Numerous projects have been made to fit, however, and additional projects have been spun out to satellite locations within the surrounding city. This building program has substantially reshaped, extended, and renewed Carnegie Mellon's campus and has contributed significant new architecture to Pittsburgh. Campus architecture is driven by institutional, technological, and cultural imperatives. In its second era, an institution in the throes of post-war growth opted for an architecture of expediency and modernity. This time there has been little synthesis, but rather the decision to have it both ways, and the concurrent development of two major architectural languages for new buildings.
All buildings have private and public roles.
In its private role, each building's internal functional attributes serve its immediate users. In its public role, each building contributes to the larger environment and the larger community through its relationships with other buildings and open spaces. This exhibit explores the recent era of campus building at Carnegie Mellon, with a focus on the public realm. Selected projects receive individual treatment, with a look at the historical context, an investigation of the architects' creative processes, and some assessment of the results. These projects became the substance of the campus plan that emerged from the 1987 University Center Competition, shaped campus development for a decade, and continues to govern the future of the campus.