Wenceslao Alfonso Sarmiento (September 28, 1922[1] – 24 November 2013[2]), also known as W.A. Sarmiento, was a Peruvian-born American modernist architect.[3]

Wenceslao Sarmiento
Sarmiento in 1958
BornSeptember 28, 1922
Peru
DiedNovember 24, 2013 (aged 91)
Santa Monica, California
Other namesW.A. Sarmiento
OccupationArchitect
PracticeSarmiento Associates
BuildingsFirst Security Bank Building, Phoenix Financial Center

Sarmiento studied in various locations in South America, for eighteen months in the office of Oscar Niemeyer, before coming to the United States. In 1951 while visiting his sister-in-law in Missouri he rear ended an architect who worked for the St. Louis based Bank Building & Equipment Corporation of America. He was hired soon after and served as the head designer for the corporation from 1951 through 1961, after which he founded his own sixty-person Sarmiento Associates office based in St. Louis, Missouri. He relocated to Santa Monica California in the 1970s. He retired in 1980.

Sarmiento designed hundreds of banks and other buildings in the postwar years of bank modernization in downtowns, and the construction of new suburban bank towers. His larger work appears as crisp International Style with a visible influence from Niemeyer, perhaps most obvious in his largest project, the 1968 Phoenix Financial Center on Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. The smaller branch banks tend to be more playful, eye-catching, Googie projects.

Sarmiento lived in Santa Monica, California and was still active in the preservation of his buildings until his death in 2013.

Phoenix Financial Center, Phoenix, Arizona

Major works

First Security Bank, Salt Lake City, Utah
Western Savings, Phoenix, Arizona now Tombstone Tactical

References

Great Western Savings Bank building, Panorama City California, by architect W.A. Sarmiento.
Another view of the Phoenix Financial Center, Phoenix, Arizona
  1. ^ "Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)". washington.edu. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  2. ^ Nichols, Chris (2 December 2013). "Mid Century Master Architect W.A. Sarmiento Dies At 91". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  3. ^ Hess, Alan (2004). Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture. Chronicle Books. p. 58.
  4. ^ "History of the BB&ECA". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  5. ^ a b "Newport Balboa Savings". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  6. ^ "First Security Bank". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  7. ^ "American Investment Co. of Illinois". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  8. ^ "Jefferson Bank & Trust". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  9. ^ "4 Apr 1957, 3 - St. Louis Globe-Democrat at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  10. ^ "Ohio Mid-Century Modern Banks | RoadsideArchitecture.com". www.roadarch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
  11. ^ "The Firestone Bank". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  12. ^ "Glendale Federal S&L". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  13. ^ "Security Federal Savings & Loan". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  14. ^ "Security Federal S&L". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  15. ^ "Phoenix Financial Center". Defining Downtown at Mid-century. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  16. ^ "Sarmiento Architects". Emporis. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "135 N Meramec 1968 build pic". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  18. ^ "US Bank Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021.
  19. ^ "3 Dec 1972, Page 56 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  20. ^ "6 Dec 1976, Page 11 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  21. ^ "Missouri Mid-Century Modern Office Buildings | RoadsideArchitecture.com". www.roadarch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
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