The Cathedral of Learning

The Cathedral of learning, as it is somewhat grandiloquently called, is a gothic skyscraper in terra-cotta, 42 stories and 535ft (163m) tall.

The building, which towers over the Oakland neighborhood, is the realization of a vision by the university's 10th chancellor, John Gabbert Bowman. Soon after his arrival in Pittsburgh in 1921, he decided the university needed a building that would serve as a symbol for the institution.
That same year a plot of land was purchased with the help of the Mellon family. The building was designed by Charles Lauder, who came up with the idea of a gothic tower on a steel frame structure. Construction started in 1926 and 11 years later, in 1937, the tower was completed.

Funds for the construction were primarily donated by corporations, foreign governments, 17,000 individuals and close to 100,000 schoolchildren who were encouraged to send 10c each to buy a brick for the building.

The largest room in the Cathedral of Learning is the Commons room. This room in gothic style is actually a building in itself, built separately without any steel frames; all the walls in this 52ft (16m) tall room are load bearing.

Around the Commons Room, which is located at the center of the tower's first four floors, are the nationality rooms.
Each of those rooms (currently 26, more are planned) contains furnishings and decorations depicting a period in a country's history. One room recreates Greece in the 5th century, while another evokes China's Forbidden City in the 18th century. Those rooms were often funded by the governments of the countries they represent.
Guided tours of the nationality rooms are given by Quo Vadis, a volunteer student organisation.