Wh at
a concept.
This 1932 architectural design proposal comes from John Gr ah
am and Company. While this build ing
never did grace Seattle, the firm designed a number of Seattle landmarks including the Dexter Horton Building, Frederick & Nelson Building, the Bon Marche
Building, and the Exchange Building. Click on the thumbnail for higher res.
 |
| Design proposal for a Seattle skyscraper by Norman Fox for John Graham and Company Architects, 1932. Graham was adept at designing in a wide variety of styles. Image courtesy University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division. |
Ohhh, wow! Don’t you have any more information about this: what street was it going to be on? What retail was going in the bottom? Did another building win the bid and get built in its place or did the Depression prevent it from going up?
With the triangular lot and the Tower building in the background, it looks like this might have been between Jefferson and Terrace and Third and Fourth, down in front of the Court House. But I think they eventually built this in Middle Earth instead…isn’t this Isengard?
Kudos, Matt, for making me snort out loud in a most unladylike manner!
That does indeed look like the King County Courthouse to the left, so your speculation as to its location makes sense. Must have taken some artistic liberties with the background, though, no? (I.e., where’s Elliott Bay?)
I don’t think that’s the Courthouse (I work in it). The Courthouse has arched windows on the top floor and also the building in the sketch appears to have too many floors. See link here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Seattle_-_City_Hall_Park_&_King_County_Courthouse_P.jpg
Elliott Bay would be out of the picture off to the left. If that’s the courthouse, and if that’s the Tower building in the background, then this is looking northeast athwart 4th and 5th. I agree that the deets aren’t right for the courthouse, but I think the general aspect is right.
You might be right, TomK (although perhaps the artist took some liberties with the entire skyline!)
I’m pretty sure the other tall building, sticking up in the upper left of this view, is another art deco skyscraper, the Northern Life Tower (now known as Seattle Tower), but it’s not clear whether the view is toward the north or the south. If it’s toward the north, the proposed tower would be somewhere in the Pioneer Square area; if it’s toward the south, I’m thinking that would put the proposed ‘scraper somewhere in the Westlake Center/Westin Hotel vacinity. And Benjamin, I agree that many of the other buildings in the sketch could very well be fanciful rather than accurate renderings.
this seems reminiscent of the Union Bank of California downtown (see link to picture below).
http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/seattle36.jpg
Sigh. I wish there was more Deco in Seattle. Thanks for this image of what might have been, nonetheless!