Architecture of Jacksonville

The Wells Fargo Center is one of the city's most iconic buildings

The architecture of Jacksonville is notably marked by the city's early predominant position as Florida's financial and insurance center. Numerous buildings in the city have held state height records, dating as far back as 1902,[1] and last holding the record from 1974 to 1981.[2] It is important to note that few structures in the city center predate the Great Fire of 1901.[3]

Contributing heavily during the reconstruction period following the Great Fire of 1901, a young New York architect named Henry John Klutho would come to influence generations of local designers. Klutho's works exhibit elements influenced by both the Chicago School, championed by Louis Sullivan, and the Prairie School of architecture, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. As a result, Jacksonville has one of the largest collections of Prairie Style buildings outside the Midwest.[4]

By the 1950s, modernist design principles would permeate throughout the United States, transforming the rapidly growing State of Florida.[5] During this period, local architects Robert C. Broward, Taylor Hardwick, and William Morgan adapted a range design principles, including International style, Brutalism, Futurism and Organicism, all applied with an American interpretation generally referred to today as Mid-century modern design.[6] The architecture firms of Reynolds, Smith & Hills (RS&H)[7] and Kemp, Bunch & Jackson (KBJ) have also contributed a number of important works to the city's modern architectural movement. In particular, KBJ has designed more buildings in the contemporary skyline of Jacksonville than any other architectural firm. Of the 30 tallest buildings in the city, 17 are associated with KBJ.[8] With the notable exception of works by architects Robert A. M. Stern, Welton Becket, Paul Rudolph, and Helmut Jahn, many of Jacksonville's modern landmarks were designed locally.

Skyscrapers

View of Hemming Park, taken from the YMCA Building, ca. 1910

The 10 tallest standard structures:

Std.
rank
Name Year
Location
(Downtown)
Floors
Standard
height
ft
Std.
hgt
m
Notes
1
Bank of America Tower 1990 North Laura Street & West Bay Street 42 617 188
2
Wells Fargo Center 1974 Laura Street & Independent Drive 37 535 163
3
EverBank Center 1983 West Bay Street & Pearl Street 32 447 136
4
The Peninsula at St. Johns Center 2006 1401 Riverplace Boulevard 36 437 133
5
Riverplace Tower 1967 Riverplace Boulevard & Flagler Avenue 28 432 132
6
SunTrust Tower 1989 Laura Street & Independent Drive 24 357 109
7
The Strand at St. Johns Center 2006 1401 Riverplace Boulevard 28 328 100
8
Aetna Building 1954 841 Prudential Drive 22 309 94
9
Two Prudential Plaza 1985 Museum Circle & San Marco Boulevard 21 305 93
10
One Enterprise Center 1986 Water & Hogan Streets 21 299 91

Chronology of the tallest buildings in Jacksonville:

Years tallest (Florida) Years tallest (city) Name Std.
hgt
ft/m
Floors
Year completed Notes
1902-1909 1902–1909 Dyal-Upchurch Building 82 / 25 6 1902
1909-1912 1909–1912 121 Atlantic Place 135 / 41 10 1909
1912-1913 1912–1913 Florida Life Building 148 / 45 11 1912
1913-1926 1913–1926 Heard National Bank Building 180 / 55 15 1913
1926–1954 Barnett National Bank Building 224 / 68 18 1926
1954–1967 Aetna Building 309 / 94 22 1955
1967-1972 1967–1974 Riverplace Tower 417 / 127 28 1967
1974-1981 1974–1990 Wells Fargo Center 535 / 163 37 1974
1990–present Bank of America Tower 617 / 188 42 1990

Timeline of notable buildings

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Before 1900:

Kingsley Plantation
Old St. Luke Hospital
Carnegie Library
City Hall
Union Terminal
Ed Austin Building
City Hall Annex Building
Jacksonville Coliseum (demolished)
The Ed Ball Building
United States Courthouse

1900-1939:

1940 to the present:

"Florida Architecture: 100 places, 100 years", compiled by the Florida chapter of the American Institute of Architects.[10]

Rank Building Architect
4 University of North Florida Student Union Dasher, Reynolds & Belyea
6 St. Paul's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church Blake Ellis
14 Bolles School Marsh & Saxelbye
26 Florida Theatre Roy A. Benjamin
48 Epping Forest Marsh & Saxelbye
51 Jacksonville Public Library Robert A. M. Stern
55 Unitarian Universalist Church Robert C. Broward
57 Haydon Burns Library Taylor Hardwick
64 St. James Building Henry John Klutho
68 Chart House Restaurant Kendrick Bangs Kellogg
70 Riverside Baptist Church Addison Mizner
87 Riverplace Tower Welton Becket
92 Florida Life Building Henry John Klutho
96 Westminster Woods Robert C. Broward

Styles and schools

Jacksonville architects used many design styles and belonged to a variety of architectural schools. Below is a list of those styles and schools.

Gallery

A section of the Jacksonville skyline in daytime.

See also

References

  1. Ennis Davis (March 6, 2008). "A Century of Florida's Tallest Skyscrapers". Metro Jacksonville. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  2. "Wells Fargo Center, Jacksonville". Emporis. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  3. "Distinguish Jacksonville: The Great Fire of 1901". Metro Jacksonville. January 6, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  4. Wayne W. Wood. "Jacksonville's Lost Treasures". Prairie School Traveler. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  5. Lesa Lorusso. "Identifying American Architectural Styles: Midcentury Modern". Florida Preservationist. Florida Historical Society. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  6. "When Does Modern Architecture Become Historic?". Jacksonville Historical Society. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  7. Ennis Davis (April 12, 2012). "The Premature Destruction of Downtown Jacksonville". Urban Issues. Metro Jacksonville. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  8. Jessie-Lynne Kerr (January 24, 2008). "Architect transformed city waterfront". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  9. Metro Jacksonville
  10. "Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.". American Institute of Architects Florida. Retrieved May 7, 2013.

Further reading

External links

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