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Detail, cornice of corbelled brick and brown terracotta at corner

Title:

National Farmer's Bank of Owatonna

View:

Creators:

George Grant Elmslie (American architect, 1871-1952); Louis H. Sullivan (American architect, 1856-1924)

Date:

1907-1908 (creation); 1976-1981 (restoration)

Style/Period:

Prairie School; Twentieth century

Location:

site: Owatonna, Minnesota, United States

Location Note:

101 N. Cedar St. (northeast corner of Broadway and Cedar)

GPS:

+44.0851-93.22575

Culture:

American

Measurements:

36 ft (diameter, arched windows)

Materials:

brick; glazed terracotta; cast iron; stained glass; red sandstone

Work Types:

buildings; commercial buildings; financial institutions; banks (buildings)

Description:

The last phase in Sullivan’s career was largely devoted to designing banks in small towns in the Midwest. Sullivan’s first commission in this field was the magnificent National Farmers’ Bank (1907-1908) in Owatonna, MN. They were all low, load-bearing brick constructions; they did, however, raise important questions of institutional expression. Sullivan’s solution was to make them monumental, as befitted banks, but "modern" and unrelated to historical precedent in order to communicate their transformed character. They are the final and most richly impressive demonstrations of his ornamental skill ("jeweled strongboxes"), with their rich use of polychromy in brick and terracotta. Elmslie became increasingly responsible for the ornament that Sullivan lavished on the exterior and interior of his buildings. Elmslie produced many of the drawings for the ornament of the bank; he left Sullivan's employ in 1909. The building is clad in red brick with green terra cotta bands, and features two large arches. Internal elements include two stained glass windows designed by Louis J. Millet, a mural by Oskar Gross, and four immense (18 ft. long) cast iron electroliers (electric chandeliers) designed by Elmslie and cast by Winslow Brothers Company. A National Historic Monument since 1976, it was restored in 1976-1981. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)

View Description:

The wall is capped by a heavy cornice of unique design, consisting simply of corbelled courses of brick bounded above and below by bands of brown terracotta.

Classification:

Architecture and City Planning

Technique:

construction (assembling); fabrication attributes: ceramics; stained glass

Image Rights:

Vendor ID:

1A1-SL-NFBO-E6

MDID Identifier:

55545

Archivision Set:

Archivision Addition Module Seven

Collection:

Archivision Module 7

Record created:

June 7, 2018

Last modified:

Nov. 1, 2018

Collection Memberships

Collection	Visible
Archivision Module 7	yes