Highland Towers Apartments, Art Deco high-rise building in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, United States.
Highland Towers Apartments is an Art Deco residential high-rise with a distinctive U-shaped layout that rises prominently along South Highland Avenue in Shadyside. The building features decorative tilework and colored brickwork in yellow and bronze tones arranged between window openings, creating a textured and patterned exterior.
Architect Frederick G. Scheibler Jr designed this residential complex in 1913 when Pittsburgh was developing as an urban and industrial center. The building gained recognition decades later and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The decorative tilework and colored brickwork visible on the exterior tell a story about how architects wanted buildings to look appealing and detailed. Walking past it, you notice the care taken in these surface treatments, which was a priority in early 1900s residential design.
The building sits in Shadyside, a walkable neighborhood with nearby shops and restaurants that makes it easy to explore on foot. You can view the exterior architecture while taking a casual stroll through this residential area without needing special access.
Original marketing brochures from 1914 survive and show how the apartments were initially promoted as modern homes with planned features and layouts. These documents reveal the ambitions developers had for this building when it was new.
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