RSA Scottish Art
Head Office of the Union Bank of Scotland, St Vincent Street, Glasgow
 | Artist: James Miller |
| Title: Head Office of the Union Bank of Scotland, St Vincent Street, Glasgow | |
| Year: c. 1926 | |
| Medium: ink & pencil on paper | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| Description: James Miller was an architect for the Caledonian Railway Company, and worked on buildings such as Perth and Stirling Infirmaries, the office of the Kirkcaldy company, Nairn & Co, and the restoration of the Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling.This design for the head office of the Union Bank of Scotland used building methods developed in America incorporating steel structures. The actual design was based on a building on Broadway in New York, and it incorporates classical features, such as the giant Ionic columns (three storeys tall), with equally massive windows and bronze detailing such as lion head masks and a Greek key pattern. The building has a dominating, imposing form. A building like this is designed to give an impression of wealth, authority, and historical significance. All of these factors would once have been important in convincing customers that the bank was an important institution which could be trusted. Nowadays, banks are designed to be more 'people-friendly', and as a result, bank buildings tend to be welcoming, bright, open, transparent and much smaller.This drawing would be an important part of the design process for Miller. He would have used this architect's impression to give his clients a sense of what they would see in the finished building. Although it was drawn by the architect himself, this is not a building plan, and would not have been used to actually assist construction. To be convincing it must have a realistic look and feel, complete with shadows and pedestrians, and present the building in a pleasing way - quite different from construction drawings.The composition here is interesting because the building is shown in complete isolation. We cannot tell if it will be situated in a busy street or in the middle of a country estate. Architects nowadays tend to show a building design in its final location. Why do you think Miller chose to isolate his building in this way? | |
Find us on