Photo of the Day: Yugoslav Room, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh PA

Previously, I posted about the Irish, Turkish, and African Heritage rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. But I also felt the need to take this picture of another “Nationality Room” there, the Yugoslav Room, when I visited in October 2019.

This was hardly the best-lit of the rooms I saw that day, but it is a miniature jewel because of its combination of wood carving, weaving and lace making. I am sure that the Yugoslav immigrant community in Pittsburgh took special pride when the room was dedicated in March 1939.

Start with the chairs, which were carved by students at the International Art School in Zagreb. The director of that school, Vojta Branis, journeyed over to the U.S. twice during the room’s construction to supervise the work.

But take a look at the woodwork on the walls (paneled in Slavonian oak) and ceilings. Believe it or not, that was done back in what was then Yugoslavia, all with small pocket knives.

The two portraits above the blackboard depict Vuk Karadzic and Bishop Josip Strossmayer, who compiled the Serbian dictionary.

Photo of the Day: African Heritage Room, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh PA

Previously, I posted about the Irish and Turkish Heritage rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. But the African Heritage Room, which I photographed during my same vacation in Pittsburgh last October, is equally striking.

This classroom, created by architect William J.Bates, was dedicated in 1989. It represents the central courtyard of an Asante temple from the late 1700s. Note especially the oxblood steps, two levels of student benches, and wainscot with relief decorations, as well as six chieftain stools that provide informal seating near a hand-carved professor's lectern.

Photo of the Day: Turkish Nationality Room, Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

In a prior post, I discussed one of the wonderful sights of Pittsburgh: the Cathedral of Learning, on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. 

The first and third floors of this National Historic Landmark are given over to Nationality Rooms that depict for students (and, secondarily, tourists) the culture of ethnic groups that settled in Allegheny County. My favorite among these rooms may well be the Turkish Room, dedicated in 2012. 

The walls and ceiling include Kundekara and Citarkari woodwork. The image here, which I took when I visited the site last October, is a portrait of two men by Mehmet Siyah Kalem, a 14^th-century painter who pioneered in the use of perspective.

Photo of the Day: Stained-Glass Window, Irish Room, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh (PA)

As promised in a prior post, I am now going to explore various rooms that (at least before the COVID-19 outbreak) are open to visitors at the Cathedral of Learning, an architectural marvel located on the University of Pittsburgh campus. 

Though the exterior of the building (which is, incidentally, on the National Register of Historic Places) is impressive, its interiors—especially the Nationality Rooms, intended to honor early ethnic groups in the area--are small gems unto themselves. 

The image I’ve attached is from the Irish Room—which, considering my ancestry, is a natural. Stained-glass windows, with their emphasis on storytelling, particularly appeal to me. 

What you see here is one of three scenes depicting famous teachers at the three oldest centers of learning in Ireland: St. Finnian at Clonard, “the Master of the Saints of Ireland.” (The other two windows show St. Columkille at Derry and St. Carthagh at Lismore.)

Photo of the Day: The Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh PA

Rising out of the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, the 535-foot-tall Cathedral of Learning is not just a skyscraper but a wonderful mosaic of multi-cultural America at its best—and, I would have to imagine, a delightful academic environment. 

I first visited this site nearly 30 years ago. When I revisited this past October, I was glad to have the opportunity to refresh my memory of this 42-story structure—the second-tallest educational facility in the world after the University of Moscow’s main building. 

Several classrooms, occupied by students, were not open to the public on the day I walked the halls. But enough were to remind me of the rich global history so evident here: 26 “Nationality Classrooms,” including several ethnic groups represented in the polyglot metropolis of Pittsburgh, such as the Polish, Greek, Irish, Italian, African, Turkish, and Japanese rooms.

The building derived from the vision of University of Pittsburgh John G. Bowman, who conceived of a “high building, a tower—a tower singing upward that would tell the epic story of Pittsburgh.”

The final look of the building, created by Philadelphia architect Charles Zeller Klauder, more than fulfilled Bowman’s notion. The skyscraper was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. It borrows design elements from the Gothic style of medieval European cathedrals, inspiring reverence in the service of a secular environment that undoubtedly creates devotion in the memories of those who pass through its halls.

Commissioned in 1921, the building came to fruition as the result of a remarkable $10 million public fundraising campaign in which the institution’s label served as an indispensable hook. Approximately 97,000 schoolchildren contributed a dime each certificate testifying that they were “Builders of the Cathedral of Learning.” The first class was held in the building 10 years later, with the formal dedication coming six years later.

At the time, objections were raised among some faculty members and the city of Pittsburgh as a whole that the height of the building did not fit it with its surroundings. But it is difficult, if not impossible, to view it now without a sense of wonder.

Any one of the classrooms here is worthy of a comment and its own separate page, and at some point over the next few months I will try to do so. But I wanted to lay down the markers here now.