Preview

Date
1-1-1994
Description
According to Jordy, Walker and Gillette’s Industrial National Bank Building 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 2 Role
Architects
Creator 3 Role
Architects
Creator 4 Role
Architects
Building Type
Skyscraper
Building Style
Art Deco
Themes
Urban Geography
Subject Headings
Skyscrapers -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Kennedy Plaza (Providence, RI); Burnside Park (Providence, RI); Sovereign Bank Building (Providence, RI); 50 Kennedy Plaza(Providence, RI); Bank of America (Providence, RI); Federal Building -- Rhode Island -- Providence -- 1908
Country Name
United States
Region Name
Rhode Island
City Name
Providence
Street Address
55 Kennedy Plaza
Recommended Citation
Walker & Gillete; Helmut, Obata & Kassebaum; and Ben Tre, Howard, "Kennedy Plaza, Financial District, Industrial National Bank Building" (1994). Browse All. 49.
https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/smolski_images/49
Keywords
Kennedy Plaza, Sovereign Bank, 50 Kennedy Plaza, Bank of America, financial district, buses, plazas, urban parks, Federal Building
Notes
Bibliography: Woodward, W.M. McKenzie. PPS/AlAri Guide to Providence Architecture. Providence Preservation Society, 2003. pp. 97-101.