Judy: It turns out that the
national farmers' bank in
owatonna, Minnesota is one of
the most significant
architectural works in the
nation, part of the prairie
school of design.
Kaomi Lee of twin cities pbs
went to see why this 1908
building, on the national
register of historic places,
continues to attract tourists
from around the nation and the
world.
It's part of our arts and
culture series, canvas.
Kaomi: There is a building that
looks like a jewel box,
terra-cotta flourishes, not
afraid of color.
It's now a Wells Fargo bank but
it started out under a different
name.
>> There is no more significant
building in the United States.
This is one of probably the top
10 most important buildings in
the whole country.
That is because of Louis
Sullivan.
Kaomi: Sullivan was a brash
architect in Chicago all about
antiestablishment architecture.
He had some successes and
problems with money and
drinking.
But his ideas found a fan in a
banker.
>> He came up with it.
It is form follows function.
The shape of the building should
grow out of the function of the
building.
We have a perfect example right
here.
It is a bank for farmers.
Kaomi: Bennett wanted it to be a
place farmers would feel at
home, not a greco-roman stately
building with columns, and that
was right of Sullivan's Allie.
>> This is all about the people.
It comes from the bottom, not
the top.
This is a bank people loved to
bring their money to.
Kaomi: Sullivan's drinking left
most of the work to another and
his artistry is everywhere, like
in this beautiful art class.
>> There are two design elements
I think are most interesting and
one is this form, which I see
about 20 of in each of the
windows, and there are dozens
more.
They look like this.
They have four lobes sticking
out and they represent
mankind.
I think of them as a
representation of the human
soul.
He is putting these
representations of humanity
inside of a growing thing,
inside of a plant.
He is showing us the
relationship between humans and
nature.
Kaomi: They are made of
terra-cotta, an ode to plant
life.
They almost grow from the
ceiling.
And there is another theme.
>> You see little boxes inside
other boxes, in the windows, in
the president's office.
We have complicated boxes within
boxes within boxes.
This grows from an idea called
the fourth dimension.
Kaomi: Dimensions of length,
width, and height were known,
but at the time a fourth
dimension of space was an
exciting eerie, a metaphor for
expanding consciousness, and it
was on elms Lee's mind.
Although he carried most of the
weight, helmsley was not
entirely absent.
The bank cost $125,000, a huge
sum in 1908.
What's extraordinary is much of
the original works remain today.
Some beautiful original features
are gone.
This is a reproduction of one of
the iron teller cages, possibly
the most revered design element
in the entire bank.
Sullivan fired helmsley the
following year and a bitter
parting.
The bank went belly up 18 years
later.
The building has remained
beloved by the community.
>> People have been proud of
this bank ever since.
They think of it as their town
symbol.
It is the most important thing
in the world that exists in
owatonna.