The Clapp-Langley-Crawford halls complex (often referred to as CLC), comprises three inter-connected buildings (Clapp, Langley, and Crawford Halls) and the Life Science Annex that house the Department of Biological Science and the Department of Neuroscience at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

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Clapp Hall

George Hubbard Clapp Hall is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

to the Schenley Farms National Historic Districtbr>
https://web.archive.org/web/20090628170337/http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=issueid%3A%3Aissuedate&-sortorder=descend&keywords=bellefield%20hall&-max=50&-recid=38544&-find=] The six-story Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival structure, designed by Trautwein & Howard, was completed in 1956 and serves as the primary facility of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Biological Sciences. It contains laboratories, classrooms, a greenhouse, and an amphitheater-style lecture hall with 404 seats.

Langley Hall

Langley Hall is the second unit of the natural science quadrangle (along with Clapp Hall and Crawford Hall). Langley Hall is named after

Samuel Pierpont Langley Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy a ...

, a former University of Pittsburgh professor who was a renowned astronomer, an aviation pioneer, and the director of

Allegheny Observatory The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research institution, a part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (ref. # 79002157, a ...

. Langley Hall's construction was begun in 1959 made possible by a $2.5 million grant ($ million today) from the General State Authority. Completed in 1961 in the

International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

, Langley Hall was originally the home of the Department of Geology, Department of Psychology, and the Department of Biology, (now part of the Department of Biological Sciences

It was originally conceived as an annex to

Clapp Hall George Hubbard Clapp Hall is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District[] on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The six-story Gothic ...

, to which it is connected on the south side. For this reason, the room numbers in Langley Hall all begin with the letter 'A' to denote 'Annex.' The Department of Biological Sciences occupies the First, Second, Third, and Fifth floors of Langley Hall. Crawford Hall, home of the Department of Neuroscience, is connect to Langley Hall's north side, together forming the 3-building CLC complex that is devoted to the

biological sciences Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

, housing both

and

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

lectures and research laboratorie

A research

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

composed of four bays is located on Langley Hall's sixth floor. Samuel Pierpont Langley

Langley Hall also contains Langley Library that is the biology, neuroscience, psychology, and life sciences unit of the University Library System at Pitt. The library holds more than 77,000 bound volumes on site, and maintains over 650 current journal subscriptions. Several prominent journals are also available on the World Wide Web. The library holdings range from volumes, dissertations, monographs, and journals in every topic in the biological sciences, covering both basic and advanced topics. The library conducts courses on using computers for research/literature searches in the biological sciences and has 13 computers for this purpose. More than 130,000 patrons enter the library each year, checking out some 24,000 items. Langley Library has a capacity of 102, and is typically open 75.5 hours each wee

https://web.archive.org/web/20070207060355/http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/langley/langley.html] On January 20, 1977, two women were killed and several people injured in a gas explosion that destroyed part of Langley Hall. Coroner

Cyril Wecht Cyril Harrison Wecht (March 20, 1931 – May 13, 2024) was an American forensic pathology, forensic pathologist. He was president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board ...

, after a two-day inquest, ruled the explosion an accident. Langley Hall was rebuilt and then reopened in 198

In 2011 a $2 million greenhouse was opened on the sixth-level roof Langley Hall where it connects to Clapp Hall. The greenhouse features two zones with mobile plant benches and a computerized environmental control system, including a fogging system, cooling units, motorized retractable shades and heat retention roof curtains, and motor controlled light fixtures of multiple types to facilitate the regulation of temperature, humidity, and light. In addition, renovation plans were announced that include the installation of a Biosafety level#Biosafety level 3, biosafety level-3 facility that incorporates what are perhaps first in the nation features, such an observation room and monitoring cameras, to facilitate undergraduate learning.

Crawford Hall

Crawford Hall is home to the Department of Neuroscience at the

. Designed in the

international style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

by Kuhn, Newcomer & Valentour, it is the last of the three main buildings to be constructed. Crawford Hall's construction was begun in 1966 and the $3.8 million ($ million today) building was completed and dedicated in 1969. It was originally the home of the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Psychology, and the Department of Biophysics and Microbiology (now part of the Department of Biological Sciences). Crawford Hall is named after Stanton C. Crawford, former Dean and 13th Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, whose scientific specialty was Biology.

Life Science Annex

The Life Science Annex, a $25.5 million expansion ($ million today) of the Clapp/Langley/Crawford (CLC) halls complex designed by

Burt Hill Architects Burt Hill Architects was an American architectural firm active, under several names, in Butler and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere from 1968 until its 2010 acquisition by Stantec. History and principals Burt Hill Architects was founded ...

br>
officially opened in October 2007. Indiana limestone cladding panels were utilized to approximate as closely as possible the exterior appearance of the adjacent buildings in the CLC complex

The Life Science Annex addition is the first phase of a multi-phase upgrade of the CLC complex and has added 50,000 gross sq. ft. to house biological sciences laboratories, neuroscience research programs and support areas such as cold rooms, constant temperature rooms, computer areas and other auxiliary spaces. Renovation of some of the CLC’s systems infrastructure also was included in the projec

References

External links

Clapp, Langley, and Crawford Halls on Pitt's virtual Campus Tour

University of Pittsburgh's Department of Biological Sciences

University of Pittsburgh's Department of Neuroscience
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp Langley Crawford Complex University of Pittsburgh academic buildings