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Portal to the Point Generates Inventive Design

aerial architectural view of Point State Park
Marlon Blackwell Architect

Marlon Blackwell, head of the architecture department, is a member of one of five multidisciplinary creative teams selected to participate in Portal to the Point: A Design Ideas Exploration. The teams will focus on public art and design at Point State Park, the most visible landmark in Pittsburgh, Pa. The 36-acre Point State Park is a popular recreational area on a triangular tract at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which form the Ohio River.

This idea generation project is funded by Colcom Foundation, whose mission includes “intervening in the urban landscape in positive ways,” said Paul Rosenblatt, a principal with Springboard Design and the project adviser. Rosenblatt said that, rather than tie things to a construction budget, the foundation board wanted to develop ideas to generate a fresh perspective on the park.

Blackwell’s architectural firm is the leader of an impressive team that also includes Kendall Buster, a nationally renowned sculptor and a professor in the department of sculpture and extended media at Virginia Commonwealth University; Guy Nordenson and Associates; dlandstudio of Brooklyn, N.Y; and Renfro Design Group of New York.