Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: bank

In March, 2012, a massive graffiti mural was completed on a building opposite King's Cross station. The vivid artwork was commissioned by the building and hotel owner, Tony Megaro. "The idea is basically to bring a bit of fun and colour to a drab stretch of road," said Mr Megaro. "Now when you come out of St Pancras, you’ll think: wow, what’s that?" The prominence and boldness of the painted design on Euston Road is likely to divide opinion, especially as it has been applied to a classically styled building. Bill Reed, a local resident and member of the King’s Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee, said: "It was an attractive building of high quality natural stone and brickwork that has now been knackered with a layer of permanent paint, that, like an unwanted tattoo, will never completely disappear." Mr Megaro denied that it marred or diminished the building and said the work was a colourful enhancement: "When you go to Barcelona you see all the coloured tiles and things like that. I think in this country we tend to be a bit conservative…it’s an impressive building, not an ugly building that we want to camouflage." He said that the design interacted with architectural features and "enhances some of the arches." He added that the work had been thought and executed by four internationally commissioned artists, from the UK, New Zealand, the US and France. The four are members of a street art collective known as "Agents of Change." A key concern of the mural’s critics is what it will look like as it ages and fades. Mr Megaro said it was supposed to last 20 years: "that’s what the paint company guarantees." But Mr Reed, who is also chair of nearby Argyle Square’s Friends’ group, said: "Exterior paintwork needs redecorating eventually, and when it does, this will probably end up a tasteful shade of cream, leaving no trace of either the eye-catching kaleidoscope of transient colour we see now, nor the enduring richness of the materials below that. It’s probably quite amazing for people visiting, but people who live around here are going to have to deal with it for a long time," he added. Although in a conservation area, the building itself is not listed, and in Camden the owner of the building does not need to seek planning permission for this type of change. It highlights the different regulation in central London boroughs – Westminster appears to require permission for murals. In case you're curious, this is what the building looked like before the mural was painted:

Pulaski is a small village (population 2200) located in the eastern portion of Oswego County, three miles east of Lake Ontario. It was settled in 1804. The early settlers were attracted to the area by the bounti-ful forests and the abundant water power for mills. In addition, the Salmon River was a source of fresh water salmon which became an important commodity in trading. When Pulaski was finally incorporated as a village in 1832 there were numerous saw mills, shingle mills, and wood-working establishments. The dense forests, however, hindered travel and there were no convenient trails from Oswego to Pulaski. Therefore, when the county was created in 1816 it became one of the few half-shire counties in the state. Pulaski became the seat for government in the east while Oswego governed the western half of the county. The great fire of 1881 destroyed nearly all of the central portion of the town. Within a year, however, the merchants rebuilt their businesses in varied designs but predominantly in the Italianate style. The entire two-block commercial area is characterized by two and three story brick buildings decorated with heavy bracketed cornices, wide friezes, corbelling, elaborate lintels and arched windows. A majority of the buildings in the district have cornices and lintels formed by corbelled brick, but some possess iron cornices, lintels and sills manufactured at the Ontario Iron Works in Pulaski. In places the regularity of the streetscape is interrupted by highly decorative round-arched friezes and cornices topped with finials. Many of the commercial buildings on Jefferson Street retain their original storefronts. Two of the structures in the district which were built after the fire were designed by the prominent regional architect, Archimedes Russell. Russell practiced in the central New York area from 1862 until 1915. The Kallet movie theater is compatible in scale with the historic district and was designed by Milo Folley of the Syracuse architectural firm of Sargent, Webster, Crenshaw, and Folley. The polychromatic facade of pastel-colored Carrara glass placed in a geometric pattern is characteristic of the Art Deco style. Although the auditorium has been divided in two, the original storefronts on the building remain intact. The Pulaski Village Historic District is architecturally and historically significant as one of the most intact collections of nine-teenth and early twentieth century residential and commercial buildings in northern New York. Today, Pulaski continues to serve as the commercial hub for the surrounding farm area. The salmon industry is reviving and the village is seeking to attract tourists to the community. There is a high degree of pride among the people of Pulaski and an awareness of the architectural heritage which survives in their historic district.

Pulaski is a small village (population 2200) located in the eastern portion of Oswego County, three miles east of Lake Ontario. It was settled in 1804. The early settlers were attracted to the area by the bounti-ful forests and the abundant water power for mills. In addition, the Salmon River was a source of fresh water salmon which became an important commodity in trading. When Pulaski was finally incorporated as a village in 1832 there were numerous saw mills, shingle mills, and wood-working establishments. The dense forests, however, hindered travel and there were no convenient trails from Oswego to Pulaski. Therefore, when the county was created in 1816 it became one of the few half-shire counties in the state. Pulaski became the seat for government in the east while Oswego governed the western half of the county. The great fire of 1881 destroyed nearly all of the central portion of the district. Within a year, however, the merchants rebuilt their businesses in varied designs but predominantly in the Italianate style. The entire two-block commercial area is characterized by two and three story brick buildings decorated with heavy bracketed cornices, wide friezes, corbelling, elaborate lintels and arched windows. A majority of the buildings in the district have cornices and lintels formed by corbelled brick, but some possess iron cornices, lintels and sills manufactured at the Ontario Iron Works in Pulaski. In places the regularity of the streetscape is interrupted by highly decorative round-arched friezes and cornices topped with finials. Many of the commercial buildings on Jefferson Street retain their original storefronts. Two of the structures in the district which were built after the fire were designed by the prominent regional architect, Archimedes Russell. Russell practiced in the central New York area from 1862 until 1915. The Kallet movie theater is compatible in scale with the historic district and was designed by Milo Folley of the Syracuse architectural firm of Sargent, Webster, Crenshaw, and Folley. The polychromatic facade of pastel-colored Carrara glass placed in a geometric pattern is characteristic of the Art Deco style. Although the auditorium has been divided in two, the original storefronts on the building remain intact. The Pulaski Village Historic District is architecturally and historically significant as one of the most intact collections of nine-teenth and early twentieth century residential and commercial buildings in northern New York. Today, Pulaski continues to serve as the commercial hub for the surrounding farm area. The salmon industry is reviving and the village is seeking to attract tourists to the community. There is a high degree of pride among the people of Pulaski and an awareness of the architectural heritage which survives in their historic district.

The First National Bank and Trust Company of Western Maryland was originally chartered as the Cumberland Bank of Alleghany by an act of the 1811 Maryland legislature and opened for business on April 1,1812. This is the oldest bank in western Maryland and the second oldest national bank in the state. Local architect Bruce Price designed this main banking house in the German Byzantine-Romanesque style and was completed c1893. It was then occupied by the former second National bank of Cumberland until 1963.

"As I walk along the Bois Boolong With an independent air, You can hear the girls declare 'He must be a millionaire!' You can hear them sigh and wish to die, You can see them wink the other eye – At the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo." - Written and Composed by Fred Gilbert in 1892

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With a name like this, they'd better be solvent!