Best Pittsburgh Buildings For Architecture Buffs

Architecture buffs who live around Pittsburgh are treated to some of the most exquisite buildings in the country. Executive Director of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, Louise Sturgess, and Al Tanner compiled a list of the top five buildings for architecture buffs in Pittsburgh!

Allegheny West, North Side

www.alleghenywest.org

Pittsburgh's smallest neighborhood showcases Victorian architecture at its best. Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny West and mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart lived there. Set among the elegant residences are two significant churches: Henry Hobson Richardson's Emmanuel Episcopal Church and Calvary United Methodist Church, with fanciful carvings and great Tiffany windows.

The Carnegie Library and Institute, Oakland

4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
(412)-622-3114
www.clpgh.org

Andrew Carnegie's "palace for the people" houses a library, lecture hall, and museums of art and natural history––all under one roof. The monumental building was completed in 1895 to designs by Longfellow Alden & Harlow (Boston & Pittsburgh) and then greatly enlarged in 1903-07. Be sure to see the Library's second-floor reading room, and the Grand Stair, Hall of Architecture, Hall of Sculpture, and Heinz Architectural Center––all in the Carnegie Institute.

The Cathedral of Learning

4200 5th Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260-0001
www.tour.pitt.edu

The University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning Campus (1926-1938) includes the Cathedral of Learning with its Nationality Rooms, and the Stephen Foster Memorial and Heinz Memorial Chapel. All three buildings contain windows by the great American stained glass artist Charles Connick, who was educated and trained in Pittsburgh studios.

Woodland Road

Many architecturally distinguished houses, designed between 1861 and 1984, are on Woodland Road. There are private homes designed by Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Richard Meier, and Robert Venturi, and mansions of former Pittsburgh industrialists and philanthropists (including Andrew W. Mellon) incorporated into Chatham University's campus.

Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University

100 Mellon Hall
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15282
www.galinsky.com/buildings/mellon

This elegant building in steel and glass is Pittsburgh's finest example of the International Style. It was designed by Mies Van Der Rohe in 1962 and completed in 1968.