Clearly this was built as a Protestant church, but the Orthodox congregation has been here for quite some time now. Here we see the west front in the warm rays of the evening sun.
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Holy Assumption of St. Mary Orthodox Church, South Side
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Gailliot Center for Newman Studies
There is still at least one architect in Pittsburgh who can work in the Gothic idiom with modern materials. His name is David J. Vater, and he designed this building on Dithridge Street (which opened in 2007) and the Ryan Catholic Newman Center around the corner on Bayard Avenue. His listing on Porch.com has this to say about his firm: “Based in Pittsburgh, David J Vater Ra is an architectural firm that provides bathroom design, site planning, and master planning as well as other services.” The fact that bathroom design is mentioned first suggests that the demand for grand Gothic institutional buildings is low.
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Cathedral of Learning in the Rain
It started to rain while Father Pitt was out for a walk today, which gave us this atmospheric picture of the Cathedral of Learning looming through the mist like a heavenly palace behind the pleasant houses of Schenley Farms. This is why old Pa Pitt’s cameras live in a waterproof bag. Father Pitt himself is not waterproof, but he does dry fairly quickly.
If you like black and white and all the greys in between, you might enjoy Father Pitt’s Monochrome World, a very simple site that collects his favorite black-and-white pictures from Pittsburgh and elsewhere.
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Defying the Storm
Spires of the Tabernacle of the Union Baptist Church, South Side, Pittsburgh, highlighted in evening sun against a stormy sky.
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Central Catholic High School
A kind of cartoon castle, the main building of Central Catholic is technically in Squirrel Hill, though most Pittsburghers would probably say “Oakland.” The building was put up in 1927; the architect was Edward J. Weber.
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South Side Presbyterian Church
This church at the corner of Sarah and 20th Streets is a good example of a curious phenomenon in old city churches: the sanctuary is on the second floor, with the first floor devoted to meeting halls, classrooms, and offices. This is a common adaptation to very small lots in very crowded neighborhoods like the South Side. Note the difference in brick color along the side wall: the front of the church, with its impressive tower, was a later addition to a more ordinary-looking Presbyterian meeting house.
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First Trinity Church, Shadyside
A fine Gothic building with a prominent tower in the west front, this church sits right on the border between Shadyside and Oakland—it would be in Oakland if it were on the other side of the street. The view is marred by utility cables, which is true of most things in most American cities. Europeans put those things under the ground; Americans seldom even notice what an aesthetic blight they are, not to mention how often storms bring them down.
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Bayard Manor
A Tudor Gothic apartment block in North Oakland whose details are worth pausing to appreciate.
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East End Baptist Church
This was built for the Second United Presbyterian Church, but the Baptists moved in in 1933 (according to the History of the Churches of the Pittsburgh Baptist Association). It is now the Union Project, an arts center and events hall.
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Old Church in the West End
Now a sports bar, so it has been converted to a different religion.
An update: This was St. George’s Episcopal Church, built some time in the 1890s or very early 1900s.
