Proud Pitts - 5
The design of PPG Place, by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, melds the notion of the modern corporate tower with a neo-gothic monument. Clad in almost a million square feet of glass manufactured by the anchor tenant PPG industries, the architects ingeniously rethought accepted practices in curtain wall design to create "the crown jewel in Pittsburgh's skyline." The 1.57 million square foot complex was one in a series of high profile corporate projects completed during Johnson's controversial foray into postmodernism. Commissioned by PPG Industries, formerly the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, the headquarters occupies a 5.5 acre site in the central business district and was part of an urban revitalization effort after the demise of the steel industry. PPG Place is a cluster of 6 volumes: a 40 story tower, a 14 story volume, and four 6 story buildings. The composition of lower volumes negotiates the verticality of the main tower and the lower surrounding context, yet all buildings are materially integrated and organized around a central plaza. The buildings house office space, retail shops, restaurants, and a publicly accessible winter garden.
Proud Pitts - 5
The design of PPG Place, by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, melds the notion of the modern corporate tower with a neo-gothic monument. Clad in almost a million square feet of glass manufactured by the anchor tenant PPG industries, the architects ingeniously rethought accepted practices in curtain wall design to create "the crown jewel in Pittsburgh's skyline." The 1.57 million square foot complex was one in a series of high profile corporate projects completed during Johnson's controversial foray into postmodernism. Commissioned by PPG Industries, formerly the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, the headquarters occupies a 5.5 acre site in the central business district and was part of an urban revitalization effort after the demise of the steel industry. PPG Place is a cluster of 6 volumes: a 40 story tower, a 14 story volume, and four 6 story buildings. The composition of lower volumes negotiates the verticality of the main tower and the lower surrounding context, yet all buildings are materially integrated and organized around a central plaza. The buildings house office space, retail shops, restaurants, and a publicly accessible winter garden.