Pennsylvania Power and Light Building (Allentown, Pennsylvania)

 office building, skyscraper, Art Deco (architecture), 1928_construction

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The PPL Building is the tallest building in Allentown. The building has 23 stories and is 322 feet tall. It is the second tallest building in the Lehigh Valley after Bethlehem's Martin Tower. It is located at the intersection of Hamilton and Ninth Streets in the downtown area of the city.

The building is often uniquely illuminated at night, especially during the Christmas season. During the 1960s, Pennsylvania Power & Light Company supported the local United Fund community fund drive program by using the building's brightly lit windows at night to spell out the abbreviation "U.F." to remind area residents to contribute to the fund drive.

The PPL Building was built from 1926 to 1928. It was built by the PPL corporation and to this day has been the headquarters of the company. The building was designed by architect and skyscraper pioneer Harvey Wiley Corbett (who would later have a hand in designing New York's Rockefeller Center) and was supervised by his assistant, Wallace Harrison (who would later design Lincoln Center, LaGuardia Airport and the U.N. Headquarters Building).

The building exterior features bas reliefs by Alexander Archipenko. In 1930, the PPL Building was named the "best example of a modern office building" by Encyclopedia Britannica, and also featured the world's fastest elevator.

usmodernist.org/AMAR/AMAR-1928-01-03.pdf