Northwestern Mutual Fire Association Building

Northwestern Mutual Fire Association Building

The clean and crisp lines of the Northwestern Mutual Fire Association Building are typical for a 1950s office designed by Richard Neutra. The structure has two stories, and the upper one, a rectilinear white box, hovers above a glass wall facing the garden on the ground level. On either side, a brick wall to the north and a staircase to the south enclose the space. Along the façade of the second-story box, a series of aluminum louvers alternate with glass paneled windows, creating a sense of vertical rhythm. For Neutra, this verticality recalled the ancient precedent of columned porticos. Along the southern face, the steel construction of the building is evident in the roof canopies, which are composed of steel decking. Inside the Northwestern Mutual Fire Association’s offices, the ceiling beams are hidden, but the steel columns remain visible. These columns do not conform to a grid but were instead arranged according to the needs of the office space. Concrete, brick, fused blue enamel, red granite, and Terrazzo floors are used throughout while a small pool and acid-treated corrugated glass in the lobby are used to divide the space from the entry to the American Crayon Company, which leased the upper floor. For the American Crayon Company’s spaces, a bright color palette and bold Herman Miller furniture were selected.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 226.