Mount Washington

Mount Washington. The Grand View. , Pittsburgh's architectural legacy coincides with its rise to prominence as a capital of industry. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city's tycoons built some of the nation's first skyscrapers in the Golden Triangle. Starting in the 1950s, Downtown went through a succession of booms in new construction that lasted for nearly 40 years. The 21st century has seen yet another burst, with new stadiums on the North Shore and more recently, the rise of several new skyscrapers in Downtown., One PPG Place , Built in 1983, the headquarters of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Industries was designed by acclaimed architect Philip Johnson. He was inspired by the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland to give the City a second gothic skyscraper, only this time sheathed in glass instead of stone. The plaza in the center of the complex has become popular with its wintertime skating rink and summertime dancing fountains., Alcoa Building , Now formally called the Regional Enterprise Tower, this skyscraper was built in 1953 as the headquarters for the Aluminum Company of America. It is notable for being the first skyscraper in the world with an all-aluminum exterior., Gulf Tower , Although currently hidden by other buildings, upon its completion in 1932, the headquarters of the Gulf Oil Corporation was the tallest building in Pittsburgh. It maintained that title until the U.S. Steel Tower was completed in 1970. Built in the Art Deco style, lights in the unique step pyramid on the uppermost floors change colors to indicate the local weather forecast., U.S. Steel Tower , At the time of its completion in 1971, the headquarters of the U.S. Steel Corporation was the tallest building in the U.S. outside of New York and Chicago. It remains the tallest building in Pittsburgh to this day. Its flattened top is an acre in size, making it the highest, largest piece of flat surface in the world., Cathedral of Learning , The flagship of the University of Pittsburgh's Oakland campus is the 42-story Cathedral of Learning, the second-tallest university building in the world, prominently visible from all over the city. Completed in the mid-30s, the gothic revival-style structure contains some remarkable interior spaces, notably the "commons hall," as well as a series of classrooms that reflect the cultures and traditions of 29 nationalities that have had an influence on Pittsburgh's growth., Fort Pitt Bridge , The Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel form one of the most spectacular entrances to any American city. The bridge was built in 1959, further down the Monongahela River than its predecessor, the Point Bridge, enabling Point State Park's eventual development. And in 1969, the Fort Pitt Bridge's sister bridge, the Fort Duquesne Bridge connected the Point with the North Shore., Fort Pitt Museum and Point State Park , "The Point" where the three rivers come together was packed with industry when the land was taken over by the city in the 1950s for the formation of a new civic park. Point State Park, known for the impressive fountain at its apex, is also the site on which the French first established Fort Duquesne in the 1750s, and a few years later where the British, built Fort Pitt. The original Fort Pitt blockhouse remains, and is part of a museum chronicling Pittsburgh's early history., Gateway Center , After World War II, large swaths of Downtown Pittsburgh remained highly industrial. In the early 1950s, one of the first projects of Pittsburgh's architectural and environmental transformation was to clear out the area near the Point to make way for Gateway Center. The first Gateway Center office tower was erected in 1952, with the remaining structures completed by 1960., "Firstside" , Amongst the gleaming towers of the Golden Triangle is the row of 18th-century Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victorian buildings along Fort Pitt Boulevard between Wood St and Market Street. Once fronted directly on the Mon Wharf, these buildings were utilized as business places and warehouses during the wharf's heyday as a center for river-based shipping and transportation., Smithfield Street Bridge , Pittsburgh is known as the "City of Bridges," and with 446 of them, has even more bridges than Venice, Italy. One of them, the Smithfield Street Bridge at the foot of the Monongahela Incline, is one of the oldest steel bridges in the United States. First opened for traffic in 1883, it has since been designated a National Historic Landmark., Allegheny County Courthouse , One of the most well-known works of architecture in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Courthouse and old jail was designed by famed architect Henry Hobson Richardson, who considered the Romanesque complex to be his finest work. Completed in 1888, it was innovatively designed around an interior courtyard to maximize the amount of natural light and fresh air available to every room in the building., Landmarks Building , In 1879, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad opened for the first time, introducing a vital link between Pittsburgh and the Great Lakes region. The Pittsburgh Terminal Station, with its magnificent stained glass dome, was built in 1900 to serve as the hub for this burgeoning train service. As the demand for both passenger and freight rail service declined into the 1970s, the area was in danger of becoming derelict. Fortunately, in 1976, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation adopted the site and turned it into a new mixed-use development known as Station Square, with the old train terminal, now a restaurant, as its centerpiece., Mellon Hall , The Richard King Mellon Hall of Science is one of the most noteworthy buildings on the Duquesne University campus. Dedicated in 1968, the modernist structure was designed by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with the spare steel-and-glass simplicity for which he was famous.