run-down home on the corner of the intersection. From the side it was apparent that a balcony had once existed there, and that its boarded up doors had once accessed it. Despite this, the porch displayed a lively array of potted plants, and a mother is seen carrying her child down the sidewalk. I chose this photograph because I think it tells a story about the neighborhood- one of persistence and charm.
Day 4
Since I felt sorely disappointed in my first iteration of the paper cutouts, I had in mind exactly what I intended to changed for my new version. The use of Bristol paper was a lot better since my previous material was much thicker and harder to detail. In particular, I cut details into the paper like brick lines and window panes to bring them out without overpowering my focus: the woman and the boarded up balcony.
Day 5
As we do more and more critiques, I’m slowly beginning to get a feel for what I’m supposed to be aiming for in this project. I now realize that conveying the essential characteristics of a “place” means the careful consideration of which details to include and omit. Now that we have 4 shades of brown to work with, I have a much easier time conveying the different contours of the building’s facade.
My main intention is to convey the run-down qualities of the house while also showing that it is still inhabited and lively. The main points of focus are the missing balcony and boarded windows, brightly painted attic window, and woman walking down the sidewalk. Since I received tips to “not include too much” as per my last critique, I opted to reduce the texture of the brick wall to smoothness instead of exacto-carved brick.
Moving forward, my main focus will be to enhance the various signs of renovation on the house. I noticed that my relief is markedly more simplistic than those of my classmates.
Day 6
This time around, I closely examined the elements of my photo in order to distinguish what made the house look so uniquely run down yet lived-in. I decided to detail in telephone wires, which added to the messiness of the scene. In addition, I spent more time detailing the bricks, window panes, and chimney imprint. I believe the inclusion of these details would enhance the residential feel of the house.
This time around, I tried layering leaves over each other to better capture the tree. See below:
When it came to choosing colors, I was stuck between coloring the roof, which was a unique shade of blue not found on other roofs in the area, and coloring the brick wall. The brick wall was this yellow-peach color that seemed just ugly enough to be charming. Eventually, I decided on the roof because I couldn’t find a satisfactory color for the brick wall and because I felt that it would blend in with the brown tones too much. Despite the brick wall being the main focus of my relief, the roof’s muted blue coloring doesn’t stand out too much and conveys a unique characteristic of the scene.
What I hope to convey in my depiction of Walnut and Maryland is a feeling of deeply rooted residency. The relief is meant to emphasize the various changes made upon the house throughout its history- the missing balcony, the boarded doors, the mass of wires that lead nowhere, and the poorly trimmed bushes. Despite all this, I hope the relief also conveys a sense of authentic home- the parked car, the woman, the trees.
