Copy + Paste: Hall of Architecture

Visitors to CMOA’s Hall of Architecture are constantly wowed by the nearly 150 building facades, monuments, and fragments from across the Western World. What many people don’t realize is that this collection is entirely plaster copies, painstakingly cast and reassembled in 1906–1907. It is the only remaining collection of its type in the US, and one of Pittsburgh’s most iconic spaces.

Over the course of Copy + Paste, curators, technologists, students, architects, and artists are testing new ways of presenting information about the Hall. Through this eight-month investigation, visitors are invited to try augmented reality, 3-D printing, creative interventions, and hands-on activities. 

In addition, Carnegie Mellon University professor of architecture Joshua Bard leads a studio exploring the material culture of architectural plaster, examining its historic importance and possible future robotic applications. Students  work in the exhibition galleries, and their resulting experiments join the Copy + Paste presentation.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website