Father Pitt

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Black Stones of Fourth Presbyterian in Friendship

Pittsburgh used to be a city of massive black stone buildings, but, since the end of the age of steel, the buildings have been cleaned one by one, revealing the actual color of the stones as they came out of the quarry. Few of the black stone buildings are left. Here is one of them: Fourth Presbyterian in Friendship. Over the years, the stones are gradually losing their sooty coating, revealing what looks like red sandstone underneath. But they are still strikingly black, the way all proper Pittsburgh stones used to be.

June 28, 2013
Supermoon

So the astrologers and newspapers call it: a full moon at perigee, so that it looks especially large and bright. These images were taken with a pocket digital camera, which is incapable of dealing with unusual light conditions. But it was what old Pa Pitt had to work with.

June 23, 2013
Firstside from Across the Mon

“Firstside” is the row of human-sized buildings along the Monongahela (with their backs on First Avenue). It’s a little taste of pre-skyscraper Pittsburgh. The picture below puts Firstside in context.

June 18, 2013
The Point Fountain Again

More pictures of the Point Fountain, because it was a day of inspiring clouds.

June 16, 2013
Lobby of the Benedum Center

The lobby of the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, just before a show. Like Heinz Hall just down the street, the Benedum was built as a movie palace, but has been converted to a live theater—Pittsburgh’s largest and busiest. The Pittsburgh Opera, the Civic Light Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and numerous traveling shows all share this magnificent venue.

June 9, 2013
The Point Fountain Is Back

After four years of rebuilding, the glorious fountain at the Point is flowing again—now with substantial improvements that make it more accessible for recreation, without changing the simple elegance of the original design.

June 9, 2013
Inside the Cathedral of Learning

The Cathedral of Learning, designed by Charles Z. Klauder, is the second-tallest Gothic building in the world (after the Woolworth Building in New York), and by far the most successful adaptation of Gothic style to the skyscraper. Like many of the most memorable feats of architecture in Pittsburgh, it confidently approaches the boundary between genius and madness without ever stepping all the way over that line. The Commons Room, a Perpendicular-style fantasy in stone, is one of the most impressive spaces in a city full of impressive spaces.

June 8, 2013
Nationality Rooms: Turkey

The Turkish room, just completed in 2012, has a panoramic view of Istanbul (not Constantinople). Old Pa Pitt is much taken with the clever arrangement of fold-down desks.

June 6, 2013
Nationality Rooms: Lithuania

In the rear of the classroom, a copy of “The Two Kings” by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, in which the titular kings stumble on a tiny Lithuanian village radiating Lithuanian culture to the world.

June 5, 2013
Nationality Rooms: Germany

The German classroom is full of dark carved woodwork, and scenes from famous German fairy tales are depicted in the stained glass. Below: Little Red Riding Hood.

“Guten tag, Rotkäppchen, wo hinaus so früh?” (“Well, hello there, Little Red Riding Hood! Where are you going so early?”)

June 5, 2013