5 Highrises with Super-Sized Signs
Images by Chris Hytha
Writing by Mark Houser
Five buildings from the Highrises Collection with incredible signage.
Sometimes it takes extra effort to get noticed and set yourself apart. Nowhere is this more true than in Los Angeles, the city that’s the focus of the latest Highrises release. Here are three Tinseltown towers, each almost a century old, that want you to pay attention to what they have to say. And enjoy two other sign-toting skyscrapers from the Highrises collection that also dreamed of having their name in lights.
Drone photography of the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles, CA from the Highrises Collection
Eastern Columbia Building
Los Angeles, CA
Like a sun-streaked wave cresting on a Malibu beach, this beloved Art Deco landmark shines in turquoise, gold, and cerulean blue. Polish immigrant Adolph Sieroty built a little shop called Eastern Clock Company into a chain of furniture stores called Eastern Outfitters. That explains both the sign and the clock — actually, the four signs and four clocks, since each side of this tower in downtown L.A. is ornamented the same way. The former flagship department store is now a condo complex.
Drone photography of the E. Clem Wilson Building in Los Angeles, CA from the Highrises Collection
E. Clem Wilson Building
(Mutual of Omaha Tower)
Los Angeles, CA
Old billboards never die, they just fade away. That’s what happened to this defunct Samsung sign wrapped around the top of one of the first highrises on Wilshire Boulevard. This tower at the entrance to L.A.’s “Miracle Mile” has also advertised Asahi Beer and Mutual of Omaha over its lifetime. But when it opened in 1930, it wasn’t crowned with a sign at all, just 16 decorative spikes along the roofline, looking like a birthday cake for a teenager hoping their gift this year will be car keys.
Drone photography of the Rosslyn Hotel Annex in Los Angeles, CA from the Highrises Collection
Rosslyn Hotel Annex
Los Angeles, CA
Throngs of tourists arriving by train for their sunny vacation getaway could not miss this advertisement on the roof of what was once the West Coast’s biggest hotel. Even if they did, there was another sign just as big on the sister property across the street. The Rosslyn Hotel was built by brothers George and Dwight Hart, which explains the heart logo. Look closely to spot the light globes along the roofline of the building, which also glowed at night.
Drone photography of the PSFS Building in Philadelphia, PA from the Highrises Collection
PSFS Building
(Loews Philadelphia Hotel)
Philadelphia, PA
To make a statement and attract tenants to their new office tower, the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society gave America its first International Style skyscraper. The cubist masterpiece of polished granite, limestone, glass, and brick is considered one of the most architecturally important early highrises. The bank is long gone and the building is now a hotel, but the rooftop sign and its 26-foot-tall glowing red letters have been preserved as a city landmark.
Drone photography of the Board of trade Building in Scranton, PA from the Highrises Collection
Board of Trade Building
(Electric Building)
Scranton, PA
Native son Joe Biden and fans of “The Office” know Scranton calls itself the Electric City, and this sign is the main reason why. More than 100 years ago, the illuminated boosterism was put there by one of the building’s main tenants — unsurprisingly, an electric company — and refers to Scranton boasting one of the nation’s first electric trolley lines. Not too far from this sign is a sprawling locomotive museum known as the Steamtown National Historic Site. So which is it, Scranton? Electric City or Steamtown?
The Northeast Collage Poster
Only $19.99
Decorate your space with this 20” x 30” architecture collage poster featuring Highrises from 18 cities across the Northeast, including Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and more. Each image comes from the Highrises collection of high-res artistic composite drone photography digitally enhanced for incredibly detailed views of these attractive antique skyscrapers.
