The Freedom Tower, the replacement for the World Trade Center, opened last month and not everyone was happy about it. On November 29, 2014, New York Times critic Michael Kimmelman wrote, “It could have been anywhere, which New York isn’t.”
That’s not unusual. We’re used to seeing tall buildings that look the same in San Diego and Sarasota shellacked with a coat of tinny glass. They serve as 3D indicators of real estate value.
That’s why it’s refreshing to see a tall building like the Suffolk National Bank, built in 1916 with no place but Suffolk, Virginia, in mind.
Suffolk National Bank was wrapped in white brick and Georgia marble to reflect the southern sun. One hundred feet above the sidewalk, a broad cornice casts shadows like a parasol. Recessed windows created shade. Today the slender tower is as cool as a Panama hat and a linen suit on a humid Virginia afternoon.
The Suffolk bank lies empty now, perhaps losing out to the fashion for glass. But its regionally appropriate features may forecast the next generation.
Frank Harmon’s blog, Native Places, appears occasionally on this website.
