Modern Landscapes

Mellon Square
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Mellon Square is the first modern garden plaza built over a parking structure in the United States and one of the earliest examples of a green roof. This square and parking garage was designed by the distinguished landscape architecture firm Simonds & Simonds and architects Mitchell & Ritchey, principals John O. Simonds and Dahlen Ritchey, from the late 1940s through 1955 as a part of the first Pittsburgh renaissance. Mellon Square exhibits a complex aesthetic through intricacy of forms, textures, details and views to and from the surrounding buildings. Due to subterranean leakage into the parking garage and additional programming needs, the Square was reworked in the 1980s. While somewhat changed, this modern urban piazza provides an artistic civic gathering space that adds liveliness, beauty and green space to downtown Pittsburgh. Today, life cycle failures, weathering and abuse are signaled by deterioration of specific elements throughout the Square.

In 2008, Heritage Landscapes led a multi-disciplinary team of experts to develop a thorough Preservation, Interpretation, and Management Plan. This plans seeks to structure preservation, revitalization, interpretation and management into the future. Extensive research at several repositories yielded a wealth of documentation to include 1955 and 1987 construction documents and hundreds of photographs.  Existing conditions reconnaissance noted vegetation, built elements, and uses of the Square through behavior mapping. Analysis revealed that Mellon Square is deteriorated and changes made in the 1980s altered and compromised this modern masterwork. Treatment recommendations outline steps for future restoration to reinstate the 1950s design, and improvements to drainage, structural integrity, and lighting. Public education through a series of interpretive themes is envisioned. A management component addresses the long-term stewardship and sustainability of this nationally significant modern plaza.

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