Parran Hall is an academic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh on Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The building, constructed to house the Graduate School of Public Health, was completed in 1957, and designed by Eggers & Higgins, architects of the Dirksen Senate Office Building,[1] in the International Style[2] with a major addition by Deeter-Ritchey-Sippel and Crump completed in 1967.[3] The school was founded in 1948 with a $13.6 million grant from the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust.[4]
The nine-story building is the primary home of the Graduate School of Public Health. The building encompasses an entire city block bounded by Fifth Avenue, Bouquet, O'Hara, and DeSoto Streets. It contains a 282 seat auditorium, lounge, administrative offices, seminar rooms, classrooms, and faculty offices.[5]
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The building was rennamed in 1969 to honor Thomas Parran, Jr., former Surgeon General of the United States. Following a career as the health commissioner of New York State and three four-year terms as U.S. Surgeon General, Thomas Parran came to Pitt to help establish the Graduate School of Public Health. He was internationally renowned for programs such as one to expose and stamp out syphilis. He served as dean of the school from 1948 to 1958 and helped develop the University's total medical science program.[6][7]
The bronze and steel sculpture hanging high atop Parran Hall's facade, "Man" by Virgil Cantini, symbolizes the human quest for knowledge, with special reference to international research in the health fields. The dynamic composition shows an outstretched, skeletal figure in bronze surrounded by upward-moving, randomly placed peaks of varying sizes. Close-set circular steel bands unify the piece. The peaks represent the elevation of humanity above the mundane or peaks of progress. The circle represents universality. Originally lighted in front to dramatize the features of the sculpture, the lighting was removed when students began climbing the light and redirecting its rays into Cathedral of Learning classrooms or residence hall rooms. [8] [9]
Crabtree Hall is an annex to the rear of Parran Hall. It was designed by the architectural firm of Deeter, Ritchey, and Sippel[10] and completed in 1969 and dedicated to James L. Crabtree, head of the Department of Public Health Practice and later Dean from 1958 until 1966.[11]
A major renovation and infrastructure upgrade for Parran and Crabtree halls has been targeted to enter the design phase in 2010. The initial plans call for a 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m2) addition to be built over the auditorium of Parran Hall that will add four floors for research and other space for the Graduate School of Public Health.[12]
| Preceded by Clapp Hall |
University of Pittsburgh Buildings Parran Hall Constructed: 1957 |
Succeeded by Langley Hall |