Dublin Core
Title
Kennedy Plaza, Financial District, Industrial National Bank Building
Description
According to Jordy, Walker and Gillette’s Industrial National Bank Building (1926-8) is still Providence’s finest skyscraper as it is a “superbly Art Deco culmination of the Providence skyline in a major example of a setback.” Though stepped buildings in New York City had been architects' solution for Manhattan's strict zoning regarding adequate light and air, facing no such restrictions in Providence, the New York architects, Walker & Gillette, chose to keep symmetrical stepped massing. The base and the trim at the base's top was built to match the cornice height of existing adjacent (now gone) four-story buildings. The building has remained relatively unchanged over the years with the exception of the lobby, the upper windows and several masonry eagles at the top of the tower on the light beacon, which were removed decades ago after an eagle fell to the street below.
Creator
Chester Smolski
Source
Woodward, PPS/AlAri Guide to Providence Architecture (Providence, 2003), 97-98,101.
Date
1994-01-01
Rights
Rhode Island College
Format
Photograph
Photograph
Identifier
5156
Smolski Image Item Type Metadata
City
Providence
Country
United States of America
Creator 1
Walker & Gillete
Creator 1 Role
Architects (Industrial Trust Building)
Creator 2
Helmut, Obata & Kassebaum
Creator 2 Role
Architects (Fleet Center)
Creator 3
Howard Ben Tre
Creator 3 Role
Architect
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Skyscrapers -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Kennedy Plaza (Providence, R.I.); Burnside Park (Providence, R.I.); Sovereign Bank Building (Providence, R.I.); 50 Kennedy Plaza(Providence, R.I.); Bank of America (Providence, R.I.); Federal Building -- Rhode Island -- Providence -- 1908
Region
Rhode Island
Street Address
55 Kennedy Plaza
Theme
Urban Plaza, Urban Park