Home»Travel»Cooperstown Road Trip '19»Cathedral of Learning

During last month's road trip, I photographed the oldest academic building in the United States (Wren Building on the campus of the College of William and Mary) as well as the tallest academic building in the Western Hemisphere--the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Cathedral of Learning is a 42 story academic building in the heart of the campus. In addition to its height, the building is unique in that it features more than 30 "nationality rooms". Each nationality room is designed to celebrate a different culture that had an influence on Pittsburgh's growth.

All but two of the nationality rooms are used as functional classrooms. The earliest of these rooms took between three and ten years to complete at an average cost per room of about $375,000. More recent rooms cost closer to $750,000.