National Identity and Architectural Expression

Yugoslav and Hungarian Nationality Rooms in Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning

Authors

  • Éva Lovra University of Debrecen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ahea.2025.601

Keywords:

heritage rooms, Hungary, Yugoslavia, interior design, cultural narratives, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh

Abstract

The interior design of a building provides critical insights into its historical and cultural context. This study examines the architectural and symbolic relationships among two Nationality and Heritage Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning—the Yugoslav and Hungarian Rooms. The research explores how the Hungarian and Yugoslav Rooms illustrate the influence of nation-state formations after the First World War, emphasizing the relationship between national identity and architectural expression. Particular attention is given to the underrepresentation of ethnicity in the decision making and the interior design of the Yugoslav Room, and the integration of folk and neo-baroque elements in Hungarian architecture in case of the Hungarian Room. This research was conducted within the framework of a Fulbright Scholarship and was initially presented at the University of Pittsburgh’s Hungarian Heritage Room. Further findings were shared at the forty-eighth conference of the American Hungarian Educators Association at Rutgers University, where the study was awarded the Research Presentation Award.

Author Biography

Éva Lovra, University of Debrecen

Éva Lovra, Ph.D., is a civil engineer and urban engineer with an M.Sc., specializing in conservation engineering, and holds a Ph.D. in architectural engineering with a focus on urban morphology. She conducted her postdoctoral research at the UCL Bartlett, the University of Novi Sad, and the Slovak Academy of Sciences. She serves as a senior lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Debrecen and is a supervisor at the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences. She is a member of the Urban Sciences Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian National Committee of ICOMOS.

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Archival materials

Yugoslav Nationality Room Committee Records, 1925-1942, UA.40.25, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Hungarian Nationality Room Committee Collection, 1926-1964, UA.40.11, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Austrian Nationality Room Committee Collection Austrian Room Design and Decoration, Series IV. UA.40.21. Map-case 8-18, 8-20, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Fortepan

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Published

2025-08-25

Issue

Vol. 18 (2025)

Section

General Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Éva Lovra

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