The Archi - November 2011 - Alpha Rho Chi

From Cattle to Coinage
(and Beyond)
The Evolution of Our Financial System
and the Buildings That House It
Based on a new book by Homer L. Williams, FAIA, Anthemios Alumnus
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
18
From Cattle
to Coinage
(and Beyond)
Banks sure seem to be in the
news a lot these days, what with the
ongoing financial crisis. But Homer
Williams, for one, seems confident
that our nation’s banking system
will emerge from the crisis stronger
than ever.
And Williams is well versed on
the subject. As principal of Williams,
Spurgeon, Kuhl, and Freshnock
Architects (WSKF) in North
Kansas City, Missouri, Williams has
more than four decades of experience
in the design of more than one
hundred bank and financial service
projects, and he recently published
a book with Wiley & Sons on the
design of financial institutions.
While the book focuses primarily
on the pragmatic aspects of bank
design, it also delves into the history
of banking and the structure of
our financial system.
According to Williams, the first
“banks” probably originated in the
third millennium BC—in the form of
temples. At temples “people could
exchange items such as cattle,
implements, or precious metals,
before the use of coins,” Williams
explains in Building Type Basics for
Banks and Financial Institutions.
“When coins of precious metals
began to be used as payment,
‘money changers’ were those who
understood the relative value of
various coins and could provide the
means for a desired exchange.”
Banking has seen its share of
ups and downs over the centuries.
“Banking declined in medieval
Europe,” says Williams, “because
of religious opposition to ‘usury,’
which is the collection of interest
added to a loaned amount. The
renaissance brought a revival of
banking, most prominently in Italy
where Marco Polo had introduced
a trade route to the east, and with
that, its exotic products. In the
fourteenth century, the famous
banking houses in Venice and Florence
brought about the modern
practice of banking.” Williams
points out that the English word
bank derives from the Italian banco,
meaning “bench”—the tables
where early banking transactions
occurred.
“As trade increased and more
people traveled greater distances
to exchange goods,” says Williams,
“the need for an accurate means
of monetary measure increased as
well.” Plus, coins were “unwieldy to
carry in large numbers.” Over time,
people began using paper money.
“In England, the safekeeping
of precious coins or objects was
entrusted to goldsmiths,” explains
Williams, noting that goldsmiths
had the only safe storage vaults.
Williams’ new book is intended
to guide architects, planners,
engineers, and their clients
through all aspects of the design
of banking facilities.
“Their customers knew that was
how the goldsmiths kept safe their
valuables and began to ask if their
own could be kept in the smiths’
vaults as well. Written receipts
allowed both customers and the
goldsmiths to know what was
stored at a given time. Soon, customers,
and then the goldsmiths,
began to exchange these written
receipts, instead of the actual
stored items.” The practice spread,
and in 1694 the Bank of England
was chartered and granted permission
to issue its own notes.
In the United States, banking
developed relatively late. “The
economy in colonial America was
principally agricultural,” notes Wil-
The Archi
November 2011