The Cathedral of Learning 

University of Pittsburgh (main campus)

4200 Fifth Avenue (Oakland neighborhood)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

The Gothic Revival skyscraper that the 10th Pitt Chancellor John Gabbert Bowman commissioned in 1921 inspired local industries to donate steel, cement, elevators, glass, plumbing and heating elements.  Thousands of adults today still have the certificates they received as school children upon contributing 10 cents to "buy a brick" for the Cathedral.

In addition to its magnificent four-story Commons Room at ground level which has been called one of the "great architectural fantasies of the twentieth century", the Commons Room despite its heavy use is kept quiet by the use of acoustical tiles. This feature was insisted upon by Chancellor Bowman.  The architect, Klauder, however, objected due to the increased costs of this construction method though he considered the Commons Rooms to be his greatest achievement.

.. Bowman responded, as such, regarding his opinion .. 

"You cannot build a great University with fraud in it."

Joseph Gattoni designed the stonework.  The walls are made of Indiana limestone and the floor is green Vermont slate. The 42-story cathedral houses classrooms, administrative offices, libraries, computer and language labs, a studio theater, study lounges, a print shop and a food court.  Also located in the corridors surrounding the Commons Room are plaques featuring calligraphy designed and hand-cut slate by Edward Catich including one featuring a poem by Lawrence Lee titled "The Cathedral" as well as stained glass windows by Charles Jay Connick.

In 2007, on the 70th anniversary of the Cathedral's dedication, Pitt trustees approved a project to clean and restore the iconic building.  Its interior has since been upgraded and its limestone exterior scrubbed of industrial grime. During the 2007, $4.8 million cleaning of the Cathedral of Learning's Indiana limestone, officials intentionally left one block of stone near the Fifth Avenue entrance uncleaned.  This soot-covered block was preserved as a "memory" of Pittsburgh's industrial, smoky past. The block was kept dark and weathered to serve as a constrast to the newly cleaned, light-colored and revitalized facade. It serves as a nod to the decades of industrial, "Steel City' air quality that once coated the city.  The overall cleaning project which ran from March to September 2007, utilized a combination of water and powder glass (finely milled glass particles) to restore the landmark's original appearance. 

The name, E. Maxine Bruhns is forever connected to the cleaning of the limestone project. Thanks to Bruhns one darkened stone remains to this day.  She and Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation officials requested that one weather-worn block of darkened stone near the Fifth Avenue entrance be preserved as a tribute to Pittsburgh's industrial past.  Bruhns chose the particular block both for its character as well as its location. Workers built a clear cover so the area wouldn't be cleaned and the school newspaper reported that a crew member was assigned to protect it. 

"What I like about the rectangle is on the lower part,the wind cut these wonderful patterns into it and then it gets dirtier up above.  It has real character. As groups come to view the rooms on tours we can meet them out there and say this the way it used to look.  Honestly, because you know Pittsburgh was built by industry .. steel mills .. and we just can't all be squeaky clean and pretend it didn't happen."

"Somebody has to honor those people who made the city.  These grimy stones were a perfect tribute." 

E. Maxine Bruhns

The 535-foot-tall Cathedral is the second-tallest educational building in the world and the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world after the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. In recent years, families of falcons have nested atop the Cathedral. 

The Cathedral of Learning was added to the National Register of Historic Places  November 3, 1975.  

It was built in 1926 therefore 2026 marks 100 years! Programming includes special events and exclusive 100th-year activities.