You are here

Western Pennsylvania » The Western Capital—Pittsburgh and Allegheny County » Golden Triangle » USX Tower

USX Tower

-A A +A
United States Steel Building
1967–1971, Harrison and Abramovitz, and Abbe Architects. 600 Grant St.
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • USX Tower (United States Steel Building) (USX Corporation)
  • USX Tower (United States Steel Building) (Richard Guy Wilson)

At 64 stories and 841 feet, the tallest structure in downtown Pittsburgh, the USX Tower is symbolic of the city both in its triangular shape and its structural innovations in steel. The exterior features eighteen exposed vertical steel columns, each set three feet outside the curtain wall, such that columns and curtain wall connect at every third floor. The columns of Cor-Ten steel are self-oxidizing, hence unable to rust further. Every column circulates coolant inside, so should the tower ever be engulfed in flames, it would keep cool for four hours before surrendering to the heat.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
×

Data

Timeline

  • 1967

    Built

What's Nearby

Koppers Building
Omni William Penn Hotel
Regional Enterprise Tower
One Mellon Bank Center
Two Mellon Bank Center

Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "USX Tower", [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-AL17.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 1

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 53-53.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,