What can educational system learn from the Cathedral of Learning?

6 min readSep 15, 2019

Nested in the North Oakland neighborhood, the Cathedral of Learning (CL) can be seen from nearly the entirety of Pittsburgh. Built 1925, CL evokes a strong emotion to its viewers, through its tall ‘campus neo-gothic style’ stone skyscraper tower. The building has elements and layers that have been interwoven with the University of Pittsburgh’s (UPitt) history, making this not only the tallest educational building in North America but also an embodiment of education itself.

A sketch of Catherdral of Learning with the different layers called out. Inside this architecture, there are 6 layers that move in different time phases.

After a visit to the building and talking to the faculty and students, it was apparent that CL and UPitt educational system shaped each other through the years. To explain my analogy between the CL and an UPitt educational system, I will borrow the architectural concept from Stewart Brand. In his book, ‘How Buildings Learn’, he lays out six shearing layers of a building; Site Plan, Structure, Skin, Service, Space Plan, and Stuff. These layers have a distinctive relationship with time: some of the layers change rapidly while other layers cycles on much slower phases (Brand, 1994, p.13). Shearing layer categorizing is helpful since it provides beneficial indications about how we should prioritize and design elements according to the rigidness and flexibility of different layers.

The steel-framing with Gothic skin. Construction photo from 1930 (Photo: Brookline Connection).

Site

Because no building or system exists in a vacuum, understanding them starts with its site and context. The Cathedral of Learning is located on Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard, next to the Carnegie Mellon Natural History Museum. When the building was built in 1925, Pittsburgh was becoming the educational acropolis due to the influx of returning soldiers from World War I. In response to this growing student body, 10th chancellor of UPitt John G. Bowman envisioned a concept of ‘tall building’ to signify the height of education (Nationality Rooms, 2019). The educational system is similar to how CL is located within the UPitt campus and within Pittsburgh. A university education exists within the boundary of federal and state regulation. Any US university is constricted by the accreditation board and U.S. Department of Education. In order to be recognized as an educational institution, UPitt follows basic federal and state guidelines. The interesting part is that just like the sidewalk renovation that was happening at the site of CL, the state and federal legislature are consistently tweaking the law, providing an opportunity for incremental adjustments. Should the CL become more accessible by adjusting the sidewalk to have a ramp for wheelchair and a tactile pavement for the visually impaired? A similar comparison could be made for the federal government passing the Higher Education Act, making higher education more accessible to all US citizens.

Sidewalk by the Forbes avenue was under construction at the time of my visit.

Structure and Skin

The next shearing layers are structure followed by skin. Even though the structure and foundation of CL were built with modern materials and methods of the 20th century, the skin of CL was designed to reflect the unending spirit of education through a gothic cathedral look that dates back to the 12th century. As CL exemplifies, the structure is often selected for practical reasons while the skin frequently becomes a layer through which people attach meaning to the building. Just like the steel beams of CL, the educational institution’s structure is also selected from practicality. The University of Pittsburgh is designated as a state-related university that receives state funding while giving benefits back to Pennsylvania residents (Fin Report, 2016, p.6). Being a public 4-year research university gives them a practical system that allows the school to operate and function as a public educational institution. So, what is the skin of the educational system? The skin layer can be compared to the name and the reputation of the school. The history and other designed public image attached to the UPitt name are always adorning the school, affecting other layers of the school such as the studies offered or faculties’ teaching philosophy.

When the CL was being built in 1925, thanks to the tall structure and neo-gothic style skin, there was a large excitement for the building from the community. The local corporations and citizenry donated money and materials to the project. Nearly 10,000 school children made 10 cents ‘buy a brick’ contributions. I wonder how this historical factoid can inform how we think about UPitt’s name. What does it mean to be the University of Pittsburgh instead of the Western University of Pennsylvania, which was its original name? Are they properly representing and addressing the Pittsburgh community with the funding they are receiving as a public university?

Service

The next category of the shearing layer is service. This layer includes elevators, staircases, water pipes, electric wires and other areas that make the building usable. In the educational system, this can be compared to the curriculum and classes. Through this, the educational institution gives its students a clear pathway to his/her studies and awards the appropriate diploma. Just like the recently renovated elevator system in the CL, UPitt is steadily updating its curriculum to stay relevant and useful to the ever-changing job market (New 2019, 2019).

Space plan and Stuff

The last two most fluid and fast-changing layers are space plan, which is interior walls and partition, and stuff which is the furniture and other objects inside the buildings. In the educational system, the teaching philosophy of the faculty is the space plan while students could be compared to ‘stuff’ that is changing every semester. Talking to the UPitt faculty during our visit, I learned that 36th and 37th floors were recently renovated. But the renovation was limited by existing skin and structure: windows dictated the placement of the interior walls as well as the overall gothic style. This realization made me consider how the reputation(skin) of the school can affect the teaching philosophy of the faculty (space plan).

Stuff layer is consistently moving and changing depending on the occupants of the building. Visiting the CL, I noticed that there is both furniture that blends in with the classic neo-gothic style as well as modern elements from students inhabiting the space. These layers of curated and non-curated ‘stuff’ make the building interesting and come alive. In the UPitt education system, the student is the stuff layer that could be curated. There could be a non-curated aspect of the student body as well. How much can UPitt curate their student by admission process and how much of students’ individual behavior will bring the education system into life?

How weird to see a laptop inside of this monolithic cathedral building? It is a common scene at CL

The CL is a building with an endearing history not only to the UPitt but also to the whole community of Pittsburgh. I was pleased to see that Stewart Brand’s shearing layers could be easily identified at the CL and allowed comparison with the educational system. I believe these layers were incrementally or drastically shifting in order to serve UPitt students’ needs both within CL and UPitt education. Understanding the shearing layers and different rates of change in the building can inform the architects on how to design the building so that it can learn from the occupants and future changes. The educational system also could be viewed in this matter so that the system stays adaptable to the future needs of society. Lastly, it is most important to remind ourselves that the stuff, a cozy chair or little artifacts, make the house a home, and ultimately, the students make the education system a fruitful human endeavor.