Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

 church, H. H. Richardson buildings, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1886_construction, Richardsonian Romanesque (architecture)

Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a rather unassuming brick structure designed by the famed Henry Hobson Richardson. Nicknamed the "bake oven" because of its shape, the church was built in 1884-86 at only one percent of the cost of the architect's downtown masterpiece, the Allegheny County Courthouse. Richardson's original proposal to the congregation featured a stone exterior and central tower, but was rejected as too expensive. The economic concerns resulted in a reductionist and minimalist work, uncharacteristic of Richardson and 19th century churches in general, but with "an elemental grandeur, a monumental simplicity" as author James Van Trump put it. Relieving the simplicity is some fine brickwork with concentric-arc, basketweave and "mouse tooth" patterns.