Building Pictures

Apartments, Montevideo

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 18:14:00 +0700

Some parts of Montevideo reminded me of Asmara. There is a Modernist style to the smaller shops and flats that is very reminiscent. Also the colours, not so much the grey like this building, but the pale yellowish colour is here also. It some areas there is also that rundown, lack of maintenance feeling. This is not necessarily a bad thing because it means there is a lot of building stock than can be renovated and restored to something really, really good.

The apartment buildings looked to be in good condition and well looked after.

A House in Ararat

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:56:00 +0700

This sweet little deco house is in the Victorian town of Ararat.

I really like the porthole window near the door. It is framed in the same bricks that have been used in the two lines that run around the entire front of the house.

It is difficult to see in the top photo but the corners of the house are curved and the windows cut across them to creating an interesting effect. I also like the small eyebrow above the window on the right hand side of the house.

A House in Hamilton

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:26:00 +0700

A weatherboard house in Hamilton, Victoria with great deco porch and a lovely, mature, garden. Number 17, I believe.

The Murrumbidgee Irrigator, Leeton

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:40:00 +0700

A series of leadlight window just like this one are tucked in under the verandah 103-107 Pine Avenue, Leeton.

Leeton was first developed as part of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area or the MIA in the early part of the 20th Century so many of the buildings date from that period and many have Art Deco features.

103-107 Pine Avenue was built in 1928 for the local newspaper and it still occupies No 107.

And I think it has one of the best names for a newspaper that I have ever heard ... The Murrumbidgee Irrigator.

Reference:
Art Deco Walking Tour Booklet, Leeton Art Deco Festival, April 1-3 2011, Prepared by Robin Grow, President, Art Deco and Modernism Society

RSL, Seymour

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:19:00 +0700

I spotted this little hall, the Seymour RSL, in the early post-dawn light during a quick stop on the way to Leeton.

At first I thought it was a typical modernist arrangement of rectangular blocks but, as is usually the case, closer inspection reveals a more complex story. There is the use of different coloured bricks creating a dark base for the small entrance foyer and that section of the hall that leads directly off it. A horizontal band runs from the top of that base around the rest of the building. A second band then runs around the whole building at a height just above the door.

Then, strangely perhaps, there is a pure Art Deco feature on the skyline. I don't understand why there is a gap in the element. Perhaps there was something in that gap that has since been removed.

Rose Court, Sea Point

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:34:00 +0700

I really enjoyed dipping into Sea Point yesterday so I decided to stay in Cape Town for today's building, in fact I stayed in Sea Point, ust a few doors up from Bordeaux Court.

This is Rose Court in Avenue St Denis. Again it has squared-off open balconies atthe corners of the building with deep concrete eyebrows to provide lots of shade.

The entrance is marked by two vertical fins. They rise above the name of the building spelt out in metal letters above the door either side of a series of small square windows providing light for the stairwell.

The Chalet, Hamilton

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:05:00 +0700

The Chalet, in Hamilton, was built around 1947 in the effort to eradicate tuberculosis in post Second World War Australia. It was designed by the Public Works Department of Victoria using the principles of similar establishments in Europe. The large bank of north-facing windows allowing maximum exposure to the winter sun bring to mind the sun-deck of Alvar Aalto's 1929 Paimio Sanitorium in Finland.

Reference:
Hamilton - Art Deco & Modernism, Diane Luhrs & Linley Bramall, 2011

Salvation Army Family Store, Leeton

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:26:00 +0700

Wednesday's post on the wonderfully named Leeton local newspaper, the Murrumbidgee Irrigator, drew some interest from Jason at Leeton Tourism so, since I'm on a roll, I decided to feature another building from this surprising NSW Riverina town.

This is 33 Pine Avenue. It was designed by George W A Welch, who seems to have designed a lot of the Art Deco buildings in Leeton. It was built 1935-36.

Obviously the main feature is the stepped roofline and the fin in the centre of the building but the stepping of the verandah at the entrance is unusual. I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Here is Robin Grow from the Art Deco & Modernist Society making that exact point. You can make out the people on the Art Deco walk reflected in the windows. At least I think that is what he was telling them. I was in the middle of the road taking photos.

Reference:
Art Deco Walking Tour Booklet, Leeton Art Deco Festival, April 1-3 2011, Prepared by Robin Grow, President, Art Deco and Modernism Society

Grand Central Terminal Entrance, Graybar Building, NYC

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:52:00 +0700

Quite some time ago I posted a photo of the Art Deco rats on the Graybar Building, NYC.

This is what the whole entrance looks like. You can see the rats crawling up the supports of the canopy over the doors. But also have a look at the heads of various creatures holding the rods for the rest of the canopy and then much higher up two figures, one on each side of the entrance.

Those figures are wonderfully detailled and look a bit Assyrian to me. The one on the left is clutching a globe.

The other one is holding a sea creature.

This entrance, leading to Grand Central Terminal, is one of three along this facade of the Graybar Building. I'll show you the other two over the rest of the week.

Equinox Entrance, Graybar Building, NYC

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:56:00 +0700

This is the second of the three entrances to the Graybar Building in Lexington Avenue, NYC. You'll notice it is very similar to the Grand Central Terminal entrance with the two Ayssrianlike figures. Again each of the figures is holding something. The figure on the left is holding a bird and the one on the right is holding
fire.

On Friday I'll post photos of the Graybar's third entrance.

Entrance, Graybar Building, NYC

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:40:00 +0700

This is the third and final of my posts on the entrances to the Graybar Building along Lexington Avenue. This entrance is in the centre of the building and, I suppose, as the main entrance to the building it is different to the other two entrances.

Firstly there is a flagpole sitting on an extrodinary black, gold and red support with a stylised eagle at the base of the flagstaff. The whole thing really stands out against the gray background of the building.

This entrance is also flanked by two figures but while the figures on the other entrances look like gods or kings, these figures appear to represent the ordinary man. Again, like the other figures, they are richly detailled and each is holding an object but in this case we see modern objects.

One man is holding a telephone.

The other, a truck.

It is also interesting to note that each figure is holding something in their other hand which could be a lantern and these in turn are used to disguise the anchor points for chains that connect to the actual lights either side of the door. A nice way to hide some structural aspects of the decoration.

Ebrahim Court, Durban

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:05:00 +0700

This great little deco building, Ebrahim Court, is in the Indian quarter of Durban.

I really like the strong horizontal feel emanating from the banding at the roof line. Four and a half shops wide and only two tall helps as well.

And while the Art Deco decorative piece breaking the horizontal is good but the star-shaped element above the door is wonderful.

A House in Hamilton

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:22:00 +0700

This is a house in Hamilton in Victoria's Western District. It looks quite plain but there are a couple of features that I really like such as the bars across the main windows on the front room. I can't tell if they are metal or wooden frames but the style does resemble metal windows often found on flats and commercial buildings.

The other feature that I really like is on the curved section of the house. The brickwork at the roof line is castellated incorporating small sections railings in the gaps. It is an unusual feature and I imagine purely decorative since the parapet is not high enough for a roof terrace. Interesting!

St John's Court, Perth

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 19:35:00 +0700

St John's Court, Perth

Bordeaux Court, Sea Point

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:26:00 +0700

I love the contrast between the dark of the trees and the light of the building lit by the South African sun in this photo of Bordeaux Court in Sea Point, Cape Town.

From memory (and the other photos I have), Bordeaux Court is symetrical with squared-off stepped back sections either side of this central cureved area. The balconies at the corner of the building are open with those on the top shaded by deep concrete eyebrows.

This view from the another angle shows the open balconies and the dramatic setting Bordeaux Court provides for its residents in the shadows of the hills around Cape Town overlooking the ocean.

Education Building, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bartlesville

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:50:00 +0700

It is interesting sometimes the buildings that get included on tours during an Art Deco World Congress.

The trip to Bartlesville during the Tulsa World Congress in 2001 included a quick stop at the Redeemer Lutheran Church to see the Education Building dating from 1959 and designed by Bruce Goff.

I wouldn't call it deco but I did find the combination of chunks of glass interspersed with the irregular blocks of stone forming the rest of the wall.

Even the windows are set in the wall as diamonds as if to further enhance the crystaline feeling to the building.

At the corners of the building the glass takes over from the stone creating these point. I can't decide if they are futuristic or prehistoric. It is certainly very organic.

Herschel Court, Sea Point

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 20:37:00 +0700

At the moment I keep getting drawn back to the wonderful Art Deco apartment block in Sea Point, Cape Town.

This is Herschel Court (1938) showing the features you would expect of sun-drenched deco flats. Open balconies with concrete eyebrows providing shade and a white colour-scheme with aqua highlights and reddish window frames.

Herschel Court also features two of these wonderful entrances.

Reference:
Art Deco Architecture Cape Town Map, The Cape Art Deco Society, 2003

Beach Patrol Headquarters, Miami

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:44:00 +0700

An iconic deco styled building in that most iconic of deco towns, Miami.

Murrumbidgee Irrigation Building, Griffith

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Sat, 9 Jun 2012 19:27:00 +0700

These offices in Griffith, NSW, were built for the Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission in the mid 1950s.

The foundation stone was unveiled on 14th December 1956 by the Honourable A G Enticknap, MLA, Minister for Transport and local member for Murrumbidgee. It is set in the brick wall to the left of the doors partly obscured by one of the supports of the canopy over the entrance leading to the conclusion that the porch, and possibly the glass bricks, were added after the original construction.

In the view below you can make out the unfortunate location of the foundation stone but also the lovely arrangement of three small square windows on the side of the tower and the simple flagpole.

Water Treatment Plant, near Yenda

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Fri, 8 Jun 2012 20:40:00 +0700

I know, your eyes are drawn to those two huge bright blue tanks at this water treatment plant near Yenda, NSW, but what about the squat, square concrete structure. Sure, it has some unsympathetic modern additions of PVC pipes but it also has some subtle stepping about two thirds of the way up.

Shops & Flats, Durban

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Fri, 8 Jun 2012 18:10:00 +0700

This Art Deco building housing 3 shops with flats on the upper floors is in Victoria Street, Durban.

Shops, Hobart

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Fri, 8 Jun 2012 16:14:00 +0700

A couple of shops in Hobart that could be so much better looking but the flaking blue paint does nothing for them. I photographed them 5 years ago so hopefully they've been repainted since then.

Pyrene Building, Brentford

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Thu, 7 Jun 2012 20:17:00 +0700

This is the Pyrene Building in what has been dubbed Brentford's 'Golden Mile' of Art Deco factory buildings along the Great West Road. The infamous Firestone Building stood across the road, Gillette Corner is nearby and, what is now the UK Head Office of J C Decaux is next door.

Wallis, Gilbert & Partners designed the Firestone factory around 1928 and the Pyrene Building in the years immediately following that. Then, in the early 1930s they designed one of west London's other deco greats, the Hoover Building.

I can see influences for the Hoover Building in the details Pyrene Building. The curly cue features on the central tower appear at ground level on the Hoover Building but also the colours around the doors and the design of the lamps are also reminiscent of Hoover.

References:
archINFORM - Firestone Tyre Factory
archINFORM - Pyrene Building
archINFORM - Hoover Factory

Delano Hotel, Miami

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Thu, 7 Jun 2012 14:57:00 +0700

This photo shows the Ritz Plaza Hotel (L Murray Dixon, 1940), on the left, and the Delano Hotel (Robert Swartburg, 1947) at Miami South Beach.

I find the façade of the Delano interesting with the angles of the walls providing corner windows to maximise the views from all rooms. From a purely decorative perspective through, the tower with its soaring wings are the stand-out feature of the hotel.

Reference:
Miami Beach Architectural Guide, 2003, Miami Design Preservation League

Child Health Centre, Beverley

noreply@blogger.com (Buyer) — Wed, 6 Jun 2012 19:09:00 +0700

It is not every Child Health Centre that has a Second World War aeroplane in the front yard but that's what seems to be going on in Beverley, Western Australia.

It is, of course, an optical illusion. The plane is part of the Aeronautical Museum & Information Centre next door.