Taking a lot with an avenue frontage of a 200 foot block, and, say, 150 or 200 feet on the side streets, and designing according to the letter of the law, there would result a commonplace suggestion of one box placed on top of another. These boxes may be cubes or higher or lower boxes, but if nothing further is done to them, they will remain, in suggestion, as simply one box on an
PROJECT FOR GRANT HOTEL, CHICAGO, ILL.
ELIEL SAARiNEN, ARCHITECT
other and they cannot in the mass suggest a unified design.
The problem, therefore, seems to be to avoid, the “box-on-box” appearance by striving for one or more vertical surfaces which may persist as nearly as possible from top to bottom, at some point or points, and thus unify the design by cutting into the “box-on-box” sequence. One such surface with the shadow it will create from top to bottom is sufficient to tie the composition together. The unpleasant “box-on-box” design becomes at once
a cliffl ike structure seeming to grow up from and out of the ground.
Realizing perfectly that this result cannot always be effected, the fact that architects are striving for it is shown by the design by Mr. Howells illustrated herewith. This design is for a pro
AMERICAN RADIATOR BUILDING, WEST 40TH STREET,
NEW YORK
RAYMOND M. HOOD, ARCHITECT