Skyscraper

Union Trust Company Building // 1901

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Said to be the first skyscraper built in Providence, the Union Trust Company Building on Dorrance Street is one of the finest architectural masterpieces in Rhode Island. The twelve-story tower is finished in red brick with limestone trim and features the base-shaft-capital organization, a design standard for early skyscraper architects to make very tall buildings look balanced. The base here as the bottom two floors, entirely uses stone to show strength, holding the weight above and with large glass windows for the street edge; the shaft uses repeating window designs and showcases the height of the building, drawing your eyes upward; and the capital, which brings a strong cornice and intricate parapet serving as a crown, finishing the building. The architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson furnished the plans for the building for Marsden J. Perry, the President of the Union Trust Company, as the company offices with a banking hall at the ground level. Above the entrance a sculpture, Indian and Puritan by Daniel Chester French, greets visitors along with the many stained glass medallion windows. The Union Trust Company Building is really a feast for the eyes!

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston // 1972

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Established by Congress in 1913, the Federal Reserve System is the nation’s quasi-public central bank. Its primary functions are to set monetary policy, supervise and regulate banking institutions, maintain a stable financial system, and provide financial services to the U.S. government, the public, and domestic and international financial institutions. Organized in 1914, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is one of 12 district banks across the country and serves the six New England states. Construction for the Boston Reserve’s Renaissance revival bank was begun in 1920 and finished in 1922, but was outgrown in the second half of the 20th century. The original building would be landmarked and is now known as the Langham, a luxury hotel. Planning began on a newer office and a site was acquired on waterfront land cleared from Urban Renewal in the late 1960s. The current building was constructed between 1972 and
1974, and occupied by the bank in 1977. Designed by the firm Hugh Stubbins & Associates, the complex occupies a full city block, with the 32-story tower and a 4-story section serving as the bulk of the mass. A 600-ton major steel structure called a “truss” marks the beginning of the tower’s offices above the breezeway. The exterior is natural anodized aluminum, which acts as a curtain wall and weatherproof facing. The aluminum spandrels or “eye-brows” shade the building interior from the sun in the summertime and allow more sunlight in the winter months. Love it or hate it, this building is extremely significant architecturally for its Modern design and materiality, and for its engineering. It has become a visual landmark and anchor into Boston’s dense Downtown.

South Station // 1899

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When the railroads serving Boston were first laid out and built, each line stopped at its own terminal which created a dysfunctional and cumbersome travel experience for those entering or leaving the city. The Boston Terminal Company, established in 1897, was charged with the task of consolidating service from the four terminals at a single terminal, a union station (similar to North Station), for routes south of the city. South Station was designed by architects were Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge of Boston and quickly became New England’s busiest transportation center. The five-story Classical Revival style station built of stone is an architectural landmark with three-story Ionic colonnade crowned by a clock surmounted by an eagle, stands above the triple-arched brick masonry lower level corner entrance. While the station handled 125,000 passengers each day during World War II, post-war passenger rail traffic declined in the US. South Station was sold to the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 1965 and (surprise!) they demolished portions of the building and later developed plans to demolish the rest of the station and replace it with a multi-use development including a new train and bus station with large parking garage. Luckily for everyone, the BRA failed in this endeavor and the building remained to the point where public transportation is again invested in and beloved and the building has since been restored. Recently, a glass “crown”, known as South Station Tower, a 51-story designed by Pelli, Clarke & Partners, with new office space, luxury residences, and a redesigned, arched interior concourse (which in my opinion, is the best part). The redevelopment is a push towards transit-oriented development and blends new and old in an innovative way.

What do you think of it?

Connecticut Financial Center // 1990

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The Connecticut Financial Center is the tallest building in New Haven, Connecticut, and the sixth tallest building in the state. The 383-foot postmodern skyscraper was designed by the Toronto architectural firm Crang and Boake and completed in 1990, replacing the Powell Building (last post), New Haven’s first skyscraper. The Connecticut Financial Center is sited facing the New Haven Green wedged between the iconic New Haven City Hall and Federal Courthouse, and dwarfs both in size, creating a really unpleasant addition to the block. The building is at least clad in stone, a subtle nod to the adjacent buildings and has a more traditional first floor lobby set back from the street.