Wesley W. Posvar Hall
Encyclopedia
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...
in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. At 744695 square feet (69,184.4 m²) it is the largest academic-use building on campus, providing administrative offices, classrooms, lecture halls, a food court, and computer labs. The hall sits on the former site of Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
, and contains several artifacts, including the former stadium's home plate
Home Plate
Home Plate is the fifth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1975 .-Track listing:#"What Do You Want the Boy to Do?" – 3:19#"Good Enough" – 2:56#"Run Like a Thief" – 3:02...
and one of two surviving Langley Aerodrome
Langley Aerodrome
The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, powered flying machine designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S...
s.
Posvar Hall houses Pitt's School of Education, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, the University Center for International Studies, and the Social Sciences Departments.
Construction
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
baseball stadium and beside the university's Hillman Library on the corner of Schenley Drive and Roberto Clemente Drive with Bouquet Street running along its west side. Enclosed passageways connect Posvar Hall to David Lawrence Hall
David Lawrence Hall
David Lawrence Hall is a major academic building at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, where it serves as the school's largest lecture hall and auditorium facility.-History:...
, the Barco Law Building
Barco Law Building
Barco Law Building is an academic building housing the University of Pittsburgh School of Law on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The $8.5 million six-story building was opened in January 1976 and dedicated on May 1, 1976...
, and the Litchfield Towers
Litchfield Towers
Litchfield Towers, commonly referred to on campus as "Towers," is a complex of dormitories at the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
.
Posvar Hall was designed in the Brutalist style and is constructed with concrete with a limestone exterior and its height was limited to five stories so it would not compete with The Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
directly across Schenley Plaza
Schenley Plaza
Schenley Plaza is a public park serving as the grand entrance into Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The plaza, located on Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive in the city's Oakland district, includes multiple gardens, food kiosks, public meeting spaces, a carousel, and a prominent "Emerald...
. Construction costs exceeded $38 million. Its floor space slightly exceeds that of the Cathedral of Learning
Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
. It has 2,000 windows, 574 offices, 30 seminar rooms, three lecture halls, one mile of corridors, and nearly 500 parking spaces in its two level garage below the facility.
The central area of the interior space is called the Galaria and contains various artwork including Virgil Cantini
Virgil Cantini
Virgil David Cantini was an enamelist,sculptor and educator. He was well known for innovation with enamel and steel and received both local and national recognition for his work, including honorary awards, competitive prizes and commissions, along with a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1957...
's mural Enlightenment and Joy and one of Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation...
's aeodromes
Langley Aerodrome
The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, powered flying machine designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S...
. A cascade of escalators are present to transport individuals between floors.
Originally named Forbes Quadrangle, it was renamed on October 21, 1999 by the University's Board of Trustees in honor of Wesley W. Posvar (1925–2001), the 15th chancellor of the University.
Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
baseball team from 1909–1970 and, at various times, the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...
, and Pitt's own football team. The stadium was dismantled starting in July 1971, and construction on the new building started soon afterwards and continued until 1974. The building incorporates many reminders of the famous ballpark—the home plate
Home Plate
Home Plate is the fifth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1975 .-Track listing:#"What Do You Want the Boy to Do?" – 3:19#"Good Enough" – 2:56#"Run Like a Thief" – 3:02...
of Forbes Field remains near its exact spot, protected under lucite glass. The outfield wall is outlined in the sidewalk by bricks, and the portion of the famously deep left-center field wall still stands across the street, marked "457 Feet". Originally, the classrooms were numbered to reflect the seating section of the old stadium where each classroom was located. However, this system confused people, and was changed in 2004 to a standard four-digit numbering system.
Art
Virgil Cantini
Virgil David Cantini was an enamelist,sculptor and educator. He was well known for innovation with enamel and steel and received both local and national recognition for his work, including honorary awards, competitive prizes and commissions, along with a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1957...
's colorful porcelain enamel on steel mural Enlightenment and Joy (1977) is on display on the ground floor. The piece is an example of Cantini's use of circles, representing the earth, moon, and sun, an artistic trend inspired by the Apollo moon landings. The work was created to honor former University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Edward Litchfield
Edward Litchfield
Edward Harold Litchfield was an American educator and the twelfth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. He is best known for a major expansion of the university, but also a failure to raise sufficient capital to fund such growth, eventually leading to his resignation in July 1965.He earned...
who died in a plane crash in 1956.
Cantini's 1965 steel rod and multicolored glass sculpture New Horizons, Skyscape is also on display near room 1500. The sculpture was donated to the university by the Joseph Horne Company
Horne's
The Joseph Horne Company, often referred to simply as Joseph Horne's or Horne's, was an iconic, regional department store chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was one of the oldest in the country being founded on February 22, 1849 but due to its regional presence in the country, it...
from its department store in the South Hills Village
South Hills Village
South Hills Village is a two-level shopping mall located in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair. It was developed by the Oxford Development Co. as the first shopping complex to be built as a fully enclosed structure. The two-level complex is currently owned by Simon Property...
mall where it had previously been on display.
Tony Smith's
Tony Smith (sculptor)
Tony Smith was an American sculptor, visual artist, architectural designer, and a noted theorist on art. He is often cited as a pioneering figure in American Minimalist sculpture.-Education:...
1971 20-foot-tall painted steel sculpture Light Up!, commissioned by Westinghouse and originally displayed in downtown Pittsburgh, can be found outside Posvar Hall in Forbes Quad between it and Hillman Library
Hillman Library
Hillman Library is the largest library and the center of administration for the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
. Donated to and re-installed at Pitt in 1988, it was temporarily loaned to the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
and displayed in front of the Seagram Building
Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson. Severud Associates were the structural engineering consultants. The building...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for a 1988 Tony Smith retrospective.
Aerodrome
Langley Aerodrome
The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, powered flying machine designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S...
s, Aerodrome No. 6 dating from 1896, is displayed in the ground floor lobby amid various artworks and sculptures. The Aeordrome was an experimental aircraft
Experimental aircraft
An experimental aircraft is an aircraft that has not yet been fully proven in flight. Often, this implies that new aerospace technologies are being tested on the aircraft, though the label is more broad....
commissioned by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from former Pitt professor and Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
Secretary Samuel Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation...
. It flew 5,000 feet in November 1896, further proving (after the success of No. 5 in May) the feasibility of engine-driven heavier-than-air flight. The aircraft was restored in part by the Pitt engineering students
Swanson School of Engineering
The Swanson School of Engineering is the engineering school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846, The Swanson School of Engineering is the second or third oldest in the United States.- History :...
. Fabric on the wings and tail is the only new material, however, the tail and several wing ribs were rebuilt using wood provided by the Smithsonian Institution and dating from the same time period. The restoration was completed over two years and the plane placed on display in Posvar Hall in 1980.
Gallery
External links
- Posvar Hall on Pitt's virtual tour
Panoramas
- 360° panorama of the Posvar Hall ground floor walkway at the Forbes Field home plate
- 360° panorama at the remnant of Forbes Field's outfield wall close to Posvar Hall
Video