Tower Life Building San Antonio is a photograph by Alexandra Till which was uploaded on July 19th, 2014.
Title
Tower Life Building San Antonio
Artist
Alexandra Till
Medium
Photograph - Photographs - Prints - Digital Images - Cards - Posters - Photo-calendars - Photo Art
Description
© Christine Till
The Tower Life Building in San Antonio, Texas, which opened in 1929, was originally named the Smith-Young Tower, and conceived as part of a larger complex called Bowen's Island Skyscrapers, which included the 1927 Plaza Hotel. This project was halted by the Great Depression.
The eight sided, neo-gothic brick and terra-cotta tower (complete with gargoyles) was San Antonio's tallest building for 59 years until completion of the Marriott Rivercenter in 1988. It also was San Antonio's tallest office building for 60 years until the completion of the Weston Centre in 1989. In 1991 the Tower Life Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2010 work began to remove an obsolete 164-foot television antenna that was installed in 1953. The original crown was restored and topped with a 100-foot flagpole.
The octagonal edifice has the appearance of an elaborate lighthouse, a beacon in the darkness. Pointed arches and a beautiful green tile roof give the building its European context. At night, dramatic lighting adds height and intensity to the tower, which, like Gothic cathedrals, emphasizes by refined vertical ascent the desire of humanity to reach out to mysteries far beyond.
Uploaded
July 19th, 2014
