Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Pittsburgh, United States

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The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

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Emmanuel Episcopal Church stands on Pittsburgh's North Side at the corner of West North Avenue and Allegheny Avenue, a Romanesque Revival structure completed in 1886 and among the final designs of Henry Hobson Richardson. Built of brick for economy, the church is celebrated for its distinctive brickwork, which eschews the rough textures and projecting moldings typical of Richardson's work in favor of relatively plain surfaces enlivened by careful patterning—most strikingly a "mousetooth" triangular pattern at the roofline that creates the impression of finely woven fabric. Stone appears sparingly as window sills and in the three entrance arches. The church is notable for a celebrated architectural anomaly: its western wall bows outward rather than sloping inward as intended, a battering error that began shortly after the building's completion. Richardson died a month after the church's dedication, and his former employees were unable to resolve the problem when engaged to correct it. The church remains an active parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000.

Architect

Henry Hobson Richardson

Movement

Romanesque Revival architecture

Type: church building
Heritage: contributing property, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark
Place: Pittsburgh, United States

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Location

40.45292, -80.01911