The city's best 1920s tower sits on a broad base that guarantees light and air to the side windows of a slab that runs the depth of the block. Dark spandrels between light brick piers accent the building's verticality. Interestingly, the architect's published photograph of the building was taken from the rear, showing the asymmetrically placed fire balconies and no ornament—as if the building were an International Style design.
George E. Thomas, "1616 Walnut Street", [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-PH75.
Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, George E. Thomas, with Patricia Likos Ricci, Richard J. Webster, Lawrence M. Newman, Robert Janosov, and Bruce Thomas. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 96-96.
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