One of the most unusual buildings in the world is this suspension design created for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis by Gunnar Birkets and Associates. The building won several architectural awards in 1974. The two support towers on each end had 92 ton cables called catenaries (the smile in the picture above) suspended 328 feet between them to support the 11 story glass structure. Before the remodel shown in the picture, the building was suspended two stories off the ground allowing the public to walk underneath. The bolts holding the catenaries in place were 8 feet long! The 11 stories above ground are only 1/3 of the finished building space as the Federal Reserve had massive vaults, secured drive through for armored vehicles, and office space below ground. The above ground area felt like any other structure but watching the heavy steel doors closing behind a vehicle was claustrophic at best.
Asbestos and lack of maintenance almost caused demolition of the building when the Fed decided to build a new home after 25 years in this one. Finally a willing developer took on the task and massive cost to abate the asbestos and remodel the building which has now been dubbed Marquette Plaza. Marquette Plaza remains the only suspension building of its size in the world.
More information can be found at these sites:
City Pages, October, 1996 "Demolition on Reserve"
BizJournal, May, 1997 Buyers Set Deal for Fed Bank Building"
Archiseek Marquette Plaza, Minneapolis
What an unusual building - I'm glad that the developer took the time to save it instead of knocking it down (which seems to be the American way). Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: erin | February 20, 2007 at 02:12 PM
Erin,
Keeping the Fed building is even more amazing since Minneapolis has a reputation for tearing down to build new. St. Paul likes to retro-fit and keep the old buildings with their history. The house I actually live in is one of those which was moved in order to save it. Where it was before is now being made into a parking ramp!
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | February 20, 2007 at 03:04 PM