Abstract

Abstract:

The University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning (1924–37) was a joint effort between Chancellor John Gabbert Bowman and Philadelphia architect Charles Z. Klauder. While architectural historians have sufficiently analyzed the Cathedral of Learning's synthesis of Gothic architecture with modernist trends in both form and style, scholars have yet to examine the architect and patron's unique collaborative solution to the problem of the design of a landmark that signaled the interests of both town and gown. Additionally, there is no substantial scholarship on the Cathedral of Learning's fundraising campaign and Nationality Rooms program in relation to Klauder's design nor how Bowman conveyed the design's meaning to the public. This paper argues that in the two scholarly realms of architect–patron collaboration in collegiate architecture and town–gown relationship, the Cathedral of Learning was an early milestone. The project here becomes a lens through which one can examine the discourses and debates at metropolitan universities where administrators and their architects endeavored to design buildings and campus plans that appealed to the civic and educational goals of both town and gown. This paper chronicles how Bowman co-opted the idea of the town to justify the means of the gown in order to realize his objective. In conclusion, the chancellor's consideration of town in the design he completed with Klauder was anecdotal insofar as the values and goals of the university became those of the city.

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