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Allied Arts Building

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1929–1931, Stanhope S. Johnson and Raymond O. Brannan. 725 Church St.
  • (HABS; Photograph by Richard Cheek)
  • (HABS; Photograph by Richard Cheek)
  • (Photograph by Karen Kingsley)
  • (Photograph by Karen Kingsley)
  • (Photograph by Karen Kingsley)
  • (Photograph by Karen Kingsley)

This exemplary Art Deco office building follows Louis Sullivan's decree that a tall building should soar. Built on a narrow, sloping site, the eighteen-story, steel-framed structure soars with a carefully articulated rhythm of alternating broad and narrow piers, exults in its accomplished, bas-relief decorative motifs, and proudly flaunts a colorful sheathing of Virginia greenstone and yellow brick. The judicious use of materials in varying arrangements and proportions at different levels subtly meets another of Sullivan's suggestions— that tall buildings should display a vertical, columnar division of base, shaft, and capital. The lobby continues the Art Deco idiom with elevator grilles and lighting fixtures.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Anne Carter Lee

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