Thaw Hall
Encyclopedia
Thaw Hall is an historic academic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh
that is a contributing property
to the Schenley Farms National Historic District
and has been named a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
Historic Landmark. The five story building of stone, brick, and terra cotta
was completed in 1910 in the Neoclassical
Beaux-Arts style by architect Henry Hornbostel
and today serves as space for a variety of academic classrooms, labs, offices, and centers. It is located between, and connected to, the university's Old Engineering Hall
and Space Research Coordination Center (SRCC) along O'Hara Street in the Oakland
neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Originally home to Pitt's School of Engineering, it is now the secondary home to its Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the location of the Physics department's Resource Room, a student help center. Several other departments, including Asian Languages, Chemistry, Archaeology, and the Architectural Studies, have offices, classrooms, and labs in various locations throughout the building. It additionally is the home of the Architectural Studies Program's "architecture lab" which, following its dedication in the spring of 2007, serves as a dedicated design studio space that accommodates a two-semester architectural studio sequence that facilitates intensive instruction from practicing architects in the fundamentals of spatial thinking, graphic representation techniques, and model building. Also housed in the building are the Office of Experiential Learning, Freshman Programs, and the Writing Center.
Renovations, upgrades, and improvements for Thaw Hall, Old Engineering Hall
, and Allen Hall
have been announced and are preliminarily targeted in to be in excess of $58.6 million according to the University's 12-year facilities master plan.
According to architectural historian Christopher Armstrong, the five story stone, brick, and terra cotta building contains motifs from classical elements that are "specifically derived from Greek models...but not constrained by them" and that are "derived from the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, where Hornbostel trained." Thaw Hall was intended as a gatepost or supporting building in the never realized "Acropolis Plan" for Pitt's campus, and was designed to work with additional proposed, but never realized, buildings. This is evidenced by the west end of the building that went unfinished with the expectation that construction would continue along in that direction, but was only subsequently connected to the university's newer engineering facility (now termed "Old Engineering Hall") in 1955. According to Armstrong, Hornbostel used a balcony-like element to set back the upper part of the building so the lower levels could act as a podium in order to "give a horizontal continuity to a chain of buildings that were planned". General motifs repeated in Thaw Hall’s facade include recessed bricks within larger brick columns, as well as deeply recessed windows that are trimmed by decorative brick patterns that vary by floor. The details of the building include ornamental elements reflective of classical design including Doric columns as well as cornice
and pediment
containing repeating classical terra cotta decorative patterns incorporating waves, palmette
s, or leaves, as well as granite rosettes
and Greek Key motifs. The words "School of Engineering” is sculpted into the O’Hara Street side of the building above two unfinished stone elements that may have been intended to be sculpted into portraits had the Hornbostel campus plan been fully executed. Armstrong contends that Thaw Hall's worth as a historic building is demonstrated in Hornbostel’s intentional manipulation of shading by the application of varying amounts of relief to the ornamentation in order to create alternate dark and light patterns that are still observable from a distance, while abating the effect as the viewer looks at the lower parts of the building.
Due to an odd numbering decision, the building has a ground, sub-basement, and basement levels, in ascending order, all of which are above ground, the later two having windowed rooms, with the first floor roughly level with Old Engineering Hall's second floor. There is a back corridor on the Sub-Basement level (1 story above ground level), currently housing offices, which can only be accessed by elevator or by walking though one of the classrooms.
grant for studies in the natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, and health areas concerned with the aerospace
field. The SRCC was constructed as an annex connected to the eastern side of Thaw Hall. The addition includes a common entrance on O’Hara Street for both the SRCC and Thaw Hall that obscured the original Thaw Hall entrance which contained two large Doric columns, ornamentation, and wrought-iron gates. Because of this, a ground level side-door accessible via the basement of Old Engineering Hall is the only direct exterior access to Thaw Hall, with all other access via internal connections from Old Engineering Hall or SRCC. The third floor of the SRCC is connected to the Mezzanine floor (of the basement level which is the second floor above ground level) of Thaw Hall at Thaw Hall's original entrance. The design of SRCC in mimics Thaw Hall in the color of the brick and the motif of recessed bricks in the middle of larger brick columns, but contains a flat roof and is absent of ornamentation. Today, the SRCC houses the university's Department of Geology and Planetary Science as well as offices from other departments including the Department of Physics & Astronomy.
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
that is a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the Schenley Farms National Historic District
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and has been named a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 to support the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....
Historic Landmark. The five story building of stone, brick, and terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
was completed in 1910 in the Neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
Beaux-Arts style by architect Henry Hornbostel
Henry Hornbostel
Henry Hornbostel was an American architect.He designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States; currently 22 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
and today serves as space for a variety of academic classrooms, labs, offices, and centers. It is located between, and connected to, the university's Old Engineering Hall
Old Engineering Hall
Old Engineering Hall is an academic building at 3943 O'Hara Street on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The building was completed for $1.2 million in October, 1955. The seven floor building connects Allen Hall and Thaw Hall, as well as the Van...
and Space Research Coordination Center (SRCC) along O'Hara Street in the Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...
neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
History and use
The design for Thaw Hall came from Henry Hornbostel's winning submission, termed the "Acropolis Plan", for a 1907 national competition to design a new campus for the University of Pittsburgh which was moving from its Observatory Hill campus to its current location in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. Hornbostel's plan was begun in 1908 with the construction of the now demolished School of Mines, later renamed State Hall. State Hall's construction was closely followed by the laying of the cornerstone for what was originally termed the Engineering Building in 1909. Construction on the Engineering Building was completed in 1910, and its dedication took place on June 15 of that year, at which time it was renamed in honor of Pitt trustee and benefactor Benjamin Thaw, Sr., who donated a substantial amount toward the building's construction. Only a few other buildings in the Acropolis Plan design were constructed, including the original Pennsylvania Hall in 1911 as well as the Mineral Industries Building in 1912. However, Thaw Hall is the only surviving building of Hornbostel's original concept, as well as the oldest building on Pitt's Oakland campus that was originally constructed for academic purposes.Originally home to Pitt's School of Engineering, it is now the secondary home to its Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the location of the Physics department's Resource Room, a student help center. Several other departments, including Asian Languages, Chemistry, Archaeology, and the Architectural Studies, have offices, classrooms, and labs in various locations throughout the building. It additionally is the home of the Architectural Studies Program's "architecture lab" which, following its dedication in the spring of 2007, serves as a dedicated design studio space that accommodates a two-semester architectural studio sequence that facilitates intensive instruction from practicing architects in the fundamentals of spatial thinking, graphic representation techniques, and model building. Also housed in the building are the Office of Experiential Learning, Freshman Programs, and the Writing Center.
Renovations, upgrades, and improvements for Thaw Hall, Old Engineering Hall
Old Engineering Hall
Old Engineering Hall is an academic building at 3943 O'Hara Street on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The building was completed for $1.2 million in October, 1955. The seven floor building connects Allen Hall and Thaw Hall, as well as the Van...
, and Allen Hall
Allen Hall (University of Pittsburgh)
Allen Hall at the University of Pittsburgh is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District. Completed in 1914 and originally serving as the home to the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, the six...
have been announced and are preliminarily targeted in to be in excess of $58.6 million according to the University's 12-year facilities master plan.
Architectural elements
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris, where Hornbostel trained." Thaw Hall was intended as a gatepost or supporting building in the never realized "Acropolis Plan" for Pitt's campus, and was designed to work with additional proposed, but never realized, buildings. This is evidenced by the west end of the building that went unfinished with the expectation that construction would continue along in that direction, but was only subsequently connected to the university's newer engineering facility (now termed "Old Engineering Hall") in 1955. According to Armstrong, Hornbostel used a balcony-like element to set back the upper part of the building so the lower levels could act as a podium in order to "give a horizontal continuity to a chain of buildings that were planned". General motifs repeated in Thaw Hall’s facade include recessed bricks within larger brick columns, as well as deeply recessed windows that are trimmed by decorative brick patterns that vary by floor. The details of the building include ornamental elements reflective of classical design including Doric columns as well as cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
and pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
containing repeating classical terra cotta decorative patterns incorporating waves, palmette
Palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...
s, or leaves, as well as granite rosettes
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
and Greek Key motifs. The words "School of Engineering” is sculpted into the O’Hara Street side of the building above two unfinished stone elements that may have been intended to be sculpted into portraits had the Hornbostel campus plan been fully executed. Armstrong contends that Thaw Hall's worth as a historic building is demonstrated in Hornbostel’s intentional manipulation of shading by the application of varying amounts of relief to the ornamentation in order to create alternate dark and light patterns that are still observable from a distance, while abating the effect as the viewer looks at the lower parts of the building.
Due to an odd numbering decision, the building has a ground, sub-basement, and basement levels, in ascending order, all of which are above ground, the later two having windowed rooms, with the first floor roughly level with Old Engineering Hall's second floor. There is a back corridor on the Sub-Basement level (1 story above ground level), currently housing offices, which can only be accessed by elevator or by walking though one of the classrooms.
Space Research Coordination Center
The Space Research Coordination Center (SRCC), sometimes referred to as the Space Research Coordinating Center, was completed in 1965 from funding obtained from a $1.5 million NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
grant for studies in the natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, and health areas concerned with the aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
field. The SRCC was constructed as an annex connected to the eastern side of Thaw Hall. The addition includes a common entrance on O’Hara Street for both the SRCC and Thaw Hall that obscured the original Thaw Hall entrance which contained two large Doric columns, ornamentation, and wrought-iron gates. Because of this, a ground level side-door accessible via the basement of Old Engineering Hall is the only direct exterior access to Thaw Hall, with all other access via internal connections from Old Engineering Hall or SRCC. The third floor of the SRCC is connected to the Mezzanine floor (of the basement level which is the second floor above ground level) of Thaw Hall at Thaw Hall's original entrance. The design of SRCC in mimics Thaw Hall in the color of the brick and the motif of recessed bricks in the middle of larger brick columns, but contains a flat roof and is absent of ornamentation. Today, the SRCC houses the university's Department of Geology and Planetary Science as well as offices from other departments including the Department of Physics & Astronomy.