Frank L. Smith Bank
Encyclopedia
The Frank L. Smith Bank, also known as the First National Bank of Dwight, is a bank building in Dwight, Illinois
, United States
that was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
. Wright's earliest designs for the building date to 1904, but it was constructed in 1905 and opened in 1906. The design of the bank building deliberately rejects the classical
influences common at the time, and is meant to evoke an air of simple dignity.
Frank Lloyd Wright
's early designs for the Smith Bank date to 1904. The building, located in downtown Dwight, Illinois
, was constructed in 1905 to a Wright design. Wright designed the bank
building to house the real estate
office and bank of Frank L. Smith
, a prominent local citizen and baseball
player who once faced Ty Cobb
. Smith had decided that his real estate clients needed a simple and convenient way to obtain financing, so he founded the bank and hired Wright as the architect. The bank opened for business in 1906.
Wright was closely involved during design and construction, even down to the smallest details. Letters, exchanged between Wright and Smith, show that Wright was directly involved with the design of the interior and furnishings. The letters show that Wright's final decision was implemented in most cases, though some of his changes caused delays.
, but the work also involved covering much of the interior limestone and removing the oak trim.
During the 1960s the First National Bank of Dwight, the present owners, remodeled the building once again. This remodeling removed Wright's originally designed partition which divided the building into bank and real estate offices. The later renovation also recreated the original skylight, uncovered the interior stone, and utilized the original plans to reincorporate the oak
trim.
Wright's earliest 1904 plans for the Dwight bank showed a vertical brick
block with a column
flanking each side of the recessed central doorway. The early drawings also show a large ornamental frieze
on the upper portion of the building's facade
. It is unknown why Wright abandoned these plans and opted for the design that was used.
The building, as designed and constructed by Wright, has a 60 foot, storefront facade. The design specifically rejects typical bank building designs and their classical influences. The cut stone facade gives an air of simple dignity and solidity. The bank's design and location parallels Wright's belief that a bank should convey its own, unique character rather than "put on the airs of a temple of worship." Margaret Randall, in her 1996 work The Price You Pay: The Hidden Cost of Women's Relationship to Money, stated Wright's Smith Bank, along with his City National Bank in Mason City, Iowa, was "designed to evoke our culture's worship of money."
The building's most distinctive architectural feature is the fireplace
, uncommon in office buildings, and the structure's only feature to incorporate Roman brick
. The present-day structure consists of one open, interior space, while Wright's original design divided the building into two sections. One section was used as Smith's real estate office, the other as the bank. Wright also designed a full set of furniture
for both offices, although much of it has been sold over the years. One of the pieces of Wright-designed furniture in the building was a round-backed chair
. The chair was at least the second attempt at a round-backed chair by Wright; an earlier, more successful attempt was completed in the Darwin D. Martin House
. The chair has a bent-wood back, and rounded seat and stretchers. The total integration of the design is less successful than that used in the Martin House. Other interior features include a now electrically lit skylight, oak trim, and exposed stonework.
Archival materials are held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries in the Art Institute of Chicago
. The First National Bank of Dwight Collection includes architectural drawings and correspondence regarding the construction.
Dwight, Illinois
Dwight is a village in located mainly in Livingston County, Illinois, with a small portion in Grundy County, Illinois. The population was 4,260 at the 2010 census. Dwight contains an original stretch of the famous U.S. Route 66, and uses a railroad station designed in 1891 by Henry Ives Cobb. It is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. Wright's earliest designs for the building date to 1904, but it was constructed in 1905 and opened in 1906. The design of the bank building deliberately rejects the classical
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
influences common at the time, and is meant to evoke an air of simple dignity.
History
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
's early designs for the Smith Bank date to 1904. The building, located in downtown Dwight, Illinois
Dwight, Illinois
Dwight is a village in located mainly in Livingston County, Illinois, with a small portion in Grundy County, Illinois. The population was 4,260 at the 2010 census. Dwight contains an original stretch of the famous U.S. Route 66, and uses a railroad station designed in 1891 by Henry Ives Cobb. It is...
, was constructed in 1905 to a Wright design. Wright designed the bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
building to house the real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
office and bank of Frank L. Smith
Frank L. Smith
Frank Leslie Smith was an Illinois politician. He served as a United States Congressman from 1919 to 1921. He was elected by the people of Illinois to the United States Senate in 1926, but the Senate never allowed him to take his seat.He first ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S....
, a prominent local citizen and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player who once faced Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
. Smith had decided that his real estate clients needed a simple and convenient way to obtain financing, so he founded the bank and hired Wright as the architect. The bank opened for business in 1906.
Renovations
The building has undergone at least two renovations. During the 1950s the building was modernized: the biggest change was the lowering of the original skylight to allow installation of air conditioningAir conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
, but the work also involved covering much of the interior limestone and removing the oak trim.
During the 1960s the First National Bank of Dwight, the present owners, remodeled the building once again. This remodeling removed Wright's originally designed partition which divided the building into bank and real estate offices. The later renovation also recreated the original skylight, uncovered the interior stone, and utilized the original plans to reincorporate the oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
trim.
Architecture
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
block with a column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
flanking each side of the recessed central doorway. The early drawings also show a large ornamental frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
on the upper portion of the building's facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. It is unknown why Wright abandoned these plans and opted for the design that was used.
The building, as designed and constructed by Wright, has a 60 foot, storefront facade. The design specifically rejects typical bank building designs and their classical influences. The cut stone facade gives an air of simple dignity and solidity. The bank's design and location parallels Wright's belief that a bank should convey its own, unique character rather than "put on the airs of a temple of worship." Margaret Randall, in her 1996 work The Price You Pay: The Hidden Cost of Women's Relationship to Money, stated Wright's Smith Bank, along with his City National Bank in Mason City, Iowa, was "designed to evoke our culture's worship of money."
The building's most distinctive architectural feature is the fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
, uncommon in office buildings, and the structure's only feature to incorporate Roman brick
Roman brick
Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick originating in Ancient Rome and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type of brick, inspired by the ancient prototypes...
. The present-day structure consists of one open, interior space, while Wright's original design divided the building into two sections. One section was used as Smith's real estate office, the other as the bank. Wright also designed a full set of furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
for both offices, although much of it has been sold over the years. One of the pieces of Wright-designed furniture in the building was a round-backed chair
Chair
A chair is a stable, raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs are most often supported by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or could have a different shape depending on the criteria of the chair specifications. A chair without a back or...
. The chair was at least the second attempt at a round-backed chair by Wright; an earlier, more successful attempt was completed in the Darwin D. Martin House
Darwin D. Martin House
The Darwin D. Martin House Complex, also known as the Darwin Martin House State Historic Site, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905...
. The chair has a bent-wood back, and rounded seat and stretchers. The total integration of the design is less successful than that used in the Martin House. Other interior features include a now electrically lit skylight, oak trim, and exposed stonework.
Archival materials are held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries in the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. The First National Bank of Dwight Collection includes architectural drawings and correspondence regarding the construction.
External links
- Build your own Frank L. Smith Bank, from the Illinois Historic Preservation AgencyIllinois Historic Preservation AgencyThe Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is tasked with the duty of maintaining most State-owned historic sites within Illinois, and maximizing their educational and recreational value to visitors....
- First National Bank of Dwight, official site