Entry No. 63 — the Pittsburgh file — filed under: improvised jazz
The Space Upstairs
Four thousand square feet of warehouse loft sitting directly on top of Construction Junction, run by The Pillow Project, now into its 20th anniversary season. Second Saturdays are the anchor: doors at 8, music from 9 to 11, $15 at the door, with long-format improvised jazz, live video projection and dancers working a room that has couches and a gallery-lounge sprawl where a stage would normally be. Nothing is announced and there is no set list to consult, so you sit down into something already in progress and the only way to track it is to stay put. The rest of the month is no more conventional — a Poetry Atelier from 6 to 8 for $5 to $10, and OPEN sessions running 7 to 11 that are essentially the music and projections left to run.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Pittsburgh — never the same twice
The story
Jaka Zakajinn — who performed and choreographed for years as Pearlann Porter — started The Pillow Project as a postmodern-jazz dance company and in 2006 went looking for a room that would hold it. What they found was the second floor of 214 N. Lexington Street: four thousand square feet of warehouse loft sitting on top of Construction Junction, the nonprofit reuse warehouse that has been selling salvaged doors, tile and reclaimed lumber out of 30,000 square feet downstairs since 1999. The Space Upstairs opened there as the company's headquarters and is now running its 20th anniversary season.
The loft is furnished the way a 1960s Brooklyn artist's loft was furnished, which is to say deliberately and cheaply: couches and coffee tables, bare light bulbs, deconstructed pianos, piles of chalk and books, poetry written directly on the walls, and projection thrown across whatever surface is available. There is no fixed stage and no fixed seating chart — the room gets reconfigured for each public event, so the shape you sit down into on one night is not the shape of the next.
The anchor is Second Saturdays: doors at 8, music 9 to 11, $15, a guest musician or ensemble each month and Pillow Project dancers improvising against them rather than to a set piece. The fall 2026 calendar runs Thoth Trio in September, Reggie Watkins in October, Scott Boni in November and C. Payne in December. Around it sit the Poetry Atelier, an open reading and craft forum from 6 to 8 for $5 to $10; OPEN, a long-format music-and-projection night from 7 to 11; and a pay-what-you-can open movement class taught by Zakajinn. The Space Bar pours mocktails and specialty drinks — the building is sober by design.
What it's like
You park in the Construction Junction lot, which is empty because the store shut at 5, and climb a flight of stairs into a working loft rather than a theater. Doors at 8 buys you an hour to pick a couch, get a mocktail and read the walls before anything starts at 9. Then a musician plays and dancers appear out of the room, and nothing is announced — no set list, no titles, no breaks flagged in advance, no arc you can time your exit to. The etiquette follows from that: take a seat and keep it, let the dancers use the floor, and treat the whole two hours as one continuous thing rather than a sequence of numbers. People do get up and move; nobody is required to.
The move: Go on the second Saturday. Be there at 8 when doors open with $15 each in hand, take a couch rather than a chair, and commit to the whole 9-to-11 set — the music has no peak you can time your arrival to, so ducking out at 10 means walking out mid-sentence. Construction Junction downstairs is closed by then, so eat before you climb the stairs.
📍 Before you go Second floor above Construction Junction at 214 N. Lexington St — a working loft, not a theater, so dress for a warehouse and expect stairs. The jazz series is monthly: Second Saturdays, doors 8pm, music 9-11pm, $15 at the door. Reachable on the 67, 69, 71C and P1 buses; the Construction Junction lot is the practical parking after hours. Check thespaceupstairs.org before committing, since special productions (a 2026 run of The 8th Floor, 9pm, $15 general / $10 student) can take over the slot. The Pillow Project's older pillowproject.org pages are stale — trust the thespaceupstairs.org calendar.
- 📍 Pittsburgh
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 214 N. Lexington St, Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Apteka — Ten minutes west on Penn Avenue in Garfield, open Thursday through Sunday from 5 — the practical answer to a sober venue with no kitchen, since you need to eat before you climb those stairs.
- Arts & Crafts: Botanica & Occult Shop — Under a mile east on S. Trenton Avenue in Wilkinsburg, close enough to make an afternoon of the same trip before the 8pm doors.
- Pittsburgh Glass Center — Two miles up Penn Avenue in East Liberty — the other East End room where you go to watch people improvise with materials, except there the heat is literal.
More weird in Pittsburgh
Good to know
How do I get there, and where do I park?
214 N. Lexington Street, Pittsburgh 15208 — second floor, above Construction Junction, reached by stairs. The 67, 69, 71C and P1 buses all serve it. Construction Junction closes at 5pm daily, so its lot is free of shoppers well before an 8pm door.
What does it cost, and do I need a ticket in advance?
Second Saturdays and OPEN are $15 at the door; the Poetry Atelier is $5 to $10 at the door; the open movement class is pay-what-you-can. Special productions are priced separately — a 2026 run of The 8th Floor was $15 general and $10 student. Questions go to 412.225.9269 or [email protected].
Is there a bar? Can I bring my own?
There is a bar — the Space Bar — but it serves mocktails and specialty non-alcoholic drinks. The venue describes itself as a sober, supportive environment, so plan on eating and drinking beforehand if that matters to you. Construction Junction downstairs is long closed by showtime.
Is the loft accessible?
It is a second-floor warehouse loft and you reach it by stairs; the venue does not publish an accessibility statement or an elevator. Call 412.225.9269 or email ahead if stairs are a problem, and dress for a warehouse either way — this is not a climate-controlled hall.
What if I can't make a Second Saturday?
OPEN nights (7–11, $15), the Poetry Atelier (6–8, $5–$10) and periodic classes fill out the month. Check thespaceupstairs.org rather than the older pillowproject.org pages, which are stale, and check before committing at all — special productions sometimes take over the Second Saturday slot.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · pillowproject.org
last checked: 2026-08-26