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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Resume...... 5
[thesis] Ex-Libris: Citizen...... 7
Baum-Centre Corridor...... 13
Nexus...... 21 REBECCA LEFKOWITZ Afterglow: Urban Beach...... 31 Architecture & Urban Design Portfolio Social Corners...... 45
[thesis] Glitch...... 59
Permeating the Identity Frontier...... 75
Farm as Fiction...... 85
Sketchbook...... 101
EX-LIBRIS: CITIZEN Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 2018 9
EX-LIBRIS: CITIZEN Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 2018-2019 . 1 year . individual work
How can we cope in an age governed by algorithms, powerful corporations with utopian ideas of progress: oversaturated with media and information, and marked take the headquarters of Google or Facebook that offer by exponential socioeconomic divergence? Only global open layouts, non-hierarchical seating arrangements, networks of localized initiatives can actively reclaim flexible communal spaces, and plenty of amenities that power from the centralized institutions of the past and mean you never have to leave your office. On the surface, delegate that power to the public domain. Inklings of these corporate campuses foster flexibility, community, this egalitarian, decentralized city of the future already and creativity—all in the name of productivity. exist in local grassroots organizations that engage in the Interestingly, this model does not rely exclusively on practice of commoning, a concept that framed the first a digital form of exchange: it is a testament to the semester of thesis research. importance of physical encounters as a way to build trust and establish connections. Historically, libraries have acted as one such platform for exchange and are a great example of a trust-based I believe that spatial alliances between cooperatives sharing economy, with the objectives to produce, are essential: by providing a physical infrastructure store, and disseminate knowledge. The concept of the for exchange between localized initiatives, we can lending library was first explored by Benjamin Franklin establish a campus for the civic sphere, one that acts as and other intellectual colonists, who, out of financial a legitimate symbol for decentralization, sharing, and necessity, began to keep a collective library for their emancipation from market forces. books. This collection eventually grew to become the Library Company of Philadelphia, a privately-run non- Applying concepts like adaptive reuse and prosumerism profit organization that acts outside the market and the found in the Braddock Carnegie Library and Millvale state. I believe that, if applied at an urban scale, the Community Library, the icon-ization of a non- library typology can serve as a symbol for decentralized architectural operation found in Prinzessinnengarten cooperation between localized initiatives in the city of in Berlin, and spatial flexibility found in OMA’s Seattle the future. Public Library and Cedric Price’s Fun Palace, I hope to leverage the conventional model of the lending library The vocabulary of this narrative is often co-opted by as a spatial product of implementing cosmopolitan marketing ploys and capitalist spaces that aim to align localism. 10
In order to borrow some of the architectural language and historical ethos of the library, I’ve chosen to site this project in Philadelphia, particularly in the neighborhood of Hawthorne in South Philadelphia. Sandwiched between Center City and rapidly- gentrifying Bella Vista, Hawthorne is a historically black neighborhood known for its jazz scene, rowdy nightclubs, poverty, and street crime. High-rise public housing projects have epitomized the neighborhood since the 1960s but are slowly being replaced by New Urbanist-style projects, causing displacement as young professionals move in.
But most importantly, Hawthorne is home to a building that formerly held the Library Company of Philadelphia, now The Philadelphia High School for Creative And Performing Arts (CAPA). Even when it was built, this Neoclassical fortress represented an antiquated version of a library, and became a symbol of South Philadelphia’s blight.
Set against this backdrop of grandiose privatism, I envision a hyper-flexible, self-regulating platform for exchange operating on multiple scales outside the spheres of market and state and supportive of spontaneous inculcation of knowledge and skills.
This project is as of yet unfinished but is inspired largely by my interests in protest, historic architectural >>> styles, large-scale urban plans that propose utopian This adjacent image attempts visions, collage, architectural semantics, and equity. to compile a wide variety of This project will cumulate in an group exhibit. thoughts and inspirations for my final vision of this project. BAUM-CENTRE CORRIDOR Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . 2018 15
BAUM-CENTRE CORRIDOR Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . 2018 . 16 weeks . collaborative work
Conducted for the Remaking Cities Institute alongside horses graze. It’s for this reason that the area is known the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, as the East Liberty Valley, after “liberty,” the British this group project encompassed a wide range of tasks, term for grazing field. Eventually, the area densified as including software analysis for virtual reality as well as Pittsburgh grew, and much of the East Liberty Valley site analysis for the Baum-Centre Corridor, a stretch of was owned by Jacob Negley. He added a road crossing two parallel streets that forms an urban seam situated through Penn Avenue, right past his house and aptly between the Shadyside, East Liberty, Bloomfield, and named “Negley Avenue.” At this time, both millionaires Friendship neighborhoods. My primary roles in this and the middle class wanted to get out of the polluted project were to coordinate presentations, experiment downtown, so many moved to the East End. Most with a Rhino to Unity workflow, research the history development was centered on Penn and Fifth Avenues, of the site, and establish a set of typological units to be eventually meeting awkwardly in the middle at the used for quick modeling in virtual reality. newly-constructed Pennsylvania Railroad.
It’s clear that the layout of this urban fabric is piecemeal. These neighborhoods were all scaled to be walkable. It’s difficult to navigate these roads, with some changing But with the advent and popularity of the car plus direction by almost 90 degrees. It’s inconsistent between migration to the suburbs, the scale of urban fabric neighborhoods, producing seams between them. But changed, leading to the construction of this corridor. why? Laid out sometime in the first half of the last century, these two parallel, straight-shooting roads aim straight In the early 1600s, Native Americans used a trail that for the center of East Liberty, occupying that once- followed natural topographical and botanical conditions awkward boundary between the Penn & Fifth grids. to travel in a general East-West direction. This trail The corridor resolves this by simply re-orienting major became a military road to serve Fort Pitt, located at the roads like Negley, Aiken, and Shady Avenues. And Point. The British renamed this trail to “Forbes Road” from the history of retail, the scale and speed of the for General Forbes. The valley in which East Liberty car rendered smaller storefronts invisible. With this new exists today was just the right distance away from arterial, valuable, accessible plots were built with new Fort Pitt to make this area ideal for travelers to take a retail needs: car-service stations, larger institutional break, staying overnight in a tavern and letting their “storefronts,” and less housing with bigger footprints. Andrew CarnegieAndrew begins steel Edgar Thomson at production Works Steel Stock Exchange renamed “Oil Exchange” renamed Stock Exchange East Liberty from above Artist Unknown, c. 1940 “[Pittsburgh is] Hell with the lid taken off.”
Negley’s granddaughter marries Thomas Negley’s the East Liberty area Mellon and develops center with a transportation as commercial lines to pass first trolley hub… convincing East Liberty through -James Parton, 1866 View of the Great Fire of Pittsburgh William Coventry Wall, 1846 33-50% of steel nation’s in Pittsburgh produced
Streetcars in East End “In truth, Pittsburg is a smoky, dismal city, at her Artist Unknown, c. 1955 best. At her worst, nothing darker, dingier or Generals Braddock and Forbes’s Generals Braddock and Forbes’s armies through construct roads the wilderness more dispiriting can be imagined.” Hazelwood, 1940 -Willard Glazer, 1883 Jack Delano “I spent some time in viewing the rivers, and the land in the fork; which I think extremely well 1859 View of Pittsburgh situated for a fort, as it has absolute command of 1872 William Schuchman, 1859 Homestead Steel Works both rivers.” granddaughter inherits Casper Taub’s after the and names streets Friendship Aiken, including Roup, family, Winebiddle & Baum Negley, “From whatever direction one approaches the George Westinghouse’s Wabtec Wabtec Westinghouse’s George opens railway 1907 Phipps Conservatory and Phipps Conservatory donated Botanical Gardens Henry Phipps to city by once lovely conjunction of the Allegheny and the -George Washington, 1753 Pittsburgh-Greensburg ensures Negley Alexander making the East Liberty, turnpike through built growth and ensuring its future center a trading area
Conway Railyard opens Railyard Conway Monogahela the devastation of progress is appar- Carnegie founds heavy Carnegie heavy founds line Union Railroad freight ent. Quite valleys have been inundated with slag, defaced with refuse, marred by hideous buildings. PPG Place built Pitt Township government formed government Pitt Township Trolleys begin running Trolleys along Baum Blvd Streams have been polluted with sewage and 1984 Pittsburgh becomes possession ofPittsburgh State Pennsylvania the waste from the mills. Life for the majority of the population has been rendered unspeakably Baum Boulevard Car Dealerships Baltimore & Ohio Railroad enters the city & Ohio Railroad Baltimore pinched and dingy.... This is what might be called c. 1950
Regent Theatre opens in East Liberty Theatre Regent the technological blight of heavy industry.” Great Fire of Fire Great Pittsburgh
-R.L. Duffus (Atlantic Monthly), 1930 city hosts G20 summit officially designated as city officially designated Pittsburgh Stock Exchange, Stock Exchange, Pittsburgh founded called “Oil Exchange,” nation’s 8th-largest city 8th-largest nation’s Shadyside’s Hunt Armory built Shadyside’s
Henry Phipps Jr. Motor ELDI recreates as un - Garden Square successful indoor mall Thomas Viceroy completes Thomas Viceroy plan the first town East Liberty holiday season Pittsburgh Steel Mill 1839 - 1930 East Liberty largely a free grazing a free area East Liberty largely incorporated as borough Pittsburgh Lithograph of Fort Pitt J&L Steel Company c. 1860 Steel Mill at Night---Jones & Laughlin Steel Company to Erie extends Turnpike c. 1970 first European to enter the region: Robert de La Salle region: to enter the first European first description of Bezallion by Michael fork Ohio River 1758 Gretton, c. 1850 Aaron Henry Gorson, 1910 Shadyside’s Walnut Street French & British explorers fight for fight & British explorers French ofcontrol the region URA demolishes roughly URA demolishes roughly half of East Liberty to restored Avenue Penn street two-way 334,563 city population to meet East Liberty Blvd extends Avenue Penn Bloomfield neighborhood, Collins Township (now (now Township Bloomfield neighborhood, Collins to Pittsburgh annexed and Shadyside East Liberty, Pittsburgh AAA buys AAA buys Pittsburgh Garden Motor Square auto shows for population grows to 1,400 grows population Motor Square Garden Garden Motor Square matches boxing used for maxxed city population out to 676,806 Fort Prince George built by the British by built Prince George Fort 1935 Google completes campus Bakery Square at Initiative Baum Centre launched 1900 ofBoulevard the Allies constructed 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 1957 airport opens Whiskey Rebellion Rebellion Whiskey Pittsburgh Steelers founded Pittsburgh Allegheny City annexed Allegheny opened Liberty Tunnels 2015 glass manufacturers begin to glass manufacturers economy dominate Carnegie companies merged Steel into U.S. Friendship inhabited Friendship families prosperous by 1950s through East Liberty anchored by by East Liberty anchored department stores Shadyside Action Coalition formedShadyside General John Forbes begins Forbes General John construction of Pitt Fort
Fort Duquesne built by the French by Duquesne built Fort Pittsburgh Landscape Shadyside’s Walnut Street
Olive Harriett Nuhfer, c. 1920 c. 1960 Hill District demolished, Lower unrest breeds major dislocation Pennsylvania Turnpike opens Turnpike Pennsylvania 1,600 tech companies now 1,600 tech in Pittsburgh located Pittsburgh Pirates founded Pirates Pittsburgh
On The Trail To Fort Pitt Highland Building Burnham’s in East Liberty completed
Robert Griffing, 1762 founded Group Preservation Friendship most valuable deposit ofmost valuable bituminous in Coal Hill discovered coal in U.S.
Stock Exchange renamed “Coal Exchange” renamed Stock Exchange Motor Square Garden East Liberty’s first coworking space opens first coworking East Liberty’s “After traveling for two weeks through white, Andrew Carnegie East Liberty street Renovation, 1980 1835 - 1919 c. 1950
clean, cheerful-looking villages and towns, Chamber of Pittsburgh Greater formed Commerce European fur traders establish area posts and settlements area fur traders establish European to come all at once upon dirty streets and dark, Garden Motor Square AAA buys filthy looking houses stretching away in rows Italian immigrants settle in Bloomfield continuously ahead and enveloped Shadyside’s Walnut Street Quebec soldiers launch expedition to unite Canada expedition Quebec soldiers launch network Louisiana via the river with French in an atmosphere of smoke and soot which Landscape near Pittsburgh c. 1970
blackened everything in sight, local industrialists by Duquesne Club founded Carnegie Library opens “Pittsburgh” named by General named by “Pittsburgh” in honor of Forbes John British Pitt William statesman George Hetzel, c. 1866 Penn Avenue in East Liberty was not a pleasant transition.” c. 1930 -Visitor, 1829 Finishing the Cathedral of Learning Silent Spring released Carson’s Rachel Homestead Strike between Amalgamated Amalgamated Homestead Strike between ofAssociation and Steel Workers Iron Carnegieversus Steel Company
Treaty of Stanwix signed by Treaty Fort family and Penn nation Iroquois “Six months residence here would justify suicide.” Harry William Scheuch, 1934 -Herbert Spencer, 1882
Pontiac’s War / Battle of / Battle War Run Bushy Pontiac’s 1882
Motor Square Garden built by by built Garden Motor Square as city market Mellon Family East Brookline Steps Mellon Bank & Pittsburgh National Bank National Bank & Pittsburgh Mellon Inc East Liberty Development, create 1952
Lithograph of Pittsburgh 70% ofOver to converted Friendship apartments multi-unit Carnegie’s Pittsburgh Locomotive Locomotive Pittsburgh Carnegie’s opens & Car Works 1849 approximate date of date claim approximate Casper Taub’s settler areas and Garfield Friendship, to Bloomfield, Pennsy’s Pitcairn Yard Pitcairn Yard Pennsy’s marshalling to largest grows in the region yard Mary Schenley donates donates Mary Schenley to city 454 acres Pittsburgh Penguins founded Penguins Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh from the Northwest, 1843 Baum Boulevard in East Liberty Sherman Day, 1843 1937 The Point 1956
“[Pittsburgh is the] Birmingham of America.” Pittsburgh’s Monongahela River from South Side Slopes -George W. Ogden, 1821 c. 1800 Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad & Ohio Railroad Pennsylvania to Philadelphia connects Pittsburgh 18
But the physical transformation of the Baum-Centre (and suburban malls) deterred non-resident visitors to Corridor still does not tell the full story. So why does the the new pedestrian mall of East Liberty. racial makeup of these neighborhoods vary so much? Gentrification’s timing is unpredictable but is often During the migration of millionaires to the East inevitable. Though it suffered a nearly 30-year End, industrial magnates like the Negley’s, Mellon’s, economic paralysis, East Liberty is now marked by Carnegie’s, and more moved out of the city and into a new transit hub, larger-scale retail, and the Bakery the more desirable East Liberty Valley. But the Great Square tech-y development. These flashier, market- Depression spared none from its wrath: many, like the rate projects geared towards the middle class started Negley’s, went broke, and these magnates grew older to crop up here because the area is geographically a and died. As a result, many of their giant mansions desirable distance from downtown, is accessible, and peppered around the area were either divided into had low property rates. apartments or simply demolished. The middle-class residents of the area began to move away, too, leading to The housing stock of surrounding neighborhoods, an even smaller population to serve. This combination particularly Shadyside, Bloomfield, and Friendship, did of events essentially destroyed the commercial viability not suffer the fate of mass demolition in the late 1900s; as of the area. a result, the higher-quality of building stock eventually attracted the first indicators of gentrification: students As the Great Depression’s grip loosened, these property and hippies. With accessible commercial and service rates did not increase, but stayed stagnant, due to the amenities plus this cheap-but-high-quality building drastic loss of commercial services. Because of these stock, these neighborhoods have been gentrified at a dramatically-lowered property rates, minorities and much faster rate than East Liberty—and the seam that disenfranchised groups were able to afford property in binds them all. this area more-so than still-commercial downtown or the growing suburbs. As a result of this varied and evolving history, the Baum- Centre Corridor features some very unique conditions, This was compounded by the Urban Renewal projects like mega-blocks, a tangle of one-way streets, large of the 1970s, when large, fairly low-quality apartment plots, high vacancy rates, plentiful parking lots, blocks were built, more than 1 million square feet of built dangerous intersections, and more. But because of its fabric was demolished, and over-scaled and confusing adjacency to three primarily residential neighborhoods roads, particularly Penn Circle, were constructed. The and commercial center of East Liberty, the Corridor seven-year construction schedule and growing suburbs has potential to serve residents in the future. NEXUS Toronto, Canada . 2018 23
NEXUS Toronto, Canada . 2018 . 2 weeks . collaborative work
The Huron-Wendat people, who once lived on the completing the circle’s edge. A park with a naturalized shores of Lake Ontario between 1200-1600 A.D., landscape edge allows the river to swell here, giving believed that the circle symbolized interconnectedness even more meaning to the circle’s form. The hotel on between humankind and the natural world. Today, the site is one of few east of the Don River, offering an circles remain a meaningful symbol, emphasizing amenity to the businesses and residents here. continuity, unity, and totality. In response to the grand commercial scale of the East By design, Nexus complements Toronto’s surrounding Harbour plan, located just southeast of Nexus, the retail neighborhoods, welcoming visitors and residents alike availability here focuses on smaller, local companies. to an ecologically-sound and programmatically diverse For example, a proposed incubator restaurant called safe space. Community-led programming engages The New Canadian, fosters cultural exchange by the residents of nearby neighborhoods even before hosting four chefs for six-month stints, each with a demolition of existing car dealerships begins, bringing different international menu. A landscaped patio and political attention and real estate speculation to the prime location near the bustling and badly-needed new currently underutilized site while focusing on the needs transit hub allow this type of inclusivity to flourish. of the existing and potential residents. Previously isolated, the proposed Nexus project boasts The Nexus neighborhood is not singular: each edge of exceptional connectivity and accessibility: the Nexus new development attempts to mimic the neighborhood SmartTrack station and an extension of the 501 Queen it faces. The residential townhouses on the eastern Streetcar line allow visitors from across the city and corner of the site repeat the scale and feel of the houses region to arrive on site en masse. Those traveling by just north of Eastern Avenue, while the 30-story office foot, bike, or wheelchair are also able to access Nexus building on the westernmost corner of the site creates from across the river via the station. And by extending an iconic approach to Downtown Toronto and mirrors Broadview Avenue and Lewis Street to the south, Nexus the tallest tower across the river in West Don Lands. creates a new, pedestrian-friendly street grid with short, Continuing the circle created by Corktown Commons, walkable block. A pedestrian bridge, to be completed in a park that caps the West Don Lands project, Nexus 2035, will channel families, friends, and neighbors over attempts to return focus to the Don River with the towers the highway, river, and adjacent lush landscaping.
26 27 <<< The image adjacent shows the master plan for Nexus and the diagrammatic circle connection with the West Don Lands When the Huron-Wendat people lived and built on project. the land that is now Toronto, the lower Don River meandered freely into Lake Ontario, ever-changing in its path and providing fertile ground for agriculture. Recent policies, development, and investments, particularly Sidewalk Lab’s “Sidewalk Toronto” project, have restored and naturalized the mouth of the Don River to combat its nineteenth-century industrial development, thus greatly reducing the flood risk. To complement the river’s naturalization, the plentiful impervious pavement currently existing on the Nexus site is proposed to be removed and replaced with natural landscaping nearest to the river, returning excess water to the Don via bioswales.
The Focus, a multi-purpose amphitheatre that is partially submerged into the ground plane, performs double-duty by hosting community events and gatherings like the Toronto Light Festival while also providing a space for stormwater to collect in the event of a flood. Green roofs on the lower platforms of each building offer supplementary opportunities to collect stormwater on the site, bringing sustainability benefits to the site and health benefits to the region.
Heavily inspired by Canada’s liberal immigration policies and Toronto’s rich social diversity and evolving ecological history, this project is designed to inspire interaction and unity. The proposed Nexus neighborhood allows existing urban patterns, interactions, and communities to converge: an act that could be considered the epitome of Toronto. 28 29 AFTERGLOW: URBAN BEACH Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . 2017 33
AFTERGLOW: URBAN BEACH Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . 2017 . 4 weeks . collaborative work . winner
Afterglow will transform the riverfront under Fort Assembly Required in which dancers engages the Duquesne bridge into a unique public space for relaxing audience in a process performance of improvisation, and community events, just steps away from downtown live music and co-creation. Pittsburgh. The installation captures the motion of a setting sun as it dips into the water of the Allegheny, By inviting people into a process of co-creation and and creates a series of micro-public spaces along the the hands-on experience of building together, we linear path of the promenade. Brightening-up the can nurture a sense of ownership and ultimately highway underpass, the suns provide programmatic responsibility that is essential for the success of any differentiation within a unifying and evocative public space. atmosphere. The combination of dazzling sculptural spaces on Beyond offering a place for lunch break getaways, or the one hand, and common DIY-lounge chairs on the taking a rest from a bike ride to dip your feet in the other, aims at striking a balance between creating an water, the installation will serve as a stage for regular extraordinary experience, yet one that feels informal community events to be programmed in collaboration and will incite spontaneous appropriation. with local organizations: performances, concerts and community dances, bike-repair workshops or unicycle This project was completed by StudioGruber with a lessons and the launching paddleboard eco-tours will small team led by Stefan Gruber (smgruber@andrew. bring the venue to life. By collaborating with a range of cmu.edu) and three other students. My primary different initiatives such as Attack Theater, BikePGH contributions to the team were in stakeholder and and SurfSUP Adventures, we aim at creating a place community engagement, renderings, and design that is truly inclusive for a broad and diverse public. development. The competition was announced by Riverlife in early 2017 and StudioGruber was A significant portion of the installation will take selected first as a finalist and finally as the winner of place in public workshops: we will call on volunteers the competition to design a temporary installation to to contribute to assembling 100 Do-It-Yourself be sited on Pittsburgh’s riverfront underneath the Fort Adirondack Chair. The DIY workshops will be co- Duquesne bridge ramp. The project has not yet been hosted with Attack theater and their series Some installed. STUDIOGRUBER 36 37