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Collection by Miyoko Ohtake

Imagining Home

What is a home? There's the obvious answer of a place of residence or--at an even more elementary level--a structure that provides shelter. But "home" carries a bigger meaning than just the building in which we rest our heads; "home" is a retreat, refuge, or personal santuary. A new exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Imagining Home: Selections for the Heinz Architectural Center, showcases more than 125 drawings, models, books, and items from the museum's archives that tell the tales of how "home" as been envisioned over the past two centuries. Here, in our slideshow, we highlight a selection of items on display at the museum through May 30, 2010.

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House for "Woman's Home Companion" (1948, mixed media), by architect A. James Speyer and model maker Theodore Conrad. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
House for "Woman's Home Companion" (1948, mixed media), by architect A. James Speyer and model maker Theodore Conrad. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
East Indian Dwelling, left; African Beehive House, center; and Western Asiatic House, right, (c. 1930, painted plaster of Paris and metal), by an American architect for the Works Progress Administration. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
East Indian Dwelling, left; African Beehive House, center; and Western Asiatic House, right, (c. 1930, painted plaster of Paris and metal), by an American architect for the Works Progress Administration. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Apartment House (c. 1890, watercolor and pencil on card), by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh and delineator Hughson Hawley. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Apartment House (c. 1890, watercolor and pencil on card), by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh and delineator Hughson Hawley. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Manufactured Sites (2008, Fome-Cor, basswood, rubber hose, styrene, plastic, plaster cloth, corrugated plastic, sheet wire, and photo paper), by estudio teddy cruz. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Manufactured Sites (2008, Fome-Cor, basswood, rubber hose, styrene, plastic, plaster cloth, corrugated plastic, sheet wire, and photo paper), by estudio teddy cruz. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Lucy's House, Mason's Bend, Alabama (2001, ink, colored pencil, pastel, and watercolor on paper), by Samuel Mockbee. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Lucy's House, Mason's Bend, Alabama (2001, ink, colored pencil, pastel, and watercolor on paper), by Samuel Mockbee. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
1032501, Tue Aug 25, 2009, 4:13:09 PM, 16C, 5936x7744, (0+152), 100%, Repro 2.2 v2, 1/40 s, R56.1, G46.7, B60.7
1032501, Tue Aug 25, 2009, 4:13:09 PM, 16C, 5936x7744, (0+152), 100%, Repro 2.2 v2, 1/40 s, R56.1, G46.7, B60.7
Richter's Anchor Blocks (c. 1900, composition stone in wooden box with pamphlet), by R. Ad. Richter & Co. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Richter's Anchor Blocks (c. 1900, composition stone in wooden box with pamphlet), by R. Ad. Richter & Co. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Picture Gallery in the Home of P.A.B. Widener, Esq., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1887, watercolor on paper), by George Herzog. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
Picture Gallery in the Home of P.A.B. Widener, Esq., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1887, watercolor on paper), by George Herzog. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
House (1879, ink and watercolor on paper), by A. Charrie. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.
House (1879, ink and watercolor on paper), by A. Charrie. On view through May 30, 2010, at the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of the Imagining Home: Selections from the Heinz Architectural Center exhibition.