Douglas Cooper: The Northwall Mural

	The Northwall Mural copyright © CMU/Douglas Cooper The University Center Mural Douglas Cooper, Artist School of Architecture Carnegie Mellon University E-mail Douglas Cooper at dcooper+@andrew.cmu.edu Jonathan Kline, Artist Assistant John Trivelli, Artist Assistant Michael Dennis Associates, Architect back to the University Center Mural About Douglas Cooper The Westwall Mural The Northwall Mural Forbes Field How was the mural made? Frequently asked questions In and out of the entrance alcoves		Northwall Mural Of the three, the Northwall Mural is the one most set in the environment of Pittsburgh. From left to right it follows the Monongahela River from the present-day downtown to McKeesport. The river ties the mural together. Ducking in and out of the entrance alcoves into the adjacent Ballroom, it shows the downtown at various points in its history: in 1900 at the time of the founding of Carnegie Tech and 1946 when it reached its greatest industrial capacity. Further to the right you can see the Tech campus as it appeared from 1920-40. The buildings of Henry Hornbostel's original plan form the core of the campus and some of the other buildings much loved by alumni from those first decades are there also. Further up-river are the Homestead Mill during the 1892 strike (the Pinkerton Barge is shown burning), the Turtle Creek Valley and Kennywood Park. Flying low over the Homestead Hi-level Bridge is the mystery plane that crashed in the river during the late 1950s and has never been found.