IT-ology Office Building - Columbia, SC
About:
Name: IT-ology Office Building
Location: 1301 Gervais St. Columbia, SC 29201
Explanation:
Stylistically, the IT-ology office building mimics similar characteristics as the Seagram building located in midtown Manhattan, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The IT-ology office building is influenced by the international style, having external expression through the use of structural elements. Like the Seagram building, the IT-ology office building represents a new theory of modernization that implies a buildings functional utility – when made visible – can surpass traditional forms of decorative articulation. The IT-ology office building respectively represents this theory by making external architectural elements visible, essentially allowing the public to engage with the building honestly. (97)
Description:
Like the Seagram building, the IT-ology office building was designed using international style, which became increasingly prominent during the early to mid 20th century. The building has distinctive visual components like structural rectilinear form being displayed by the buildings shape and by the windows protecting the buildings interior. Another quality that can easily be distinguished as international style is the use of steel-reinforced concrete as a functional element of design within the interior. Glass sheathing – expressed on the exterior of the IT-ology office building – conveys the new incorporated technologies of successful modernized architecture. Mies believed that a building should express its structural components honestly, both inside and out: The IT-ology office building is internally constructed of steel framing incased in reinforced concrete – seemingly a contradiction to Mies van der Rohe’s theory. However, the element of reinforced concrete was also used within the interior of the Seagram building. This was a requirement inspired by American building codes that declared all structural steel be incased in a fireproof material. The IT-ology office building successfully executes the use of non-structural glass walls. However, unlike the Seagram building, the IT-ology office building only provides transparency through a symmetrical array of selected glass walls, essentially eliminating true architectural honesty. The IT-ology office building creatively incorporates similar external characteristics as the Seagram Building by using a dark glaze with anodized aluminum columns, which gives it a dark uniformed appearance. Between the IT-ology building and its neighboring building, the architects established a plaza that allows for interaction away from highly trafficked areas. (256)