Stop E: Bank of America Short Tower - Building Stone Walking Tour of Uptown Charlotte (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Stop E: Bank of America at 400 South Tryon (formerly Wachovia Center)
South Tryon at 2nd Street
Completed in 1974, this 32 floor (420 feet) office buildingwas designed by Little and Associates in the architectural style known asmodernism (Figure 14).
E1: Exterior pavers
Examine the pavers (trade name often “Baltic Brown”) infront of the Bank of America Building at the corner of South Tryon and 2nd Streetand you will see a distinctive granite that features round mineral grains knownas rapakivi whose formation have puzzled igneous petrologists for decades(Figure 15). Typical rapakivi texture is a mixture of variously mantled (thatis to say rimmed), non-mantled or partly mantled, concentrically zoned,plastically distorted, fragmented, re-aggregated, large and small distinctly roundminerals (ovoids). Commonly the ovoids themselves are orthoclase feldspar whichmay be mantled by plagioclase. Some ovoids display remarkable sphericity andare often mis-labeled as orbicular. The compositional and textural zoning ofeach ovoid is thought to reflect its history of crystallization related totemperature and pressure changes within the melt that produced the overallrock. The mantling is thought to occur during the reduction of pressureaccompanying the emplacement of the magma into the country rock. Who in yourgroup can find the largest ovoid?
E2: Exteriortravertine planters, pavers and walls
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited rapidly byspring water with a high mineral content (Figure 16). It often has a fibrous or layered appearancesuch as those visible here, and it occurs in white, tan and cream (here)colored varieties. In caves it can formstalactites and stalagmites. It is frequently used as a decorative buildingmaterial. Take a close look at all of the voids and small layers visible in thecut stone and imagine the centuries and millennia of mineral-rich water flowingand bubbling across the surface making this laminated rock.