The statue of Edward Bigelow by Giuseppe Moretti, with the Cathedral of Learning in the background.
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Edward Bigelow Contemplates the Cathedral of Learning
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Niches on the College of Fine Arts Building, Carnegie Mellon University
Henry Hornbostel designed the front of the Fine Arts Building with niches that display all styles of architectural decoration, and more practically give students a place to sit between classes. The niches have continued to accumulate sculpture in styles from all over the world. The whimsical figures in the Gothic niche may have been done by Achille Giammartini.
In the classical niche, the three orders of Greek architecture: Corinthian, Doric, Ionic, demonstrated with correct proportions.
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College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University
The front of the College of Fine Arts in sunset light. Above, the word CREARE (“to create”) inscribed above the entrance by decorative sculptor Achille Giammartini.
Reason.
Design.
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Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, Oakland
George S. Orth was the architect of this palace of education, which was finished in 1894. It’s a little bit Flemish Renaissance, with eye-catching horizontal stripes and Rundbogenstil eyebrows over the arches.
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Carnegie Mellon University
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Hampton Hall, Oakland
We have seen this Tudor palace before, but there is no reason we should not see it again, with some different details this time.
The entrance lobby. The interior is filled with richly colored tiles, some with decorative figures like this griffin.
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Cathedral of Learning From Centre Avenue
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Cathedral of Learning
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Stairway in Baker Hall, Carnegie Mellon University
Stairways can be good opportunities for architects to show off, and here is a stairway designed by Henry Hornbostel that defies imitation.
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Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Church, Oakland
Begun in 1960 and dedicated in 1962, this church was designed by the firm of Williams, Tribilcock, Whitehead and Associates1 in a modernist Byzantine style. And no one notices the architecture, because the church is deliberately oriented to display its huge and colorful mosaic triptych, “made entirely of genuine Venetian glass,” to traffic outbound on Fifth Avenue.
The mosaic is a complete introduction to Christian theology. On the left, the Old Testament prophets who foretold Christ, with illustrations of their lives and visions; on the right, the Apostles who knew and were taught by Christ, with equally appropriate symbols; and in the center, the Trinity, up among the birds and airplanes.
Some Old Testament prophets. 
A selection of Apostles. The mosaic has suffered some cracking over the years, but it is still a stunningly colorful sight to come across as one walks from Oakland toward Shadyside.
The south-transept entrance features three aluminum-glazed onion domes served on an hors-d’œuvre tray.
On city planning maps, the church is in Shadyside, but Pittsburghers have always considered the Oakland monumental district to begin at Rodef Shalom at the eastern end, and the church calls its neighborhood “Oakland,” and the post office places it in the Oakland postal code.
- The source for all our information is the “About Us” page on the Holy Spirit site. ↩︎
