PPG Place

PPG 플레이스

PPG Place is a complex of six glass buildings in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on three city blocks. Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed it in a neo-Gothic style with modern ideas. The tallest, One PPG Place, has 40 storeys. The complex is covered in mirrored glass and topped by 231 glass spires, which is why people call it a castle of glass.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Pittsburgh, USA
Built: 1984
Height: 193 m
Type: Skyscraper

Quick answers

Where is PPG Place?

PPG Place is in Pittsburgh, USA, United States.

When was PPG Place built?

PPG Place was built in 1984.

How tall is PPG Place?

PPG Place is about 193 m tall.

A neo-Gothic "castle of glass" of mirrored panels bristling with 231 glass spires.

It was built as the headquarters of PPG Industries, a glass company once called Pittsburgh Plate Glass, and the shiny walls also advertise the company's product. The buildings opened between 1983 and 1984 and cost 200 million dollars.

A castle made of glass

The glass skin uses 19,750 pieces of reflective insulating glass, over a million square feet in all. The largest of the 231 spires is 25 metres tall. The architects drew ideas from London's Victoria Tower and from Pittsburgh buildings such as the Allegheny County Courthouse and the Cathedral of Learning. Before building, they made a 2.4-metre-tall, 270-kilogram model with glass cut at a PPG works. The main lobby is 15 metres high and features red glass.

What was under the site?

Before construction, archaeologists from the University of Pittsburgh collected more than 10,000 artifacts from the 18th century on the site, which had been the King's Garden and King's Orchard near Fort Pitt. They also found stone-lined wells that were filled with rubbish in the early 1800s. Groundbreaking took place on 28 January 1981, and the dedication ceremony was held on 11 April 1984. The glass also reflects summer heat to help save energy.