{"nrhp_refnum":"75001608","name":"Cathedral of Learning","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Forbes Ave. and Bigelow Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.44542885100006,"lon":-79.95203494839939,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-11-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A forty-story steel-frame skyscraper with a limestone veneer on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, housing classrooms, administrative and departmental offices. It was designed by Charles Z. Klauder of Philadelphia and built in 1926-37.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is the culmination of the Late Gothic Revival style in American architecture and the most unique of the Gothic skyscrapers. It also cites the Commons room and the ring of Nationality Rooms on the ground floor as distinctive, and notes its role as a landmark in Pittsburgh's skyline and as a symbol of the 1920s.","narrative":"Rising forty stories above the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, the Cathedral of Learning is a steel-frame skyscraper faced in limestone and built for the University of Pittsburgh between 1926 and 1937. Architect Charles Z. Klauder of Philadelphia designed it in the Gothic style, with pointed-arch windows grouped to read as multi-story arches, corner buttresses and pinnacles, and vertical fluting. The original plan called for fifty-two floors, but the height was reduced to forty after objections to its practicality, and the Depression lengthened construction. Its ground-floor Commons room, a vaulted Gothic space finished in 1939, is noted for its theatrical character. The ring of Nationality Rooms on the ground floor, gifts from ethnic groups of Allegheny County, combine furnishings and designs drawn from many nations and are used daily for teaching. The building is regarded as an outstanding example of collegiate Gothic design and a major visual element of the city.","period_of_significance":"1926-1937","architect_builder":"Charles Z. Klauder (architect)","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival; Skyscraper Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"In excellent condition due to continued use; the exterior was completed by the Second World War and parts of the interior were only recently finished.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.87567-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001608.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001608/aec5c1d653-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001608/aec5c1d653-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pjah73 at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CathoLearn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pjah73 at English Wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CathoLearn.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83002213","name":"Schenley Farms Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/schenley-farms-historic-district-additional-documentation-83002213/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997736","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Learning","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q797017"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/cathedral-of-learning-75001608/"}