The MIT Press, 2026.
This is a hybrid program — in-person in the gallery and online.
On September 27, 1926, the University of Pittsburgh broke ground on the "Cathedral of Learning," a signature skyscraper that was to be the tallest in the world outside Manhattan. Marking the upcoming centennial of the remarkable academic building, architectural historian and University of Pittsburgh professor Drew Armstrong will present research from his book-in-progress on the planning, design, and realization of this Neo-Gothic skyscraper.
When first unveiled to the public in November 1924, the projected 52-story tower by architect Charles Klauder aspired to be the world's third tallest skyscraper after New York's Woolworth and Metropolitan Life buildings. The campaign to raise $10 million for its construction brought the Cathedral of Learning to the attention of audiences across the U.S. and beyond. In his talk, Armstrong will position the Cathedral of Learning – completed at 42-stories – in relation to contemporary developments in New York and Chicago and will unpack the University of Pittsburgh’s role in shaping the Steel City’s post-WWI ambitions.
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Drew Armstrong
Drew Armstrong is Associate Professor of History of Art & Architecture and director of Architectural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Toronto, he was a co-editor of Narrating the Globe: The Emergence of World Histories of Architecture (MIT, 2023), author of Julien-David Leroy and the Making of Architectural History (Routledge, 2011) and of articles on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American and European art and architecture.