News Around the Neighborhood
PHLF: Defining Architectural Excellence
Architects, Eric Fisher & Art Lubetz
Tuesday, March 15
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Fee: $7.50
This lecture will be presented virtually via Zoom. Click here to purchase a ticket to RSVP. Disregard the QR code in the confirmation email.
You will receive an email with a link to the Zoom event on March 15. Log-in at 5:45p.m. to allow us enough time to let you into the event.
Everyone believes that architecture should be “good”. Yet what does that phrase even mean these days? The profession is in a poor place despite the rare exceptional new building that proves the rule. Architects design just two percent of all American houses these days. And, all around Pittsburgh, mediocre new buildings that are designed by architects have come to blight our urban landscape. How can that be considering that there are now so many rules for determining what constitutes design excellence?
Near the end of the first century B.C.E., the Roman architect, Vitruvius, suggested that buildings should exhibit “Firmness, Commodity, and Delight.” In this lecture, Pittsburgh Architects Eric Fisher and Art Lubetz consider and define what makes a building great today. A central focus of their discussion will be the questions:
“What values should contemporary architects bring to the table as they design?” and “What qualities should these buildings possess?”
Globally-Inspired Live Jazz with Tomchess & Ravi Padmanabha
World Jazz with Tomchess & Ravi Padmanabha
Sunday, March 6
6:00 pm
Multi-instrumentalists & composers Tomchess (Pittsburgh-based) and Ravi Radmanabha present an evening of globally inspired jazz in celebration of the release of their vinyl album “Permanence of the Uninterrupted Continuity.”
Joined by bassist Eli Namay, the trio is inspired by sounds of Near Eastern music, free-jazz, and world roots. They create sounds that cross genres and are rarely played in typical jazz clubs. Their goal is to share rich audience experiences that simultaneously capture the nuances of life in our 21st century global culture.
Featured Musicians: Tomchess (Oud, Ney, Morsing, Composer); Ravi Padmanabha (Tabla, Sarangi, Percussions); and Eli Namay (Upright Bass)
Runtime: 60 minutes
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner
Come to Calvary next Tuesday on March 1 from 4:30-7:30 pm to celebrate Shrove Tuesday with Pancakes.
Same origin – use up sugar, yeast, and fat in your household before fasting and observing Ash Wednesday and Lent – but handed down from England and Ireland. And with pancakes as the traditional food.
Did we mention pancakes? Did we mention “All you can eat?”
$8 Admission / $5 Children
Price includes pancakes, sausage, toppings, and drinks. Takeout available.
PHLF: Virtual Tour of Fourth Avenue Historic District
Thursday, February 24
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Fee: $7.50
This tour will be conducted via Zoom Conference. Click here to purchase a ticket to RSVP. Disregard the QR code in the confirmation email. You will receive an e-mail with a link to the Zoom event on February 24. Please log in at 5:45 p.m. to allow us enough time to let you into the tour.
When Edwin Drake invented a device in 1859 to efficiently extract oil from the earth in Titusville, PA, the flood of oil money spurred a building boom on Pittsburgh’s Fourth Avenue. By the late 19th century, the street became known as “Pittsburgh’s Wall Street” for its concentration of buildings that served the financial and investment industries.
From a Greek Revival building of 1836 to a majestic quartet of early-20th-century skyscrapers, the Fourth Avenue Historic District includes distinguished structures designed by more than a dozen eminent Pittsburgh architects. In addition to exploring the history of these buildings, the tour also will reveal how they are being re-purposed for contemporary uses to sustain this narrow but mightily impressive street.
A Queer Mary Poppins for a New Generation
Margarita
Wednesday, February 16
7:00 pm
This wonderful lesbian drama tells the tale of an undocumented Mexican nanny, Margarita (Nicola Correia Damude, Havanna 57) whose girlfriend Jane (Christine Horne, Tru Love) is reluctant to commit and whose yuppie employers—a nice Toronto family, including a bi-curious Mom — are about to let her go.
Margarita is a charming film co-starring a gorgeous pair of actresses (with terrific on-screen chemistry) and is the latest feature from lesbian co-directors Laurie Colbert and Dominique Cardona who brought us the fabulous 2007 drama Finn’s Girl. The terrific cast also includes Canadian television star Patrick McKenna, Claire Lautier (Elf, Law and Order) and Finn’s Girl star Maya Ritter.
(Run time: 91 minutes)
Letter from the President – February 2022
Contact: Bob Griewahn | president@alleghenywest.org
The icy winds of winter have been blowing, and we’ve had snow on the ground for a few weeks now. Like Hardy, we have also had our share of grey days and early evenings. I have waited for the Darkling Thrush (or at least a robin) to lift my spirits with a song but, so far, all I hear is the clank of the radiators and the incessant barking of the neighbor’s hound.
The calendar’s just turned February, though, so I can’t rightly expect warm weather for some time. I’ll have to bide the time with some good books. I’ve just finished The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, which I very much enjoyed. Next up is The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos. Perhaps we should start a book review column in the Allegheny West Gazette. But that’s a job for someone else. Please send any submissions to communications@alleghenywest.org.
There’s a lot happening on North Avenue these days. The Allegheny West Development Corporation recently acquired one of the Denny Row houses near Allegheny Avenue. AWDC intends to sell the property to a buyer who will agree to use it as an owner-occupied, single-family dwelling. In traffic news, the city has launched the “North Avenue Signals and Safety Project.” The goal is to reduce traffic accidents by revising the signal timings, adding pedestrian signals, and maintaining or improving turning lanes. The project also aims to improve bus “pullouts” to make boarding and alighting easier and safer. If you’re interested in what’s going on, you can visit the DOMI webpage at engage.pittsburghpa.gov/north-avenue-signals-and-safety-project.
That’s all I have for this month. Take care and keep warm. The days *are* getting longer.
Bob Griewahn
AWCC president
The Darkling Thrush
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land’s sharp features seemed to be
The Century’s corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
This poem, apparently, was originally called The Century’s End, 1900 and was published on December 29, 1900 in The Graphic, a weekly illustrated newspaper. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find the illustration for the poem (if an illustration even existed).
Cocktail Corner
The Cranberry Flip
- 2 oz dry gin
- 4 oz cranberry juice
- 2 oz lemon juice (about one lemon’s worth)
Fill a tall glass with ice, add ingredients, and stir.
Garnish with mint and orange slices
Judge Jr., Here’s How!, 1927
Notes
- As always, drink responsibly.
- This is, possibly, a pre-cursor to The Cosmopolitan or “Cosmo”, which was so popular in the 1980s (and into the 2000s for some Sex and the City fans).
- Leave out the gin for a “mocktail” that also promotes urinary tract health!
- Mint is still available at some grocery stores. It’s far cheaper, though, to grow your own crop each year. But beware! Mint spreads like a weed, so you may want to isolate it in a planter, or between the walk and your house.
PHLF: Virtual Tour of Market Square
Thursday, February 10
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Fee: $7.50
This tour will be conducted via Zoom Conference. Click here to purchase a ticket. Disregard the QR code in the confirmation email. You will receive an e-mail with a link to the Zoom event on February 10. Please log in at 5:45 p.m. to allow us enough time to let you into the tour.
Ever since surveyor George Woods laid out the plan of streets of Pittsburgh in 1784, Market Square has occupied an important place Downtown—geographically, economically, and culturally. In this area where historic architecture meets recent construction, we will see how PHLF’s work has helped to revive a Downtown core that was once threatened by extensive demolition.
The tour includes residential, commercial, corporate, and hotel buildings, several of which the U.S. Green Building Council has awarded its highest certifications for environmental sustainability. Together, the sites on the tour demonstrate how the combination of historic preservation and thoughtful new development can create a livable urban environment.
America’s Top Immigrant Lawyer in Conversation
Susan Cohen: Journeys from There to Here
Monday, January 31
7:00 pm
Susan Cohen is an internationally recognized immigration lawyer known for her work fighting the 2017 Travel Ban and representing hundreds of thousands of foreign students in litigation opposing dangerous COVID-related student visa policies. Susan visits City of Asylum to discuss her new collection of essays, Journeys from There to Here, a collection that walks us alongside her clients as they share their incredible journeys coming to America while overcoming unimaginable obstacles abroad.
Sprinkled with amusing anecdotes, tense junctures, and heartwarming segments, Journeys from There to Here brings us front and center at the courtroom learning about US immigration policies and systems-which often become an immigrant’s greatest hurdle. Susan is joined by Gazmend Kapllani whose story is prominently featured in Susan’s work.
(Run time: 75 minutes). There are two ways to watch the program: in-person at our venue Alphabet City or live-streamed online. Please review our Covid-19 safety policies for indoor programs @ Alphabet City.
PHLF: A Virtual Tour of Historic Mexican War Streets
Thursday, January 20
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Fee: $7.50
This tour will be conducted via Zoom Conference. Click here to purchase a ticket to RSVP and you will receive a login e-mail on January 20. Please log in at 5:45 p.m. to allow us enough time to let you into the tour.
Explore one of the most colorful sections of Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood. You’ll learn about the history of the neighborhood, including creation of Allegheny Commons and the Mexican War Streets, and become familiar with the picturesque variety of Victorian architectural styles there. Historic preservation figures prominently in this tour, highlighting how PHLF and the Mexican War Streets Society used preservation strategies to reverse neighborhood decline and disinvestment.
The tour also features historic structures that have been creatively re-purposed by individuals, including the Mattress Factory, City of Asylum/Alphabet City, and the whimsically artful world of Randyland.