This is a subtle beauty found at 346 Franklin Street.  It is so subtle that it is easy to ignore. This is partly because it is so minimal in its detailing tending toward plain. Also this stretch of street has been mostly decimated by parking lots.   Auto-centric landscapes tend to deaden our senses and lessen our interest in our surroundings so a building like this one can easily be thought of as an unimportant left over.  The building appears to be in great shape and there are still several other great buildings remaining along this stretch of Franklin, which is a gateway of sorts to Allentown. 

For these reasons I am confident that these few blocks will once again be a part of a vibrant urban neighborhood.  To accomplish that transformation, great buildings like this need to be recognized and cherished.  It was for buildings like this one that I published my book  www.buffbuildings.com . The media mostly pays attention to the major monuments so that in general the public thinks that it is only the monuments that count when talking preservation.  In reality, the everyday great buildings are what really count.  A city of monuments only is not a city at all. 

So why do I like this building?  I love its bold angular form.  It is very reminiscent of Chicago type of architecture.  I would not be surprised if this was designed at the hand of a Chicago architect.  I love the beautiful long Roman brick with its rich texture of color the incredible lacy brick cornice.  I love the way the first floor is very modern and open in contrast to the massiveness of the upper floors.  The first floor is almost all glass, supported on a series of stone columns.  Finally I love the quirky entry.  This is another element that is very Chicago.  Instead of the obvious grand central axis entry, we have here a single special column with the entry offset to the left.  This is a wonderfully subtle detail that is easy to miss. For years I passed this building without a second thought.  Once I noticed it I was blown away.