Introducing Architecture

A series of worksheets
and activities for
classroom use

Drawings by Eric Nicklaus, 1996

Compiled by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation

 PITTSBURGH HISTORY & LANDMARKS FOUNDATION

Founded in 1964, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is a

non-profit historic preservation group serving Allegheny County. It is
dedicated to identifying and preserving the architectural landmarks,
historic neighborhoods, and historic designed landscapes of Allegheny
County and to educating people about this region’s architectural heritage
and urban and landscape design history.

Through its Preservation Loan Fund, bricks-and-mortar projects,

architectural surveys, feasibility studies, and educational programs,
Landmarks has been able to prove the economic and cultural
value of historic preservation and articulate a realistic vision for
Pittsburgh’s future based on an understanding of its past and
an appreciation of its built environment.

Landmarks’ offices and reference library are located on the fourth floor of
The Landmarks Building at Station Square. For further information about
our preservation services, educational programs, or membership benefits,
please call (412) 471-5808 or visit our website at: www.phlf.org
Contents

Warm-up Exercises
Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Comparing Aspects of a Building to the Human Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Constructing a Human Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Body Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Acting Out Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Building Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Building Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

What Is It Like To Be a Building? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Reading the Urban Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Architectural Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Sketching a Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Mainstreet Mural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Architectural Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Paper-Bag Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Gargoyle Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

History Written in Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

A Bridge-Building Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Pop-Up Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Making a “Someplace Special” Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Landmark T-Shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Warm-up Exercises:

PERCEPTION
Goal: to encourage people to start noticing what is around them

A perception game for students

1. Find a partner and take about 10 seconds to observe how he/she is dressed and how he/she looks.
2. Have one partner (A) turn his/her back on the other partner (B).
3. While partner A is not looking, partner B should change one thing about his/her appearance: tuck
in a shirt; unbutton a button; put your glasses on upside down, etc.
4. Tell Partner A to turn around and guess what is different about Partner B’s appearance.
5. Switch roles and repeat the process.

Perception games in the classroom

Once a week, or once a month, change something in your classroom and see if your students notice:
turn a poster upside down; hang up something new; move something out of the place where it is
always supposed to be. This will help keep students alert and remind them that you expect them to
be observant in the classroom.

DRAWING
Goal: to help students feel comfortable drawing and to encourage expression and creativity

Sketching your hand

Each student must have a piece of paper and a pencil.
1. Ask your students to hold the hand they do not write with in front of them,
in any position.
2. Tell them to look at that hand during the whole drawing exercise.
3. Without looking at their paper, ask students to draw their hand in
30 seconds. Challenge them to use one line to draw the whole hand.
4. Hold up the drawings so everyone can see.

Usually, students laugh and comment on the drawings. They rarely feel
embarrassed because they were not allowed to look at their paper and
they were only given 30 seconds. But, point out that in spite of these constraints,
the drawings look like hands. Congratulate your students on being able to reveal
the basic shape and purpose of a hand with one line, in a limited amount of time.

Repeat this exercise once a week, or once a month.

Quick sketches of objects/people

For variation, you might ask students to draw a particular object in the classroom, or the person
seated next to him/her! Remember: students must not look at their paper while drawing and the
drawings must be completed within a time limit.

2
Comparing Aspects of a Building
to the Human Anatomy

Building Term Human Term

1. Facade Face

2. Door Mouth

3. Windows Eyes and ears

4. Outside walls Skin

5. Structural framework Skeleton

6. Electrical system Nervous system

7. Plumbing system Digestive and Excretory systems

8. Ventilation Respiration

3
Constructing a Human Building
1. Obtain two volunteers and have them stand in front of the class.
2. Explain how their bodies and bones represent structure. And just as one bone supports another,
one brick or one stone supports another in the wall of a building.
3. Point out how the volunteers are dressed differently. They are ornamented in different ways.
Parts of the buildings are also ornamented or dressed in different ways.
4. Add additional students to make a row. They represent a structural wall, ornamented in
different ways.
5. Is this a building yet?
6. What else is necessary for a building? Add more students to form four walls (leaving a doorway).
7. Is this a building yet?
8. Have students extend their arms to meet and form a roof. Walls support the roof. The walls and
roof together represent enclosure and a completed building.
9. Have a student enter and leave the building through the doorway. Discuss function--how a
building is used.
10. Discuss possibilities for change to the building. Add students to make an addition to the building.
Alter someone’s clothing to change “ornamentation.”
11. Discuss what has happened and review architectural principles (in bold face).

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1986

4
Body Building
Feel in your body the pressure, stretching, and bending that architects must contend with.

column dome

A column resists compression. Balance a pile

of books on your head to feel compression.

A dome works like many arches arranged in

a circle. Start to make a dome by having two
people make an arch, leaning their hands
cantilever against a large rubber ball. Keep adding
pairs until there is no more room. What
would happen if someone took the ball
away?

A cantilever balances weight on one side of a

beam with weight on the other side. The beam
must be strong enough to resist bending or it
will break. To feel this bending force, try to hold
the same pile of books at arm’s length.

catenary

A catenary, often seen in suspension bridges,

is almost the opposite of an arch. Only steel
cables are strong enough to resist this kind
arch
of tension. You can feel the tension of a
catenary bridge and the compression on the
piers that hold it by having two people pick
An arch uses compression to balance its own up a third by the wrists and ankles. Is there
weight and the weight piled on top of it. Build an more tension when the “piers” stand closer
arch with two people leaning against each other’s together or further apart? Is there ever a
hands. How far apart can you and your partner happy medium?
stand before your arch begins to collapse? Where
in your body do you feel the most pressure?

Source: Exploring Architecture Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1987

5
Acting Out Structures

column arch post and lintel

vault-tunnel dome column and beam cantilever

flying buttresses load and support tension compression

Source: Architecture in Education, Foundation for Architecture, Philadelphia, 1986

6
Building Types

Churches
Churches usually have tall pointed parts such as windows,
roofs and spires which point upward toward heaven and
symbolize people’s aspirations for God.

Schools
Schools usually look boxy and have groups of large windows
because they have large boxy classrooms, auditoriums and
gyms on the inside.

Commercial Buildings (Stores)

Stores used to have large open areas to display merchandise.
Stores have large windows so people will see the merchandise
from the street and want to come into the store and buy
something.

Office Buildings
Office buildings are tall because they are built in the city on
expensive land: builders want to build as many offices as they
can on as little land as they can. Tall office buildings were
built only after steel beams and the elevator were invented.
They have small windows because there are many small rooms
inside.

Factories
Factories have large low buildings so that they can have
complicated manufacturing processes in one place without
transporting things from floor to floor or building to building.
Large windows and skylights let in light. Smokestacks take
smoke away from the building and release it into the air.

Public Buildings
Public Buildings are designed to look formal and dignified
so people will respect the government and other official
organizations housed within.

Houses
Houses are the most common building type.There are many
different types of houses. They look different from each other
and have different relationships with each other.

1. What type of building are you in now?______________________________________________

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1986

7
Building Materials
Buildings are constructed of many different materials. Materials determine a building’s structure and its
exterior color and texture. Most buildings are constructed of wood, stone, or brick. What material or
materials is your house constructed of? _______________________________________________________

WOOD Wood is the most easily found and inexpensive

building material. It is also easy to work with. Early
houses were made of logs or thick boards slotted
together. The development of manufactured nails and
mechanical saws led to wood framing with thin
boards nailed together. Wood weatherboard siding or
shingles can also be used as an outside covering.

STONE Stone is easily found in some places, but is difficult

to work with. A stone wall combines structure and
covering in one. Stone can be laid in irregular pieces
(rubble) or cut into blocks. It can be rough surfaced
(rusticated) or cut smooth. “Coursed” stone is stone
laid in rows. Stone is very strong and makes a
building appear solid.

BRICK Brick is manufactured from clay. It is easier to work

with than stone and is stronger than wood. Brick
became popular in cities because a brick house does
not catch on fire as easily as a frame house. Brick is
laid in rows and held together with mortar. It is laid
in different patterns or “bonds.” Can you see the
difference between these two brick patterns?

Some buildings are built of other materials.

METAL Metal is often used for the structure of a building. Strong steel beams support sky-
scrapers. Cast iron, steel, and aluminum are also sometimes used to cover buildings.

CONCRETE Concrete buildings are made of concrete blocks, pre-cast and laid in rows, or of
cement poured at a building site and left to harden.

GLASS In most buildings, glass is only used for windows. Some modern buildings, however,
are entirely covered by sheets of glass.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1986

8
What Is It Like To Be a Building?
Choose a building you are familiar with. Imagine what it would be like to be that building. What was
it like when you were first built? How have you changed over the years? What do you think about
the people who have lived in/used/visited you over the years? What is the expression on your face?
Write a brief story answering these questions and any others you might imagine.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1986

9
Reading the Urban Environment
The objective of this exercise is to increase awareness of different building types.

There are many different types of buildings. What are some of the different building types in your
community? How are they different from each other? Different buildings serve different purposes.
Using your visual awareness skills, can you tell what a building is used for? Has the use changed
since the building was built?

In my community we have (give the number of each building type):

Houses _________________________________________________________________________________

Churches________________________________________________________________________________

Schools _________________________________________________________________________________

Stores___________________________________________________________________________________

Offices _________________________________________________________________________________

Factories ________________________________________________________________________________

Public buildings _________________________________________________________________________

Old buildings/new uses____________________________________________________________________

What type of building are you in now?______________________________________________________

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1986

10
 The architectural styles covered in this chart are described in their purest
Architectural Styles form. In practice, most structures are a combination of several different
styles. Also, numerous remodelings and modernizations make the original
lines difficult to discern. The upper floors of a building are more likely to
remain intact than the street level. This chart should, however, allow you to
learn more about the buildings that make up your neighborhood.

Italianate Second Romanesque Classical Revival Colonial Revival Art Deco

Empire

Italianate Second Empire Romanesque

1840-1880 1865-1885 1875-1900
Adapted from Italian Borrowed from France, this This style is characterized by
Renaissance villas, these style is a square box with massive arched windows and
buildings have a square body massive ornamentation. doorways. The facades of
topped by a low roof line. Windows of many sizes and these buildings are often orna-
At the roof line are deep eaves shapes decorate the face. The mented with short columns
decorated with large brackets most identifiable feature is the and squat towers. Always built
on a wide cornice board. mansard roof. A full story tall of brick or stone, Romanesque
Window shapes vary from and shaped like a flat-topped buildings are sometimes
floor to floor, with the most pyramid, the roof is often decorated with terra cotta.
common shape having a accented by a central tower The finest example of this style
rounded top. Italianate structure and dormers. Second in Pittsburgh is the Allegheny
buildings are generally painted Empire buildings are often County Court House and Jail.
in colors reminiscent of painted in dark colors, often
sandstone. reds or deep greens.

Classical Revival Colonial Revival Art Deco

1890-1930 1880-1920 1925-1940
Tall columns, either round or This style was designed to A style of decoration, rather
square, and railing work look like buildings of our than architecture, Art Deco is
around the roof are the Colonial period. Large characterized by its rounded
features of this style. Tall win- pedimented gables, bay shapes, parallel lines,
dows, often with decorative windows, and fan-shaped chevrons, and streamlined
caps (pediments) are located windows were accented by look. Many Deco buildings
between the rows of columns. swag and wreath style orna- are new fronts on old build-
These buildings are always ments which were used to ings. Deco buildings were
made of brick, stone, or convey the feeling of Early made of stucco and concrete.
a combination of both America. Colors too were Store fronts were often
materials, and were usually colonial: cream, light green, colored glass or enamel on
banks, libraries, or other gold, and white. metal. Deco colors were red,
public buildings. black, coral pink, and
turquoise.
From the brochure: Preserving Pittsburgh’s Historic South Side

11
Sketching a Building
Here is a simple four-step process for sketching a building elevation:

1. Dimensions
The first step is to estimate the dimensions of the building. Choose
an important dimension and call it “length 1.” Notice how the
other important dimensions of the building relate to length 1. For
the Court House, the distance from ground to rooftop of the side
sections has been labeled 1. It is estimated that the building width is
11/2 times the length of 1, and that the tower height is 2 1/4 times
the length of 1. When you have estimated the dimensions, mark
them with short lines.

2. Shapes
The second step is to fill in the open space which you have marked
off with the building’s important shapes. Look closely at the
building and see how it is made up of rectangles, triangles and
other shapes. Or perhaps it is only one shape. Choose the shape or
shapes that outline a building (including roofs) and those that
divide a building into sections.

3. Details
The third step is to add details. Add doors and windows first, then
other important details. You will be able to add more details if
your drawing is large or if the building is small. You do not have
to draw every minor detail. Finally, if you want to, indicate the
building material.

4. Identification
In the lower right corner, write the name of the building you drew
and the street location. Also sign your name and the date you
sketched the building.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1986

12
Mainstreet Mural
What do you do with all the drawings your students have done during their study of Pittsburgh’s
architectural heritage? Build a city! Group murals are a wonderful way of fostering group cooperation
and pride while displaying individual efforts.

Procedure
The basic idea of this mural-making method is more like a collage than the traditional mural where
members of a class take turns crowding around one large painting.

Begin by gathering together all student drawings. Students then cut out their buildings so that no
background remains.

In the meantime, prepare the background paper. Lay a large sheet of butcher paper (several colors are
available) on the floor. Assign a committee as the “town planners.” They will arrange all the cut-out
art work on the mural and decide if anything else is needed to complete the mural. They should be
encouraged to overlap buildings or allow them to go off the page to lend some realism to the mural.
If necessary, they can ask classmates to draw additional items like bridges, street lights, extra build-
ings, and other features. Some students may cut simple “foliage” out of green construction paper to
help the town planners fill in the gaps between buildings.

Once the town has been laid out, the rest of the class should be allowed to approve the mural or
offer suggestions. After the design has been approved, the town planners can glue the pieces to the
background paper to complete the mural.

Some suggestions
Your mural background does not have to stay rectangular in shape—try cutting the background into
the shape of a hill or adding a river with paint or colored chalk.

Use large sheets of cardboard instead of paper for the background and build your city in layers.
Then, display your three-dimensional mural by standing the layers up behind each other on a table.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Supplement, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1987

13
Architectural Columns
Columns are tall, slender posts made of wood, stone, or steel. They are used to hold up parts of
buildings. Columns stand in a vertical direction and have three parts: a base at the bottom, a capital
at the top, and a shaft in-between.

Here is some interesting history about columns:

Columns are a man-made adaptation of what a tree does. A tree spreads out a covering over people
and protects them from the rain, the sun, and other elements. Man used this design and created his
own protection cutting down trees and using them as columns to hold up roofs, create doorways, or
to serve as monuments. Because the first columns were trees, they were simple and rested on the
ground. The bottom of the column would begin to decay from the damp surface and so man started
to put a base at the bottom of the columns. After some time, man began to make columns out of
stone and then he even began to carve the stone so that the columns became very fancy. Can you see
how many columns of today still look like the trees which gave us this building idea?

Although all columns share the same purpose, there are many different styles of columns because of
the way they are sculpted. To decide what type of column you are looking at, take a close look at the
capital. The columns pictured here are Greek columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

Doric
Doric columns have a plain
curved capital and no base.

Ionic
Ionic columns have elegant
scrolls at the ends of their
capital.

Corinthian
Corinthian capitals are
very fancy with leaves and
flowers used as ornaments.

14
Here is a famous story about the Corinthian capital:

The story was first told by Vitruvious who was a Roman architect. He wrote that the inventor of the
Corinthian capital was Callimachus, a Greek sculptor of the late fifth century B.C. Callimachus saw a
basket of tributes that had been placed over the grave of a girl from the city of Corinth. The basket
was covered with a flat tile to protect the offerings. By mistake, the basket was placed over the root
of an acanthus plant. The stems and leaves of the acanthus plant grew up around its sides and spread
out beneath the tile of the basket. Callimachus sculpted what he saw and used it as a new kind of
capital for a column.

The next time you ride through your neighborhood or go to the city, look around you and you will
see columns everywhere! Schools, houses, churches, stores, and even ball parks use columns. If you
want to know more about columns and buildings, ask your librarian to show you where the books
on architecture and buildings are in your library.

Are you ready to be an architect?

To make a column you will need some simple art supplies: a cardboard tube, tape or glue,
construction paper, markers or crayons, and scissors.
1. Cut each end of the tube four times and flatten the ends down.
2. Glue or tape the flattened ends to your cardboard.
3. Use the construction paper, markers, and crayons to decorate your column.

Hint #1
To make a Corinthian column, try cutting
out some leaves and curling them before you
attach them to the tube.

Hint #2
If you have a small cardboard jewelry box,
cut a hole the size of the tube and this
will make a base.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1997

15
Paper-Bag Buildings
An art activity for Grade 2 and up (including adults)

Directions
Cut arm holes (4.5 inches in diameter) 1.5 inches from the top edge of the bag sides. Cut a head
circle (6-inch diameter) from the flat bottom of the bag; add slits at the sides of the circle so the bag
will pass over the head. If the bag is not going to be worn, do not cut holes; stuff with crumbled
newspapers so your building will stand up for display.

Select your building carefully. Use either an imaginary building or a favorite building as a model;
simplify details; use tempera paint or colored tape to block in big shapes; let paint dry. Add details
with markers or crayons. Three dimensional details can be added using string, foil, construction
paper, etc.

Note: finished bags may be re-folded for storage.

The bags are 16 inch x 35 inch x 12 inch (30 gallon size). Several local shops carry these bags for
re-cycling lawn debris. In quantity (min. 100) they can be purchased from Paper Products, Inc.
(412-481-6200).

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Curriculum, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1997

16
Gargoyle Masks
This is a natural follow-up activity for a city safari. If a city safari is not possible, use slides or another
visual source for motivation before beginning the activity. In addition to developing creative thinking,
the objective in making gargoyle masks is to require students to understand and experience three-
dimensional texture in the environment and in their own artwork.

Procedure
Cut 18 inch x 24 inch oaktag into 6 inch x 24 inch strips to form the base of the mask. Provide
other smaller sheets, pre-cut strips, and scraps of oaktag for students to use to construct their masks.
Construction paper could also be used, but the paper should all be one color—this will simulate a
gargoyle more accurately and will require students to concentrate on texture, not color, to achieve
their goal.

Fit a strip around the head of each student and staple at the correct size. Mark eyes on base and have
the students cut out eyeholes.

Brainstorm and demonstrate with the students all the ways paper can
be changed from being flat to being three-dimensional or “unflat.”
Some possibilities are: folding (single or multiple folds), tearing,
crinkling, rolling around a pencil, curling with scissors, cutting and
bending, or scoring with scissors along a curved line and then folding.

Students can now begin to build their gargoyles on the mask base—
the wilder, the better! The masks should be thought of in three
dimensions—the sides and back, not just the front. White school
glue is the strongest way to attach mask parts, but paper clips or
staples may be helpful while the glue dries.

For inspiration as they build, have a range of animal pictures (the whole gamut from reptiles and
fish to birds and mammals) and a supply of pre-cut oaktag strips, straws, styrofoam “peanuts,” and
similar “junk” available.

Once the masks are finished, arrange an exhibition, either worn or arranged on a bulletin board to
simulate how they would be installed on a building.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Supplement, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1987

17
History Written in Stone
Spend some quiet time exploring the Trinity graveyard between Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and First
Presbyterian Church on Sixth Avenue, downtown. This little patch of ground is all that is left of a much
larger cemetery that had its beginnings as an Indian burial mound. Later it was used as a cemetery for
soldiers serving at Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt and later still for Pittsburgh’s first citizens. Most of the
graves were moved to Allegheny Cemetery through the years to make way for a growing city, but the
tiny graveyard remains to remind us of the first brave settlers of Pittsburgh, the pioneer outpost.

During your visit find...

...the oldest grave

belongs to ____________________________________________who died in ________________________
...the most recent grave
belongs to ____________________________________________who died in ________________________
...the person who died at the oldest age
was _____________________________who was born in _____________and died in ________________
...the grave with the longest epitaph
belongs to _______________________________________________________________________________
What story does it tell?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

...all the people buried here who had Pittsburgh places named after them (streets, neighborhoods,
buildings...):
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Make a “rubbing” of your favorite gravestone. Attach

a piece of tracing paper to the stone with masking tape.
Rub over the top of the paper with the side of a soft
crayon. The crayon will pick up the textures, sometimes
making difficult carvings easier to read.

Source: Pittsburgh Heritage Supplement, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 1987

18
A Bridge-Building Competition
Using everything you know about building use, structure, and appearance, build a cardboard bridge to
compete in one of three categories: Strongest Bridge, Best-looking Bridge, or Most-ingenious Bridge.

CONTEST RULES
Materials:
You must use only corrugated or shirt cardboard, white glue, cotton string, staples, brass fasteners,
and masking tape to build your bridge.
Bridges may also be decorated with paint, markers, crayon, or construction paper if you wish.

Judging:
Vote as a class or ask an impartial judge to choose the Best-looking and Most-ingenious bridges.
The simplest test for the Strongest Bridge is to carefully pile on weights (like books) until the bridge
starts to sag. The bridge that holds the heaviest stack wins. A more accurate way, though, is to divide
the number of pounds each bridge holds by the number of pounds the bridge weighs all by itself. The
bridge with the highest number (ratio) wins, because the best designs use the least materials to gain
the most strength!

Size:
Your bridge must span at least 12 inches between piers and have
6 inches of space below the road deck (see the diagram at right).
A recommended width for the deck is 9 inches, but it is not
required.

19
Pop-Up Engineering
Defining a City Street
Materials
Paper—for practice
Oaktag—9 inch x 12 inch filefolders work well
Clear tape
Glue—glue sticks work well
Pencils
Old travel magazines
Scissors
Markers
X-acto knives

Find several buildings or building details by searching through magazines, photographs, or

your imagination.

Decide on the basic shape and size of each building. Is it a square or rectangle? Is it short, tall,
wide, or narrow?

Use practice paper first, then transfer your ideas to oaktag.

Make a pop-up street scene!

A. Make a book fold (fold sheet in half)

B. Mark 2 or 4 cuts on the folded edge;

cut and crease tab as shown and return
to flat position. Open paper to flat position.

Cut Crease tab

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C. Push tab to inside of folded page
(reverse the crease). Try to avoid any part
of the pop-up showing beyond the edge
when the paper is in the folded position.

The top of a building (dome or decoration)

may also pop-up. Draw in the detail; use an Push in at “x”
X-acto knife to make a slit so scissors can
cut around the shape; fold into “up” position.

D. Open page; plan decorations; flatten paper

and decorate with markers, etc.

Suggestions:
Tab should not extend beyond edge
1. Take a second sheet of oaktag, a different color, if
desired; make one bookfold, apply glue around
outer edge; position it as a cover for the pop-up,
so the holes don’t show.
2. Take several streets and combine them into a
Pop-up City Book.

Reference: Johnson, Paul: Pop-Up Engineering,

1994, The Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis, Inc., Building dome or decoration
Philadelphia, PA 19007.

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Making a “Someplace Special” Book
The objective of this exercise is to create an original book about something relating to Pittsburgh.
Think of a topic that you find special about Pittsburgh.

1. Pick a topic
• Something you know about, have a personal
interest in, or feel your students will be
interested in.
• A favorite building or landmark; your
neighborhood.
• An interesting fact (great floods?).
• Something that makes Pittsburgh special
to you.

2. Gather information
• at the Library
• by taking your own photographs
• by drawing
• by reading visitor center brochures, magazines,
or newspapers
• through interviews
• by looking through family albums.

3. Procedure
• Gather ideas.
• Consider various topics.
• Choose a book title and write a brief description of your book.
• If you wish, make a “dummy” to confirm the layout.
• Make the book!
• Share the book with friends, family, or classmates.
• Keep the book or donate it to the
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks
Foundation.

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4. Materials
• a hardback, blank book with 12 pages (24 sides),
a title page, and cover.
These books are available from:
Treetop Publishing
P.O. Box 085567
Racine, WI 53408-5567
Phone: (414) 884-0501

5. Designing your book

• Use pencils, markers, pens, watercolor, glue,
tape, drawings, sketches, cutouts, photos,
pop-up buildings, or whatever you can imagine!

6. Book titles of the past...

Landmark Architecture Coloring Book
Petey the Puppy—Lost in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is Special Because...
Ciudad Estrella
A is for Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Bridges and Tunnels
Ode to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Corporations
How Do You Spell Pixburg?
“Jeet jet?”
The Pittsburgh Pigeon

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L A N D M A R K T- S H I RT S
In addition to giving a nice twist to a drawing activity, matching Landmark T-shirts are a
practical way of keeping a group together on a city walking tour!

Materials
• Crayola ® Fabric Crayons
• a smooth-surfaced, strong, paper-like copier paper

Procedure
1. If the class has been exploring neighborhood architecture, have students choose their
favorite landmark to reproduce on a shirt. They may work from life “on location” or from
a previous drawing.

2. Make your T-shirt drawing on smooth paper

with fabric crayons, using as much detail as
possible. To be successful, apply the fabric
crayons heavily.

3. Remind students to draw letters backwards on

their landmark drawings.

4. Wash the T-shirts to remove sizing. (Some

polyester content is preferable with this brand
of fabric crayon.)

5. After the drawings are finished, they are ready to

be transferred to the pre-washed T-shirts. Place the T-shirt front-up on a thick section of newspa-
pers. Place the drawing face-down on the T-shirt, and put a clean sheet of newspaper on top of the
drawing. Iron the stack on the “cotton” setting until the drawing transfers to the T-shirt (carefully
lift one corner of the drawing to check the progress).

6. Wash the finished T-shirts in cold water to keep the drawings colorfast for as long as possible.

You can also make quilts, pillows, or wall hangings using this process.

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PITTSBURGH HISTORY & LANDMARKS FOUNDATION
One Station Square, Suite 450
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1134
(412) 471-5808
FAX: (412) 471-1633
www.phlf.org
email: [email protected]
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