Our distinguished early modernists Kiehnel & Elliott—who would later make architectural history by moving to Miami and introducing the Art Deco style there—designed Brushton School No. 3, and it is typical of their early work. It is also a good example of how they managed to flourish in conservative Pittsburgh: the form of the building is mostly the same classical shapes that more conventional architects would have drawn, and the Art Nouveau fun is all in the decorations. Richard Kiehnel adapted the ideas that were wafting over from Germany and Austria, hybridized them with the Prairie Style that was blowing in from Chicago, and created his own distinctive style of decoration that replaced the usual Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian ornaments.
Kiehnel & Elliott were one of the few Pittsburgh firms to adopt early modern styles at the turn of the twentieth century. When they took on a church, however, they turned completely traditional, and it would be hard to point out anything about this neat little church that sets it apart from the work of other good but conventional architects of the time. This one was built in 1915, and it is a typical Pittsburgh corner-tower Protestant church. Today it is one of our dwindling number of black stone churches, and the soot of the decades gives it a kind of evening-dress dignity it would not have had when it was young.
The church us beautifully kept by its current occupants, Victory Global Ministries, whose pastor disdains the pompous title “bishop” favored by many nondenominational ministers in favor of the original workaday meaning of the Greek ἐπίσκοπος: “Overseer.”
The vanishing of an early addition in the rear shows us something of the original color of the stone.
Kiehnel & Elliott, one of the few Pittsburgh firms to pick up German-style Art Nouveau and run with it, designed this firehouse, which was built in 1908. The decorations are full of the elegant Jugendstil whimsy that was Richard Kiehnel’s specialty.
Kiehnel & Elliott were the architects of this church, whose cornerstone was laid in 1909. It certainly isn’t typical of the modernistic Art Nouveau designs we associate with Kiehnel & Elliott; but their few churches tended to be more conservative, and here they were probably commissioned by a congregation with conservative tastes. They came through with a typical Pittsburgh corner-tower auditorium church, and the fact that almost nothing has changed since the church was built tells us that the congregation had no reason to regret its choice of architects.
A postcard of unknown date from the Presbyterian Historical Society. Father Pitt is grateful for the volunteer work that made nearly a thousand old postcards of churches freely available, so that we can compare them to the standing buildings, and remember the buildings that have vanished. In this case, the comparison shows us that almost nothing has changed.
You think we have utility cables now, but imagine what it was like when the streetcars ran on Monongahela Avenue.
This side porch feels mysterious and ancient, which is probably a good thing for a church. Wouldn’t you like to come in and discover the ancient mysteries?
Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR; Sony Alpha 3000.
It’s easy to miss this small cupola or big finial at the peak of the roof, so old Pa Pitt went after it with a long lens so you can admire it up close.
Built in 1913, this house is a minor landmark of early modernism in Pittsburgh. Kiehnel & Elliott were the architects, and Richard Kiehnel had a thoroughly German architectural education. He applied the latest Jugendstil ideas of decoration, with a little Prairie Style thrown in, to the forms that were popular in Pittsburgh—like the standard three-storey Renaissance palace that is the basis of this house. The combination was a winner: clients got something that looked bracingly up to date, but didn’t make their neighbors hate them.
Built in 1918, this very artistic house was designed for an artist by Kiehnel & Elliott, who applied everything Richard Kiehnel had learned from the German Jugendstil masters and made a kind of modernist Bavarian peasant cottage. Kiehnel & Elliott were among our most interesting early modernists; they would go on to make architectural history by introducing Art Deco to Miami.
For their client Godfrey Stengel, Kiehnel & Elliott took the basic form of a typical Pittsburgh Renaissance palace, which gave them a box to work with—Richard Kiehnel’s favorite shape. To that canvas the architects applied their trademark Jugendstil-infiltrated-by-Prairie-school decorations. The house was built in 1913, and it must have looked very modern—yet it fits perfectly in Schenley Farms, where other more traditional Renaissance palaces have almost the same shape without the Jugendstil.
This house has an unusual history, which we take from Carol Peterson’s detailed research at the Allegheny West site. It was built in the early 1860s as a typical modest Pittsburgh rowhouse. In 1918, new owners decided they wanted something less embarrassingly old-fashioned, so they hired the most modern and up-to-date architects—Kiehnel & Elliott—to remodel the house in the most modern and up-to-date style—Spanish Mission. The result is something that would have been right at home in Florida, where Kiehnel and Elliott were beginning a flourishing practice that would persuade them to move to Miami in 1922. It would also have matched the neighborhood aesthetic in many of the new Pittsburgh streetcar suburbs like Carrick or Beechview. It seems a little out of place on Lincoln Avenue in Allegheny West.
It is a general principle of research that you can find anything as long as you’re not looking for it. Old Pa Pitt was leafing through a magazine from 1915 called The Construction Record, which has already given him dozens of entries for the Great Big List of Buildings and Architects, when he came across this little item:
Architects Kiehnel & Elliott, Keenan building, have plans for a three-story brick and hollow tile apartment building, to be built on Van Braam and Tustin streets for a private party.
Kiehnel and Elliott were among our most interesting early modernists, but Father Pitt had never heard this building mentioned. Surely it must be long gone—the Bluff has had some tough times. But still, one might take a look, especially since modern technology makes it possible to look at that intersection without leaving one’s comfortable chair. And there it was. Father Pitt leaped out of his chair and ran to the Bluff to get pictures:
Not only is it there and well preserved (except for the cornice, of course), but it has just recently been cleaned up and made to look almost like new. The Kiehnel-and-Elliott style is unmistakable. Look at the pilaster capitals at the entrance:
How much more Kiehnel-and-Elliott can you get?
Kiehnel and Elliott would later move to Florida and become the Art Deco kings of Miami, but in their Pittsburgh years they were heavily influenced by the Jugendstil architecture of Germany, where Richard Kiehnel grew up and studied. Ornamentation and decorative brickwork like this can be found in all the German architectural magazines of the early twentieth century.
Now the Gardner Steel Conference Center, the Central Turnverein was German Pittsburgh’s most elegant athletic club. The building is an extraordinary early-modern design by Kiehnel and Elliott, and they trimmed it with geometric decorations inspired by the latest Jugendstil architecture overseas.
