State Office Building and Shelby County Administration Building, Memphis

Creators

Preview

Source Collection

Alan Karchmer collection, Special Collections Department, University of Memphis Libraries

Identifier

26_2.C

Description

State Office Building and Shelby County Administration Building, Civic Plaza, Memphis, Tennessee. Built in 1967. Architects: Gassner Nathan and Partners. Photographer: Alan Karchmer. © Alan Karchmer.

The State Building, with its tremendous vigor, plays well against the more modest background of the County Building.

Once freed from the binding rules of Classicism, architects in the 1950's and 60's began to interpret those forms in a strictly modern idiom. Called the New Formalism, these structures are free-standing and complete in themselves - rather temple-like - with symmetrically balances elevations and regular, strongly defined skylines. Screens of cast stone or concrete are popular. Refined, emphasizing its structural derivation, this architecture reflects the grand imperial attitude of America during its Camelot days.

Date Created

2021

Date

undated

Recommended Citation

"State Office Building and Shelby County Administration Building, Memphis" (2021). Images. 45.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-karchmera2/45