Central Block with Wings
The central block with wings is characterized by a facade generally two to four stories high with a projecting center section and subordinate flanking units that are at least half as wide and are often much wider. All three parts may read as a single mass, with a projecting centerpiece in the form of a classical portico, or as three related masses with the central one extending both out from and above the wings. The origins of the type can be traced to the villas of the 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Since that time, this three-part composition has been used in a great variety of ways to accommodate diverse functions. In the United States it was employed as early as the 1730s for some large houses. Broader application became widespread at the turn of the 19th century with the emergence of neoclassicism. Over the next 150 years the type was used most extensively for public and institutional buildings. However, during the first three decades of the 20th century, it was also used for many banks. In such cases, the mid-section almost always takes the form of a classical portico and the wings tend to be slightly less wide. Historical references are mostly free interpretations of 17th- and 18th-century architecture in England and France. (Longstreth, 1987, 2000 )