Wesley W. Posvar Hall (WWPH), formerly known as Forbes Quadrangle, is a landmark building on the campus of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. At 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 was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of t ...

, and contains several artifacts, including the former stadium's

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

and one of two surviving

Langley Aerodrome The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, tandem wing-configuration powered flying machine, designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S. Army paid $50,000 for the ...

s. Posvar Hall houses Pitt's

School of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...

, College of General Studies,

Graduate School of Public and International Affairs The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) is one of 17 schools comprising the University of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1957 to study national and international public administration, GSPIA prides itself on its "Local to Global" di ...

, University Center for International Studies, and the

Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (Dietrich School or School of Arts and Sciences) is one of the 17 schools and colleges of University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A direct descendant of the 1787-chartered Pittsbur ...

's social sciences departments.

Construction

Posvar Hall was designed by a consortium of architects, including Louis Valentour of Johnstone Newcomer & Valentour, who worked under the watch of university consultant

Max Abramowitz Max Abramovitz (May 23, 1908 – September 12, 2004) was an American architect. He was best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz. Life Abramovitz was the son of Romanian Jewish immigrant parents. He graduate ...

. Construction began in 1975 and was completed in 1978 with the dedication occurring on October 19, 1978. The building sits on the former site of

baseball stadium and beside the university's

Hillman Library Hillman Library is the largest library and the center of administration for the University Library System (ULS) of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Located on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive ...

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 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 Lawrence Hall was constructed on ...

, the

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 $8.5 million ($ million today) six-story building was opene ...

, and the

Litchfield Towers Litchfield Towers, commonly referred to on campus as "Towers", is a complex of residence halls at the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Litchfield Towers is both the largest and talle ...

. Posvar Hall was designed in the

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

style and is constructed with concrete with a limestone exterior. Its height was limited to five stories so it would not compete with The Carnegie Institute directly across

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 m ...

. Construction costs exceeded $38 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Its floor space slightly exceeds that of the

Cathedral of Learning The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Standing at , the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cath ...

. It has 2,000 windows, 574 offices, 30 seminar rooms, three lecture halls, one mile of corridors, and nearly 500 parking spaces in a two-level garage below the facility. PosvarHallinterior2014

The central area of the interior space is called the Galleria and contains various artwork including

Virgil Cantini Virgil David Cantini (February 28, 1919 – May 2, 2009) was an American 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 ...

's mural ''Enlightenment and Joy'' and one of

Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who Invention, invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of a ...

aerodromes An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...

. Escalators 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 Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the university.

Forbes Field

The building stands on the original site of

, home of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

baseball team from 1909–1970 and, at various times, the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cumb ...

, 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

of Forbes Field remains near its exact spot, protected under

plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...

. 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

'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 Chancellor

Edward Litchfield Edward Harold Litchfield (April 14, 1914 – March 8, 1968) was an American educator and the twelfth Chancellor (1956–1965) of the University of Pittsburgh. He is best known for a major expansion of the university, but also a failure to raise s ...

, 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 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, ...

from its department store in the

South Hills Village South Hills Village is a two-level shopping mall located in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, United States. History The mall was originally developed in the mid-1960s by the Oxford Development Co. as the ...

mall where it had previously been on display. Tony Smith's 1971 painted steel sculpture ''Light Up!'', commissioned by Westinghouse and originally displayed in downtown Pittsburgh, can be found outside Posvar Hall, between it and

. Donated to and re-installed at Pitt in 1988, it was temporarily loaned to the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and displayed in front of the

Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for a 1988 Tony Smith retrospective.

Aerodrome

One of two surviving

s, Aerodrome No. 6 dating from 1896, is displayed in the ground floor lobby amid various artworks and sculptures. The Aerodrome was an

experimental aircraft An experimental aircraft is an aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts. The term ''research aircraft'' or ''testbed aircraft'', by contrast, generally denotes aircraft modified to perform scientific studies, ...

commissioned by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from former Pitt professor and

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Secretary

Samuel Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy a ...

. It flew in November 1896, further proving (after the success of No. 5 in May) the feasibility of engine-driven

heavier-than-air flight An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. C ...

. The aircraft was restored in part by Pitt engineering students. 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

Image:Wesley W. Posvar Hall - side.jpg, Posvar Hall File:PosvarHallinWinter.jpg, Posvar in snowless winter Image:Posvar Hall (WWPH) - evening Fall 2007.jpg Image:Langley Aerodrome 02.JPG, Langley Aerodrome No. 6 Image:Langley Aerodrome 01.JPG, Langley Aerodrome No. 6 from below Image:ForbesQuadrangleCourtyardPitt.jpg, Courtyard. Posvar Hall is to the left and

is to the right. File:Escalators - Posvar Hall.JPG, One of many escalators in Posvar Hall

References

External links

Posvar Hall on Pitt's virtual Campus 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
ESPN Video: Forbes Field 50 Years Later
{{Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh academic buildings University and college administration buildings in the United States University and college academic buildings in the United States Buildings and structures completed in 1978 Brutalist architecture in Pennsylvania