National Commercial Bank, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Four plans, preliminary study)
Skidmore Owings & Merrill
American, founded 1936
Gordon Bunshaft
American, 1909–1990
1977
A horizontal strip of four felt‑tip pen on tracing‑paper plan studies in which Skidmore, Owings & Merrill explore variations of a triangular bank floorplate, testing entries, service cores, and small planted courtyards for the National Commercial Bank in Jeddah.
What strikes you is the repeated equilateral triangle rendered in warm orange and cool green washes, with hatch patterns, tiny tree symbols, and the transparent layering of tracing paper that makes the sheet read as a quick sequence of evolving ideas.
The sheet exemplifies how late‑modern architecture offices used hand‑drawn, color‑coded studies to iterate formal strategies and adapt a rigorous geometric concept to programmatic, functional, and climatic demands in an international commission.
Medium
Felt tip pen on tracing paper
Dimensions
12 x 35" (30.5 x 88.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Accession
478.1983
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
