Looking up from under the rotunda of Penn Station, which is now converted to apartments and offices. If you want to catch a train, you have to go out back by the trash cans, where a small modern station has been grafted onto the main building.
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A Kaleidoscope of Glass and Iron
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Presbyterian Gothic
First Presbyterian Church sits on Sixth Avenue next to Trinity Cathedral (Episcopal) and just across the street from the Duquesne Club. These are the bastions of old money in Pittsburgh, and plenty of that money went into the elaborate Gothic ornamentation of the church building, not to mention its famous stained glass by Tiffany.
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Romanesque in Phipps
A Romanesque capital in Phipps Conservatory, at the back of the palm house.
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Manchester Romanesque
H. H. Richardson’s courthouse started a fad for “Richardsonian Romanesque” architecture in Pittsburgh, in private homes as well as in public buildings. Here’s a well-preserved corner house in Manchester.
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It’s Snowing Right Now
Snow falls on a row of houses typical of Pittsburgh streetcar neighborhoods of the early 20th century (in this case, Beechview, where the streetcars have been running on the street for more than a century). One of the distinctive features of Pittsburgh domestic architecture is the surprising variety of brick colors.
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Architecture in Miniature
A Thai “spirit house” in the Thai Tropical Forest, Phipps Conservatory. The spirits live better than the people in some parts of Thailand, but fortunately they can fit into very small spaces.
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A Leafy Suburb in the City
The Cathedral of Learning seen from Schenley Farms, a century-old suburb surrounded by the monuments and institutions of Oakland.
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Stones of the Courthouse
A few years ago, when the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail (the masterpiece of H. H. Richardson) was being restored and the jail turned into offices for county bureaucrats, one of the high stone walls was taken apart, giving us a glimpse of the stonework. It turns out to be brick with a facing of large granite blocks, as we see here.
Incidentally, Pittsburghers who visit Minneapolis will find a startlingly familiar building: the Minneapolis City Hall is an unabashed copy of the Allegheny County Courthouse.
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1892
The Art Nouveau date stone in Phipps Conservatory, in the rear of the palm house.
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Stone and Brick
The courtyard of the Penn Brewery in Dutchtown at the base of Troy Hill. This was the old Eberhardt and Ober brewery; the building is still the same, but the beer is now some of the best in the world. The restaurant serves some of the best German food in Pittsburgh.