Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Story

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, is an active parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. It is known for offering a Sunday evening service of Jazz Vespers. Its 1886 church building is known for its architectural features and was one of the last designs by Henry Hobson Richardson. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2000.Though brick was selected for reasons of economy, the brickwork is one of the church’s most striking features. Unlike most of Richardson's buildings, Emmanuel Episcopal’s wall surfaces have fairly plain surfaces. They do not have a rough surface, moldings, belt courses or other projections to break up the planes or produce shadow lines, though the bricks do project from the main wall surface just below the eave line in two steps of different dimension to give a pleasing string course effect. Stone is used only as sills for the windows, and springing from the three entrance arches and where the foundation is exposed.This simplicity is relieved, in part, by patterning the brickwork. Of particular note, the repetitive triangular pattern at the roofline is called “mousetooth.” The brick patterning gives the impression of finely woven fabric. The sharply incised windows and doors produce dramatic voids.One of the best known features of Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a mistake. The lower section of the side wall is intended to slope inward as it rises (this is called battering). The upper wall outward slope started to take place shortly after construction. Richardson died a month after the church's dedication so his former employees, Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, were hired but they were unsuccessful in pinpointing the cause. However, when the firm added the parish house to the far side of the church, the slope stopped increasing.