Restoration of Mellon Square inspires book about the modernist landmark

Seven years ago on a cold January night, landscape architect Charles Birnbaum urged local leaders to restore Mellon Square, the modernist jewel of a park that opened in 1955 in Downtown Pittsburgh.

As president and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation in Washington, D.C., Mr. Birnbaum championed the project because he knew of other significant landscapes that had already disappeared from cities and parks.

Six months later, in June 2007, Meg Cheever, president and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, took Susan Rademacher on a tour of the citys historic parks Frick, Schenley, Riverview and Highland plus the Hill District.

It was not my first visit to Pittsburgh, said Ms. Rademacher, who had visited as a consultant to the parks conservancy. But until then, I didnt have a sense of the rich landscape, history and opportunities.

On Thursday night at Carnegie Museum of Art, Mr. Birnbaum spoke about the creation and recent $10 million renovation of the park. Ms. Rademacher then signed copies of her book, Mellon Square: Discovering a Modern Masterpiece.An initiative of Mr. Birnbaums foundation, the book was published by Princeton Architectural Press.

Key players in the projects history were financier Richard King Mellon and Mayor David Lawrence, who seized the chance to remake smoky Downtown Pittsburgh after World War II by spending $4 million to buildMellon Square on top of a parking garage. The architects were James Mitchell and Dahlen Ritchey; the landscape architects were John Ormsbee Simonds and his brother, Philip.

Mr. Mellons sister, Sarah Mellon Scaife, played an unexpected role in the parks final design. Shehad just returned from Italy when she saw preliminary design documents for the square.

She questioned the paving pattern. It was a rectilinear concrete pavement, Ms. Rademacher said.She thought it was boring, and she had just been dazzled in Venice in St. Marks Square, which has a very elaborate pavement pattern. She challenged them.

John [Simonds] rose to the challenge and developed the amazing harlequin pattern, which his partner, Phil, detailed, Ms. Rademacher said.

Phil Simonds created paving made from unpolished marble chips, calling itrustic Venetian terrazzo. Narrow bronze strips between the pavment form interlocking triangles.

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Restoration of Mellon Square inspires book about the modernist landmark