Architecture from the Baroque - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society building has been called a bridge between the building style of the Chicago school of the 1880s and that of the 1950s, which saw a mushrooming of metal and glass buildings. The design for this building was the result of collaboration between Howe, an American and Lescaze, a Swiss émigré, who were in turn influenced by several other structures, and some of the most valuable inputs for the design and structure, especially the “mullioned façade of the 27 storey slab” have been credited to James Willcox, the then president of the bank. The elegant metal furniture for the interior of the building was the work of the German émigré, Walter Baerman. Howe, in designing the building was guided by the principle that “architectural beauty is the result of the successful interpretation of a human problem in terms of a structural technique.” Howe and Lescaze, working in tandem created a building, meant for commercial use that was so brilliantly organized, that it has few rivals. The building is placed on the adjacent sides of the downtown area, and so there are two entrances, one leading to the office tower and the other to the banking hall. The entrance of the banking hall from the Market Street, leads one straight to the bank by elevators and escalators, which lead to the banking floor, on the level above. The banking counter moves in a “serpentine layout’ in keeping with the rows of columns. Above the banking hall is “a 69 foot span, sixteen and a half-foot deep steel truss” . ...Download file to see next pagesRead More