Perhaps the most unusual and notable source of inspiration for European architects was the lowly grain elevator. These hulking structures and their unique features caught the attention of European architects. Walter Gropius, a prominent figure in the International Style movement and founder of the Bauhaus, compared American industrial buildings, including grain elevators, to the “work of the ancient Egyptians” in their overwhelming monumentality. This concrete tower rising outside a kitchenware manufacturer in a Minnesota suburb may seem unremarkable at first glance, but it was the first of its kind in the…
