Evening star., 1931-04-05

~ III
handling money offer the real solution
to our growing crimes, according to
Francis Really, New York architect.
By using glass and steel construction for prac-
tcally the entire wall surfaces so that activities
on the banking floor may be seen from the
street and by confining the banks money
supply to burglar-proof money-exchange room
equipped with pneumatic tubes to the
kellers requirements, this modern architect be-
Ncves the bank crime problem may be solved.
"Our bank designs are for the most part
archaic" says Really. Banking design has
progressed slower than any other type of build
ing know Of. Banks are still depending upon
thick walls. small windows and iron grating
as a of protection and symbol of
strength, whereas the bank, the corner stone of
modern business, should be frankly representa-
tive of this modern age"
Years ago. before the advent of the modern
burglar-proof vault, the thick masonry walls
and heavy iron bars of the building constituted
practically the only protection of the banks
funds both day and night. If robbeTies oc-
CURED they were perpetrated by breaking into
the building, but the modern impregnable vault
eliminates the necessity for the old fortress like
construction.
The problem of bank robbery now concerns
itself largely with the inside daylight hold-up
at the point Of gun. forcing the teller to turn
over the cash on his counter The money
exchange would give the bank funds the
same protection during banking hours as the
present vault affords after closing hours. There
is no reason why bank should depend upon
walls and its bars for protection.
A MoNG interesting architectural exhibits to
be looked forward to at the coming Archi-
tectural and Allied Arts Exposition at which
the Architectural League of New York viii
celebrate its fftieth anniversary, are photo
graphs and drawings OF recent bank buildings
and numerous sketches of proposed bank de-
signs as conceived by leading modern architects
The exhibition will be held from April l8 to 25.
In discussing a bank design which he will
submit, Really refers to number of radical
changes which he proposes TO introduce. Force
Of habit clngs more tenaciously to bank design
than to any other branch of architecture
Really believes: There is no more reason for
the iron grating the bank window today
than there was for the whip-holder on the
first automobile"
This architects proposed design for a bank
goes considerably farther than eliminating the
customary wicketS and cages. Contending that
the tellers business can be conducted from an
ordinary business desk, and that the use of
desks in a banking room to replace the present
counters would produce intimate atmos-
phere and eliminate the formidable aspect
which often makes the bank tomb~like insti-
tuition, he would substitute arrangement of
desks in front of an all-glaSS partition beyond
which space would be provided for the clerical
forces and files. This plan centers around
establishment of burglar proof money
exchange room. This room could be located
either at the rear of the main floor or in the
basement Of the bank-preferably In the base
ment, and in any event protected by every
means known to money storage vaults. Using
vault construction with the best modern equip
ment for artificial light and ventilation, the
money y-exchange room should be planned to
expedite the handling of the pneumatic tubes
by means of which money may be sent to the
tellers' desks upon request. BY Systematically
arranging the money-eXchange room and hav-
ing various amounts of cash readily accessible
to eliminate as much counting as possible
Withdrawals could be handled just as e8pe-
ditiously as at present and the danger of hold
ups could be minimized if not entirely elimi-
mated Really maintains.
BY establishing a burglar-proof money
exchange room, such as the architect proposes,
a banking house might by means Of pneu-
matte tube connections with all it's branches,
handle all the money for its entire organiza-
ton from one central exchange The principle
of transporting money by tube could be applied
still further Tube service could be established
between all member banks of the clearing
house for the rapid and safe transportation of
cash.
THE question of utilizing tubes for carrying
= large sums of money between the Federal
Reserve Bank and various New York banks has
been agitated for some time, it having been
estimated that such a system of inter-
connecting pneumatic tubes would pay for itself
within short time and would greatly facilitate
the speed and safety with which exchanges of
currency and valuable documents could be