"An ethereal tower of sea green glass and aluminum, is this building of the Equitable Savings and Loan Association. The skeleton outline is predominant and stresses neither the horizontal nor the vertical. The rigid window pattern allows for more interior flexibility than is apparent as result of arrangement of utilities and modular subdivision..."

— Jo Stubblebine, ed. The Northwest Architecture of Pietro Belluschi. New York: F.W. Dodge Corporation, 1953. p41.

"This trim, compact office building originally 12 stories high and later 13, set styles for hundreds that came after. It was the first to be sheathed in aluminum, the first to employ double-glazed window panels, and the first to be completely sealed and fully air-conditioned."

— from Sylvia Hart Wright. Sourcebook of Contemporary North American Architecture: From Postwar to Postmodern. p11.

The Creator's Words

"I am committed to a philosophy of simplicity, of understatement, but that of the saint, rather than that of the fool. It comes from deep understanding and purification, so that every time you omit saying something, or choose not to make a personal statement, you do it for good reason, for taste and restraint. I think in terms of what is appropriate—how to meet one's duty to a client's particular project may emerge. The client, in turn, must be able to appreciate and accept the poetic values inherent, but not always obvious, in simple design.

"To search for the solution in an abstract way is very tempting but only a few extremely gifted, elected architects can do it. Even when they are gifted, they too fall on their face—as did Wright in the later years, and Stone; Rudolph himself admits that he goes all the way to do what he thinks is an experiment, and then allows that he might fail. Architecture, as an art, must strive for roots and continuity but must not deny the man of genius his right to innovate if that is his moment, and his voice rings true."

— Pietro Belluschi. from Paul Heyer. Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America. p226.

Details

American Institute of Architects 25 Year Award, 1982