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Source Collection
Alan Karchmer collection, Special Collections Department, University of Memphis Libraries
Identifier
24_30.A
Description
First Tennessee Bank, Third and Madison, Memphis, Tennessee. Built in 1964. Architects: Walk Jones and Francis Mah. Photographer: Alan Karchmer. © Alan Karchmer.
Following Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York, this classic structure minimizes the impact of its mass on the street not by successive setbacks, as did early skyscrapers, but by setting the whole rectangular mass of the building well back from the street forming a broad plaza. Proportioning of facade elements is of classic Greek derivation. The ground floor walls are set back from the exterior structural columns establishing the building as a mass, elegantly resting on its base.
With his dictum "Less is more," Mies van der Rohe introduced minimalism and the expression of structural purity into the corpus of American architecture. Miesian structures are rectangular with the utmost regularity and precision in plan, elevation, and detail. This efficiency often borders on sterility. The structures are modular in plan and elevation. Rigorous distinction between 'skin' and structure allows clean expansive glass curtain walls.
Date Created
2021
Date
undated
Recommended Citation
"First Tennessee Bank, Memphis" (2021). Images. 120.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-karchmera2/120
Keywords
Architecture--Tennessee--Memphis.
Rights Statement
Archival Statement
This item was created or digitized prior to April 24, 2026, or is a reproduction of legacy media created before that date. It is preserved in its original, unmodified state specifically for research, reference, or historical recordkeeping. This material is part of a digital archival collection and is not utilized for current University instruction, programs, or active public communication. In accordance with the ADA Title II Final Rule, the University Libraries provides accessible versions of archival materials upon request. To request an accommodation for this item, please submit an accessibility request form.
