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Saint James Building
Jacksonville
Built in 1912 by Henry John Klutho.
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“The unique and modernistic design of the St. James Building received national attention and acclaims soon after completion. The building and its architect were featured in the 1914 issue of the Western Architect. Klutho’s biographer, Robert C. Broward, has described the St. James Building as, “the most powerful architectural and urban statement in Jacksonville after more than seventy years”. At the time of its opening in 1912, the Florida Times Union described the building as, “new in its line and is among the most conspicuous of its kind in this country and will attract attention to Jacksonville and to the owners here and elsewhere for their enterprise in constructing a building of so interesting a type”. In addition to being the largest building ever constructed in Jacksonville at the time, the design of the St. James Building represented a radical departure from the more traditional architectural styles of the day.”
In March, 1910, Jacob and Morris Cohen, owners of Cohen Brothers’ store commissioned H.J. Klutho to design a department store building for their new property. Unimpressed with the owners’ idea of a two-storey retail building, Klutho submitted three rather conventional two-storey designs followed by a dramatic four-storey plan, which he convinced the Cohen brothers would soon become the city’s major office and shopping center. They accepted Klutho’s proposal of a four-storey building covering the entire city block, as well as his innovative concept of a mixed-use design: small privately run shops were located on the ground-floor periphery; a massive department store filled the center of the first storey and all of the second; and two floors of rentable office space were located above the store. It was the largest building in Jacksonville and the ninth-largest department store in the U.S.
The St. James Building is almost certainly the largest Prairie School building in the world. With an estimation of over 3 million cubic feet of space, it surpasses the second largest (Woodbury County Courthouse in Sioux City, Iowa, at 1.6 million cubic feet) by a factor of 2.
With the design of the St. James Building, Klutho was able to blend the principles of the Prairie School as influenced by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan with his own personal style. The primary facades of the building are broken vertically into a grid created by columns placed twenty-two feet on center. The facades are divided horizontally into two parts, the first floor with its series of rectangular high ceiling storefronts, and a second part composed of upper office floors divided by pilasters of cream brick. An abundance of abstract geometric ornamentation personally designed by Klutho in terra cotta, plaster, and bronze is evident on both the exterior and interior. True to the principle of “form follows function”, the central tower facing Hemming Park defined the primary entryway, as well as shielded a large water tank behind the raised parapet. The richly detailed central tower also frames decorative arches reminiscent of Sullivan’s design of the Getty Tomb (1890). The influence of Louis Sullivan is also evident in the elaborate terra cotta ornamentation found in the capitals of the central tower and the pilaster ends. Described as “Kluthoesque” by the architect, these uniquely designed pieces combine a variety of scrollwork and geometric forms reflective of natural forms such as seashells and plants native to this area.
More Info: Additional View
More Info: Additional View
More Info: Additional View
Return to: Florida Top 100 Building Survey
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