Revealing a Modern Masterpiece: The Story of the Undiscovered Frank House
Events from Fall 2026 In Fall 2026, the Alan I W Frank House Foundation joined with the Carnegie Museum of Art, CMU’s School of Architecture and School of Design, and Pittsburgh AIA to offer a glimpse into Pittsburgh’s hidden masterpiece. Foundation President Darcy Frank Mackay gave two presentations that transported diverse audiences inside a house that has never been open to the public — sharing a personal look at its creation, its extraordinary significance, and its future. Mackay placed the Frank House at the intersection of Pittsburgh’s most defining forces: its industrial heritage, its culture of innovation, and its long life as a gathering place for artists, architects, and thinkers. The house is not simply a work of architecture — it is a record of a Pittsburgh family who helped build the city’s industrial base, and who then commissioned the founders of the Bauhaus to bring a bold new vision to life on a Shadyside hilltop. Highlights that illuminate this story include: Hundreds of pages of correspondence between house owner Robert Frank — a trained engineer whose family co-founded Copperweld and helped build Pittsburgh’s steel and manufacturing industries — and architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, documenting the technical innovations that made their home ahead of its time Home video footage of workers erecting the house’s solid steel frame, a hallmark material of Pittsburgh’s industrial history and Robert Frank’s career An invitation from Cecelia Frank to the cast of the Broadway musical Hair to join her for Christmas dinner — one of many glimpses into the house as a gathering place for artists, performers, and cultural figures from around the world Carnegie Museum of Art The first presentation was held at Carnegie Museum of Art’s Art Theatre, co-presented with CMU’s School of Architecture and School of Design. The event sold out to more than 175 people — Carnegie Museum of Art patrons, the broader Pittsburgh community, and CMU students. Following her presentation, Mackay was joined in conversation by Rachel Delphia, Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at Carnegie Museum of Art, and Kai Gutschow, PhD, Associate Professor of Modern Architectural History and Associate Head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh Architecture Week The Frank House then joined in the citywide celebration of Pittsburgh Architecture Week in partnership with AIA Pittsburgh. The presentation at the Bakery Square Experience Center drew architects, artists, modernism enthusiasts, and members of the broader Pittsburgh community — a fitting audience for a house that embodies the city’s legacy of design, engineering, and ambition.
On Exhibit in Europe: Original Anni Albers Fabric from The Frank House
Anni Albers (1899–1994) was a trailblazing textile designer of the 20th century. A student and later a teacher at the Bauhaus in Germany, Albers emigrated to the United States and taught at the famous Black Mountain College. She was a close collaborator of Frank House architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer and designed a gorgeous, handwoven wall-covering textile for the Frank House’s master bedroom. A swatch of this original fabric was recently donated to the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and is currently on display in the exhibition "Anni Albers: Constructing Textiles". Albers developed original textile patterns using progressive woven techniques and became the first textile designer to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "Anni Albers: Constructing Textiles", a major exhibition of her distinguished work, premiered at the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland, in November 2025 and will travel to the Belvedere in Vienna, Austria, in April 2026. More information on the exhibition can be found at https://www.albersfoundation.org/exhibitions/anni-albers-constructing-textiles On Exhibit in Europe: Original Anni Albers Fabric from The Frank House Anni Albers (1899–1994) was a trailblazing textile designer of the 20th century. A student and later a teacher at the Bauhaus in Germany, Albers emigrated to the United States and taught at the famous Black Mountain College. She was a close collaborator of Frank House architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer and designed a gorgeous, handwoven wall-covering textile for the Frank House’s master bedroom. A swatch of this original fabric was recently donated to the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and is currently on display in the exhibition "Anni Albers: Constructing Textiles".Albers developed original textile patterns using progressive woven techniques and became the first textile designer to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "Anni Albers: Constructing Textiles", a major exhibition of her distinguished work, premiered at the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland, in November 2025 and will travel to the Belvedere in Vienna, Austria, in April 2026.
Conversation and Book Signing: The Alan I W Frank House, The Modernist Masterwork by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer
Conversation and Book Signing: The Alan I W Frank House, The Modernist Masterwork by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer Dec 7, 2019 1:30 pm–3:00 pm CMOA Theater: Pittsburgh, PA To celebrate the launch of the new publication, Alan I W Frank House: The Modernist Masterwork by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, attendees joined us for an informal conversation between Alan Frank, who has lived in the Shadyside house since childhood, and Raymund Ryan, curator of the Heinz Architectural Center. Published by Rizzoli, this remarkable book recounts the story of one of Pittsburgh’s most important works of midcentury architecture. Featuring several critical texts, and with new photography by Richard Pare and Richard Barnes, it is essential reading for all those interested in Pittsburgh design culture. A book signing followed the conversation, with copies available for purchase through the CMOA store. The event was free and is co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. For more information, visit: CMOA.org
Benefit for the Frank House
A benefit dinner for the Alan I W Frank House Foundation was held recently at Eleven, a restaurant in Pittsburgh. Henry P Hoffstot, and Susan and John Block share stories of the Frank House’s role in Pittsburgh history with Alan.