Clapp Hall

Clapp Hall
George Hubbard Clapp Hall
Clapp Hall, home of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh
Coordinates: 40°26′46.06″N 79°57′11.29″W / 40.4461278°N 79.9531361°W / 40.4461278; -79.9531361Coordinates: 40°26′46.06″N 79°57′11.29″W / 40.4461278°N 79.9531361°W / 40.4461278; -79.9531361
Built: 1956
Architect: Trautwein & Howard
Architectural style: Late Gothic Revival
Governing body: University of Pittsburgh
Part of: Schenley Farms Historic District (#83002213)
Added to NRHP: July 22, 1983[1]

George Hubbard Clapp Hall is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District[3][4] on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The six-story Gothic Revival structure, designed by Trautwein & Howard,[2] was completed in 1956 and serves as the primary facility of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Biological Sciences. It contains laboratories, classrooms, a greenhouse, and an amphitheater-style lecture hall with 404 seats.[3][4]

Contents

Architecture

Clapp Hall was designed by Trautwein & Howard, a successor to architectural firm of Charles Klauder who designed the university's gothic Cathedral of Learning, Stephen Foster Memorial, and Heinz Memorial Chapel.[2]

Clapp Hall's exterior and interior spaces have been described as a mix of Collegiate Gothic and Art Deco.[2] The building features a diagonally-positioned entrance that creates a direct axis with the Cathedral of Learning which is framed in Clapp Hall's stone portal entryway. The building is clad in textured Indiana limestone to match the stone used on the Cathedral of Learning. The building’s use of aluminum windows has been suggested to be a quiet homage to the work of aluminum magnate George Hubbard Clapp, the building's namesake.[2] The lobby of Clapp Hall is streamlined Art Deco in character, with terrazzo flooring and stainless steel doors, and is thus more stylistically modern than its exterior which is meant to reflect the Cathedral of Learning. It has been suggested that the lobby reveals a struggle in the design process to find a balance between the traditional gothic and more contemporary design elements.[5]

History

Original plans slated Clapp Hall to be built adjacent to the Cathedral of Learning facing the Masonic Temple, on the south side of Fifth Avenue, between the Cathedral and Heinz Memorial Chapel. Concerns over adding more buildings to the Cathedral of Learning lawn and impinging on the lawn's rare open space prompted a change to its current site across Fifth Avenue and effectively ended above-ground development of the Cathedral lawn space.[6]

The 3-acre (12,000 m2) plot of land that Clapp Hall was constructed on was purchased for $675,000 as a gift for the university by the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust.[7] Ground was broken for Clapp Hall in 1954[8] and the building was completed in 1956. The six-story building cost $2.5 million and it was initially used only for freshman chemistry, although other sciences soon moved into the building.[9] it is conjoined with Langley and Crawford Halls, which were added in later stages, and forms the three-building Clapp/Langley/Crawford Complex. The triangular courtyard at the southwest entry to Clapp Hall, facing the Cathedral of Learning, was modified in 2004 to accommodate trees and benches.[2]

The building is named for George Hubbard Clapp (1858–1949), an alumnus (class of 1877) and president of Pitt's Board of Trustees for more than 40 years. Clapp was one of five responsible for the first commercial production of aluminum and was a founder of the Aluminum Company of America.[5]

Use

The six-story structure contains laboratories, classrooms, and an amphitheater-style lecture hall with 404 seats.[3] A greenhouse, used mostly for teaching, is located on the four floor of Clapp Hall.[4] Clapp Hall originally housed Pitt's Departments of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Metallurgy, and Chemical Engineering.[6] Today the Department of Biological Sciences occupies the building.

References

George Hubbard Clapp
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-09. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Pfaffmann, Rob (2005-09), University of Pittsburgh Civic Center Conservation Plan, Pfaffmann + Associates, PC and the Getty Foundation Campus Heritage Program, pp. 163–166, http://www.pfaffmann.com/documents/PittCivicCenterConservation%20Plan_2006.pdf, retrieved 2010-01-27 
  3. ^ a b "Clapp Hall - Room L9". Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education, University of Pittsburgh. 2009-12-23. http://www.cidde.pitt.edu/classrooms/clapp_l9.html. Retrieved 2010-08-13. 
  4. ^ a b Howard, Giles (2008-08-25). "Greenhouses aplenty at Pitt". The Pitt News (Pittsburgh, PA). http://pittnews.com/newsstory/greenhouses-aplenty-at-pitt/. Retrieved 2008-08-27. 
  5. ^ Pfaffmann, Rob (2005-09), University of Pittsburgh Civic Center Conservation Plan, Pfaffmann + Associates, PC and the Getty Foundation Campus Heritage Program, p. 173, http://www.pfaffmann.com/documents/PittCivicCenterConservation%20Plan_2006.pdf, retrieved 2010-01-27 
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ "Work Starts on Fifth New Building for Pitt". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, PA). 1954-07-01. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aiogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4GoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2583%2C3453242. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
  9. ^ "New Pitt Science Hall Opens" (Press release). University of Pittsburgh Office of Public Relations. 1956-09. http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittpressreleases;cc=pittpressreleases;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=opening;rgn=full%20text;idno=pittpressreleases19560274;didno=pittpressreleases19560274;view=image;seq=0001. Retrieved 2010-08-13. 

External links

Preceded by
Scaife Hall
University of Pittsburgh Buildings
Clapp Hall

Constructed: 1956
Succeeded by
Parran Hall

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Clapp/Langley/Crawford Complex — Coordinates: 40°26′48″N 79°57′14″W / 40.446788°N 79.953814°W / 40.446788; 79.953814 The Clapp/Langley …   Wikipedia

  • Clapp, Cornelia Maria — ▪ American zoologist born March 17, 1849, Montague, Mass., U.S. died Dec. 31, 1934, Mount Dora, Fla.       American zoologist and educator whose influence as a teacher was great and enduring in a period when the world of science was just opening… …   Universalium

  • George Hubbard Clapp — (1858 1949) was an American pioneer in the aluminium industry and also a numismatist. He was born on December 14 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh, the son of Delia Dennig Hubbard and DeWitt Clinton Clapp, an iron company… …   Wikipedia

  • Alumni Hall (University of Pittsburgh) — Alumni Hall U.S. Historic district Contributing property Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark …   Wikipedia

  • Old Engineering Hall — Coordinates: 40°26′42″N 79°57′29″W / 40.444959°N 79.958045°W / 40.444959; 79.958045 …   Wikipedia

  • Mervis Hall — Coordinates: 40°26′27″N 79°57′12″W / 40.440793°N 79.953337°W / 40.440793; 79.953337 …   Wikipedia

  • David Lawrence Hall — Coordinates: 40°26′33″N 79°57′19″W / 40.442399°N 79.955303°W / 40.442399; 79.955303 …   Wikipedia

  • Miriam Hall — was an American tennis player of the start of the 20th century. Notably, in 1904, she won the women s doubles at the US Women s National Championship with May Sutton Bundy. Contents 1 Honours (partial) 1.1 Singles titles 1.2 Singles finals lost …   Wikipedia

  • Nell Hall Hopman — Full name Eleanor Nell Mary Hall Hopman Country  Australia Born March 19, 1909(1909 03 19) Sydney …   Wikipedia

  • Louise Brough Clapp — Louise Brough Louise Brough (épouse Clapp) Pays représenté(s) …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”