Walter Gropius and Robert Murphy
Orlando, Orange County, Florida
Marker Inscription
Orlando's Round Building This 20' tall pre-cast concrete architectural element is one of the surviving segments of the 120 pieces that formed the "Brise Soleil" curtain wall that wrapped around what was known as "Orlando's Round Building". Located on Orange avenue across from City Hall from 1964-2014, this modernist style building was built for the American Federal Savings and Loan Association. Architect Robert Murphy, a Harvard graduate and student of Walter Gropius (Founder of Bauhaus), designed the building and Frank Sheehy drew the plans. Jack Jennings was the General Contractor.
Erected by City of Orlando
The Story
This twenty-foot concrete piece is a surviving fragment of the "brise-soleil" sunscreen wall that wrapped Orlando's "Round Building," a modernist landmark that stood across from City Hall from 1964 to 2014. The building was designed by architect Robert Murphy, a Harvard graduate who studied under Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus. Its salvaged curtain-wall segment preserves a tangible link to mid-century modern design in central Florida.
Why it matters
It carries the Bauhaus lineage into an American downtown, showing how the modernist ideas that reshaped 20th-century architecture reached even a fast-growing Florida city.
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Related people
- · Robert Murphy
- · Walter Gropius
- · Frank Sheehy
- · Jack Jennings
Themes & tags
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