National Farmers' Bank

Primary Creator
Architect Louis Sullivan
Contributor(s)
Properties
Area5000 square feet
Era1900 - 1950
Height350 inches
Length1200 inches
StyleOrganic
Volume130000 cubic feet
Width600 inches
Name of WorkNational Farmers' Bank
Production Date1907
Production Location


Current Location


Media TypesMasonry, stained glass, terracotta
General Notes

(Dimensions given are simply by eye, and are probably significantly off.)

Description

One of Sullivan's "jewel box" banks. A modest-sized bank in a small farming town in the middle of Minnesota. Built as a single rectangular volume with an intense richness of organic ornamental detail on the main facade, which is carried through to the same details throughout the grand interior. The same brick materials and terracotta details from the outside are used throughout the inside. Elaborations of the same organic ornamental scheme is carried onto the massive hanging chandeliers that light and enrich the immense volume.

Theme

The world is expansively, infinitely rich.

Emotional Sum or Sense-of-life

Being able to breath freely -- expansively, and feeling that there are no limits to what man can do.

Context Information

Sullivan did a series of these small banks in his later career, throughout the Midwest. Each is a completely different set of variations on an ornamental theme.

Scale

Survey