Fidelity Bank: The Neoclassical Bling of Cameron Village [Remixed]
The Fidelity Bank building on the corner of Smallwood Drive and Oberlin Road in Cameron Village is one of the first buildings I remember noticing not long after arriving in Raleigh five years ago. The tall Ionic columns of the second level of the bank support a festooned entablature that serves no purpose, except as decoration for an idle space. These ornate columns convey a sense of elegance, yet at the same time contribute to a stark contrast with the functional and understated 50s and 60s era modernist architecture around it. My first (perhaps naive) assumption was that it was an outdoor picnic area for employees of the bank. But as far as I’m aware, there’s nothing but poured flat concrete on the upper level, and no one ever goes up there.
image I took in 2005
The bird in the image above is probably one of the few creatures that get any use of the architectural embelishments of this building. At first, I was fascinated by the fact that a bank built somewhat recently would so boldly harken back to the neoclassical style used in many government buildings and stately private residences. Over time, however, my fondness has waned if for no other reason than the decoration is just visual bling.
Looking to the past for inspiration is not a crime
There are several local examples of beautiful architecture that borrowed elements from the past to create something that inspires awe for generations (or at least until demolished):
- The 1915 Wake County Courthouse
- Memorial Auditorium
- Grosvenor Gardens Apartments
- Commercial National Bank
A recent example is the Bloomsbury Estates condos which I believe to be a visually appealing and unique addition to the area. There are many ways that the memorable and familiar elements from previous eras can combine to form a beautiful and functional modern living or commercial space.
In the case of this building, however, using the influences from the past seems to just come across as awkward, out of place, and worse – useless.
What are some other examples of recent architecture (pretty or not) that borrowed elements from a previous era?
Remixed:
Lupus Yonderboy shows us what Fidelity Bank may have looked at had the most basic principle in any discipline of design been adhered to by the developer, plus something to make it a bit more fun.
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03/06/2009
I live on Smallwood Drive, and I have to face this abomination every day as I go to work. It is an eyesore, and as you put it so eloquently, useless.
03/06/2009
I gotta say – these are lovely shots but this building doesn’t do it for me, either. Instead, I love to look at the building, built around the same time, that is across the street and next to the post office. It is modernist 50s style, with interesting stonework and funky yellow windows on the side. I think it fits in with Cameron Village’s architecture much better.
03/06/2009
There’s a local dentist who is into architecture and all of his office buildings are based on antiquities. The only one I can think of is off the top of my head is at the corner of Wake Forest and New Hope Church Road, across from Eastgate Shopping Center. I believe his name is Dr. Lane. His buildings are horrible. Sorry, Doc.
Here’s a link to an old N&O story:
http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/487651.html
03/06/2009
Your article pretty much pegged this building, John. And the photos are top-notch. I especially love the solid black sky — great composition with the one with the moon. The silhouetted shot with the bird evokes an image of the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli!
Funny though, the Fidelity Bank building has always made me think of wedding cake!
03/06/2009
This building has long perplexed me. I’ll have to agree that is just seems out of place, but what bothers me most is that the space on the top of the building isn’t put to a positive use. On its own, it is a lovely space, and it seems like such a waste not to utilize it.
Great photos!
03/07/2009
OMG… my wife and I were just commenting on this very building as we drove past it last night! I had never verbalized my extreme irritation with this building.
There is something that “irritates the brain” about it. Visual bling is different than this. To me, visual bling is more like the old strip in Vegas. Architects intentionally created landmarks. Visual bling of another flavor is like the post-modern crown on the Bank of America skyscraper in downtown Atlanta, and, for lack of a better term, the Neo-Industrial shell on top of the building next to the High Museum of Art. Richard Meier is perhaps my favorite architect because of the non-obvious pathways he designs into buildings so you can climb all over them in the middle of the night.
But to get back on track, it isn’t really an “eyesore” either. You get more of a “brain freeze” feeling. And anytime I am in that area of town, I think about this darn building. It is like something about it will never allow your brain to accept it.
So what’s the problem with it?
Here is my theory…
There is a gestalt that deals with breaking the visual plane into 3rds. This is the first thing that designers learn. The now defunct magazine Raygun pissed people off because they understood all of our visual gestalts and threw them all into a nasty, swirling visual combine of having one beer to many. On a side note, David Carson lives in Wilmington, and I give the interns that worked at that magazine all the credit, not him.
But back on track again, you have allowed me to test my theory out with your great pictures. Now everyone, download one of the photos and pull it into photoshop. Then, go halfway up the clearstory and use the linear magic wand to cut it in half. Copy. Paste. Slide it down so that the clearstory is 1/4 to 1/3 its present height.
My guess is that there were good architects working on this building and the client told them to “make it bigger”. Bank executives are notorious for requesting this type of design change.
03/07/2009
Argh… balance issues to. THe architects tried to compensate for the 50/50 split in the visual plane by putting that nasty 4′ tall crown molding on top of the clearstory. Cut it down to 4″ and take 7′ out of the columns and it looks almost perfect.
I added large gargoyles to the 4 corners of the top of the building.
Ahhh, I can finally rest at night.
03/07/2009
Lupus — re: the gargoyles: If that’s an image you created in photoshop, then send it on! We’ll publish it here! And hey, thanks for your commentary. I think this building affects most folks, one way or another!
03/08/2009
Here is a link to a JPEG. I suppose if this doesn’t post I will have to search for your email addy ;)
http://www.churchofthesupergenius.com/fidelity5_remix.jpg
03/08/2009
Lupus – you know, I can’t believe I couldn’t identify one of the things that bugged me about this building until you pointed it out. Not only is the ‘rule of thirds’ the first thing designers learn, but for people learning photography as well. It’s pretty easy to spot in the four photos in this article.
As I’m sure you are aware, most people will think a design or image that uses this principle is more appealing than one without, although few could probably explain why. You’ve beautifully demonstrated this in action.
Thanks for the remix too, gave me a good laugh on Sunday afternoon!
03/08/2009
bleh .. another ugly building in Raleigh
03/10/2009
The building that was torn down to make room for this one was so nice. I hated they tore it down and hopped it was to be replaced with something equally well designed… Nope.
The designers of this one should be publicly flogged for the eyesore they have given us.
03/10/2009
Does anyone have a picture or a link to a picture of the building that was built on this site before tearing it down to build the bank?
05/15/2009
I am so happy to see so many other folks detest that hideous struture as much as I do.
It gives me the feeling that is was left unfinished. Maybe if they put a beer garden up there in that empty space, and lots of strings of Chinese paper lanterns or something. Ugh
06/02/2009
@Jamie: This picture is from the wake goverment tax record site; they still have a picture posted of the property in 1995 that shows the former building:
http://services.wakegov.com/realestate/photos/mvideo/WAKE0218/0056DE00.JPG
08/14/2010
Chris M, thank you for this, I’m just getting around to this.
02/21/2011
We call this bank The BierGarten because it is so cheesy. It is a ridiculous design for a US bank. But, I don’t have very high expectations for the taste of bankers. I was in the lovely little modern First Citizens at 5 Points the other day. The interior is all quasi-Ethan Allen complete with prints of General Washington during the Revolution….they are really trying too hard to buy authenticity.
06/17/2011
Hello all! I’m glad that our bank building attracts attention – although I wish it was all positive attention! I enjoyed reading the candid responses, good and not-so-good.
My name is David Forrest and I’m a Vice President / Business Development Officer with Fidelity Bank for the Cameron Village market and I work in that office. And no, I did not design it! It really has an interesting story. The inspiration is European and we did originally plan to have upstairs access. Let me (or Sloan Henline, who manages the operations in the office) know if you’d ever like to hear the story / see the office / see the original sketches / etc. The phone number is 919.839.1710.
We’re happy to be part of the community. All the best to each of you! David