KING STREET STATION (1906)
The architects: Charles Reed and Allen Stem, best known for New York’s Grand Central Station
Building: This station features a 250-foot tall clock tower modeled after the Venice Bell Tower in Italy’s St. Mark’s Square. A renovation completed in 2014 revealed ornate ceilings, paneling and mosaic tiling that were hidden after an ill-fated redesign in the 1960s. 303 S Jackson Street; seattle.gov
THE SKINNER BUILDING (1926)
The architect: Robert Reamer, known for the hotels in Yellowstone National Park and Art Deco buildings in Seattle
Building: Harry C. Arthur and Pacific Theaters, the largest theater operator on the West Coast at the time this building was built, commissioned Reamer to create the 5th Avenue Theater – a large Chinese-themed performance space lined with dragon and flower carvings on the inside. *1308 Fifth Avenue; 5thavenue.org
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY (2004)
The architect: Rem Koolhaas, known for glass, modern buildings that play with perspective
Building: The downtown library is a collage of window-lined cathedral ceilings, open workspaces, hidden nooks, and creative corridors — including the Book Spiral, which stacks more than three stories of non-fiction books along a flat, winding ramp. *1000 Fourth Avenue; spl.org
MUSEUM OF POP CULTURE (2000)
formerly Experience Music Project
The architect: Frank Gehry, known for crazy shapes with deep inner logic, including the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Building: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen led this development, fueled by his super fandom of Seattle-born guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Gehry immersed himself in the music of Hendrix and used disassembled electric guitars as inspiration for his design. *325 Fifth Avenue N; mopop.org
