1932

Ottoman

In 1926, the president of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society (PSFS), James M. Willcox, commissioned architect George Howe (1886–1955) to design a skyscraper at 12th and Market Streets that incorporated bank and executive offices, rental offices, and shops. More proficient with historical architectural vocabulary than with Modernist, Howe joined forces with the Swiss-born William Lescaze (1896–1969), who was eager to establish a reputation for himself in the industrial style in America. The partnership of Howe and Lescaze designed what became the most distinguished building on Philadelphia’s burgeoning skyline. To make the building a whole work of art, where each feature conformed to the Modernist sensibility, Howe and Lescaze also designed the furniture for the interior spaces. Tables and upholstered tubular steel furniture, like this piece, for lobbies and lounges were integral to the design for the building.