Blogs

Senior Design Studio Portfolio: Robert Bush

Robert Bush will be presenting his architectural studio II models within the Frick Fine Arts gallery. A complimentary slideshow portfolio will also be projected to show previous projects within the History of Art & Architecture, as well as Studio Arts Department.  The projects selected provide a sense of Robert’s individual creativity through two-dimensional and three-dimensional expressions, but they also demonstrate what can be achieved through the Architectural Studies design track major.

"Re-Thinking Architecture: A Call for a New Social Space" by Chris Hazel

In 1992, architectural thinker and educator Lebbeus Woods proposed a series of technological pods throughout the war-torn sections of Zagreb meant to be used for free global communication. His motivation was for a an architectural free-space away from tyrannical government and traditional social hierarchy. My talk will expand on this idea of guiding social hierarchy by way of architecture.

"St. George Statuette - The Excess of the Reliquary" by DeAnna Robinson

The Statuette of St. George (1586-97) is one of the many treasures located within the treasury at the Munich Residenz. Commissioned by Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria in 1586, the statuette was made to contain a relic of St. George and was sent from the Duke’s brother, Archbishop Ernst of Cologne. As a reliquary, the statuette was constructed to convey the story of St. George Slaying the Dragon. St. George was a soldier in the Roman army who was later revered as a Christian martyr and is highly respected.

"Chalice of Gourdon" by Laura Dunn

Located in the Cabinet des Medailles are the chalice and paten found buried at the monastery in Gourdon which is in modern day France. Though we may never know how they made it to Gourdon definitively, it is worthwhile to look into the historical and social implications surrounding these items to understand their meaning more fully.

Laura Dunn

Laura Dunn is a senior double major in History of Art and Architecture and Communication Rhetoric with a minor in Italian. She is originally from Houston, Texas but has thoroughly enjoyed her time in Pittsburgh. She is deeply involved in the Chi Omega fraternity serving as the past president. She traveled with the HAA department to Cleveland and Detroit the past fall and was inspired by what she learned there.

Chris Hazel

Chris Hazel is a student in his fifth year at the University of Pittsburgh studying Architectural Studies-Design and Civil Engineering. Throughout his five years at the university, Chris has participated as a teaching assistant in multiple classes and is currently a research assistant with Professor Mina Rajagopalan.

Lauren Burgess

Lauren Burgess is a senior majoring in HAA and Communication Rhetoric with a Studio Arts minor. Lauren has been an active on Pitt’s campus both in academic pursuits and student organizations.  In the spring of 2013 Lauren received a Small Grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research to travel to New York City to conduct research for her honor thesis.

"Curating Minimalism at the Carnegie Museum of Art" by James DiBitetto

In many respects, the scholarly history of Minimalism, an artistic movement beginning in the 1960s that focused on the creation of reductive art, is quite extensive. Much is written about the formal qualities of Minimalist works as well as their production. Despite this, not much focus has been paid to the reception of these works, and almost no focus has been directed toward the display and curation of Minimalist art.