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The Seattle Tower is a 27 story Art Deco office building. It was originally named the Northern Life Tower after the insurance company that owned it, and came to be called the Northern Light Tower by locals because it was illuminated by flood lamps at night. Like the 14 year older Smith Tower, it has an elaborate period elevator lobby of marble and bronze, complete with a multistory glass mail chute through which letters descend directly into the large and ornate lobby mailbox. The metal screen of the front door transom reminds me of the doors at the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, also an Art Deco era building. I overheard one of the building officials say it would cost millions to replace the lobby floor that features many colors of marble in a patchwork of square-on-point chains. When you step into this 1928 building you really feel like you've gone back in time. Other details of the building are here at my More Seattle Stuff page.
3 comments:
What a beautiful building. Those floors are stunning. It's fascinating when people take ownership of a building and alter its name in this way...from Northern Life to Northern Light.
Beautiful doorway from the inside. I would love to see the outside some time.
I do a Wednesday doorway series (I copied Isadora in Budapest), so I am interested in doorways as they really tell a lot about a building and some can be quite beautiful.
Thanks very much CIB and BC.
Click the More Seattle Stuff link to see the doors from the outside and other details fo the building as well.
-Kim
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