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The Irwin Union Bank and Trust (1954) is a highly innovative bank design and an outstanding example of classic Modernist form, a minimalist but entirely functional glass pavilion referenced as Miesian in homage to the Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion.
The work of Eliel Saarinen’s son Eero Saarinen, Irwin Union Bank and Trust was possibly the first financial institution in the United States with glass walls and an open plan, dramatically differing from past solutions for banks, and influencing the future of bank design.
The Dan Kiley landscape of tree bosque surround is an extension of the building’s formalism and a precursor to the structuralism he further developed throughout his career.
This property is one of a number of examples in Columbus, Indiana that illustrate trends in modern architecture and landscape architecture. Its development coincided with that of the much larger and well-known General Motors Technical Center, a major influence in corporate architecture for years to come.
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