Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Office Buildings

OFFICE BUILDINGS. The construction of edifices designed for purely commercial uses has in modern times reached a development that has made it a field for architecture paralleling the erection of cathedrals in the Middle Ages. In this development America has greatly surpassed the countries of Europe, where the use of former dwellings for business purposes, and the use of dwellings for residences and business combined is still largely in vogue. Banks and insurance companies, and enterprises of a similar kind, to whom a prosperous façade was an advertising asset, were the first to use special structures, but the giant progress of modern business has made the building of great edifices like the Equitable and Woolworth buildings of New York a necessity. The development of the elevator and steel frame has made such building the last word in convenience.