Textron Tower, Providence

Textron Tower, originally known as Old Stone Tower, is a 23-storey modernist office building designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, the firm associated with the Empire State Building. Sources differ on its completion date, with 1969 and 1972 both appearing in architectural records. Rising 311 feet, it became part of the major commercial building boom that reshaped the local skyline during the late 20th century.

The exterior is formed by a rigid concrete grid containing deeply recessed, dark windows. Its elevated, set-back podium has been criticised for disconnecting the tower from street activity. Its heavy concrete form has divided opinion, and Business Insider named it Rhode Island’s “ugliest skyscraper” in 2020, comparing its repeated grid pattern to prison architecture.

The building houses the private world headquarters of Textron Inc. The company was founded by Royal Little in 1923 as Special Yarns Corporation and later produced military parachutes during the Second World War. Its present name combines “Tex,” referring to textiles, with the fashionable “-tron” suffix associated with synthetic materials such as Lustron. The interior is not generally open to tourists, but the façade and raised podium can be viewed from nearby public areas.