In the spring of 1957 architects from Charles Luckman Associates were playing around with different schemes for the Prudential Center. In this rendering, found in the Charles Luckman Papers, shows the signature tower as a rectangular slab. (The final design would have a square plan.) There is a wide moat around the tower that would ultimately be trimmed to a narrow channel. The East side of the site (at the right in this picture) features seven residential towers in a landscaped park setting. In this scheme, all of the buildings have uniform, grid-like facades; though this image was meant to show overall feel and site-planning and was not a specific architectural proposal. John Stofko, one of the project architects, wrote a note to Charles Luckman, clipped to the photo, “Do you want me to give this to the Press?” Luckman said no, but that it should be preserved for the file; and it was.
Insuring the City 