Contrast of Old and New

A few weeks ago my friend Judy brought this view to my attention and I had to take a photo to share. I find it an interesting contrast to see the older building in front of the newer. The materials and colors of the two buildings are so different, and yet there is a similarity in their form.

The older of the two buildings sits directly across Third Avenue from the Washington Mutual Tower where I work (that's the newer building in the photo). I've always been fascinated with the older building because its architecture is so different from the buildings that surround it. These days that building is called the Seattle Tower.

When the Seattle Tower was finished in 1928 it was called the Northern Life Building. Check out this photo of an old postcard showing the Northern Life Building.

The Northern Life Building was Seattle's first in the Art Deco style. Originally planned to be 24 stories tall, it was redesigned to add 3 more floors making it one floor higher above sea level than the Smith Tower which was previously known as the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

The Washington Mutual Tower, Seattle's first building in the Postmodern style was completed in 1988. It dwarfs the Seattle Tower at 55 stories. I read that people call it the "spark plug building" because of its shape.

Both buildings are beautiful, each representing the best in architecture of their day.