Northwestern National Life Insurance Building
Image Credit: Mulad via Flickr
Name of Building/Site:
Northwestern National Life Insurance Building
Building/Site Address:
20 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Designation:
None apply
Dates:
Commission: 1962
Completion: 1965
Architectural and Other Designer(s):
Architect: Minoru Yamasaki
Current Use and Condition:
Private office building / ING ReliaStar Building / Voya Financial
Description:
Yamasaki is most known for his design of the original World Trade Center Towers in New York City. The Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, although completely different in design approach, has been highly praised as another of his most prominent works. Slender columns form a portico rising eighty feet high. The simple, clean white structure is beautifully proportioned and is an excellent example of the neo-classic, or New Formalist, architectural approach.
(Adapted from A Field Guide to Landmarks of Modern Architecture in the United States, by Miriam F. Stimpson)
The Northwestern National Life (NWNL) Building opened in 1965. Located at the edge of downtown’s former Gateway District, a portico at one end frames a continuous visual line down Nicollet Mall to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. Six stories and 220,000 square feet of office space are wrapped in a dignified colonnade, the white arches coming to points and flaring out at the cornice. Large panels of Vermont verde-antique marble are set into the void of the arch in a book-leaf pattern.
Sunlit Straw (metal sculpture in lobby), Henry Bertoia, ca. 1965.
Northwestern National Life Insurance Building
Building/Site Address:
20 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Designation:
None apply
Dates:
Commission: 1962
Completion: 1965
Architectural and Other Designer(s):
Architect: Minoru Yamasaki
Current Use and Condition:
Private office building / ING ReliaStar Building / Voya Financial
Description:
Yamasaki is most known for his design of the original World Trade Center Towers in New York City. The Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, although completely different in design approach, has been highly praised as another of his most prominent works. Slender columns form a portico rising eighty feet high. The simple, clean white structure is beautifully proportioned and is an excellent example of the neo-classic, or New Formalist, architectural approach.
(Adapted from A Field Guide to Landmarks of Modern Architecture in the United States, by Miriam F. Stimpson)
The Northwestern National Life (NWNL) Building opened in 1965. Located at the edge of downtown’s former Gateway District, a portico at one end frames a continuous visual line down Nicollet Mall to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. Six stories and 220,000 square feet of office space are wrapped in a dignified colonnade, the white arches coming to points and flaring out at the cornice. Large panels of Vermont verde-antique marble are set into the void of the arch in a book-leaf pattern.
Sunlit Straw (metal sculpture in lobby), Henry Bertoia, ca. 1965.
References:
Gyure, Dale Allen. “Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986).” The Architectural Review, Reputations vertical. 21 February 2019. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/reputations/minoru-yamasaki-1912-1986/10040173.article
Gyure, Dale Allen. “Reconsidering the Legacy of Minoru Yamasaki.” Saving Places blog, National Trust for Historic Preservation. 9 May 2018. https://savingplaces.org/stories/reconsidering-the-legacy-of-minoru-yamasaki#.XwN4YyhKiUl
Sturdevant, Andy. “100 Washington Square: the consummate Modernist dream of an office tower.” MinnPost, 25 January 2017. https://www.minnpost.com/stroll/2017/01/100-washington-square-consummate-modernist-dream-office-tower/
Recorder Name: Mary Begley
Recorder Date: August 2020
Gyure, Dale Allen. “Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986).” The Architectural Review, Reputations vertical. 21 February 2019. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/reputations/minoru-yamasaki-1912-1986/10040173.article
Gyure, Dale Allen. “Reconsidering the Legacy of Minoru Yamasaki.” Saving Places blog, National Trust for Historic Preservation. 9 May 2018. https://savingplaces.org/stories/reconsidering-the-legacy-of-minoru-yamasaki#.XwN4YyhKiUl
Sturdevant, Andy. “100 Washington Square: the consummate Modernist dream of an office tower.” MinnPost, 25 January 2017. https://www.minnpost.com/stroll/2017/01/100-washington-square-consummate-modernist-dream-office-tower/
Recorder Name: Mary Begley
Recorder Date: August 2020
