A House in Ararat

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

Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

A House in Hamilton

A weatherboard house in Hamilton, Victoria with great deco porch and a lovely, mature, garden. Number 17, I believe. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

The Murrumbidgee Irrigator, Leeton

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

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RSL, Seymour

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

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Rose Court, Sea Point

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.

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The Chalet, Hamilton

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.
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Salvation Army Family Store, Leeton

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.

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Grand Central Terminal Entrance, Graybar Building, NYC

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.
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Equinox Entrance, Graybar Building, NYC

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
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Entrance, Graybar Building, NYC

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.

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Ebrahim Court, Durban

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.

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A House in Hamilton

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.
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St John's Court, Perth

St John's Court, Perth

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Bordeaux Court, Sea Point

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.

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Education Building, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bartlesville

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.

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Herschel Court, Sea Point

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.
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Beach Patrol Headquarters, Miami

An iconic deco styled building in that most iconic of deco towns, Miami. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Murrumbidgee Irrigation Building, Griffith

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.

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Water Treatment Plant, near Yenda

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.
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Shops & Flats, Durban

This Art Deco building housing 3 shops with flats on the upper floors is in Victoria Street, Durban. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Shops, Hobart

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. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Pyrene Building, Brentford

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.

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Delano Hotel, Miami

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.

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Child Health Centre, Beverley

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. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Temple Emanu-El, Miami

This is the Temple Emanu-El, the synagogue for Miami South Beach. It dates from 1947 and was designed by Albert Anis & Charles Greco.

Reference:
Miami Beach Architectural Guide, 2003, Miami Design Preservation League Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Portland Print, Portland

This modest shop is in Portland, in western Victoria and, while there is some Art Deco elements in the brick work of the shopfront, it is the arrangement of the angled main windows, set-back door and the windows above the door that set this building apart from other shops.
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A House in Somerton Park

This is a house in the Adelaide suburb of Somerton Park. It has many deco features. Curved walls and windows on the second storey, metal railings and glass brick walls at the entrance. I can't tell if it is new or old or a bit of both. Regardless, the front wall is really nice. I like it a lot. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Tuppel Hotel, Finley

The Tuppel Hotel is a big traditional country pub in Finley, New South Wales. Often country pubs have deep verandahs at street level and an open balcony above but the Art Deco style Tuppel just has a cantilevered verandah proving shade for the footpath but offers no balcony space for drinkers.

The building combines horizontal bands in the brickwork with darker coloured bricks provide columns and fins at the central upper storey windows.
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Former State Savings Bank, Portland

I assume from the name on this building that it is a former branch of the State Savings Bank of Victoria. And with a For Lease sign in the window it appears that the Old State Bank Gallery has moved on also. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

A House in Camberwell

This house is on the Golf Links Estate in Camberwell, Melbourne. It has an interesting double porch and balcony arrangement at the front door. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Fountain Coffee Shop Sign, San Francisco

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Target Country, Hamilton

This impressive metal lettering spelling out the word IMPORTERS belongs to, what is now, the Target Country store in Gray Street, Hamilton. It possibly dates from the time when the building was owned by David Laidlow & Co (who also owned Millers Department Store which was next door in Gray Street).
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Cenotaph, Griffith

Seventy-one years ago today, the cenotaph in Griffith, NSW was dedicated. It is no accident that the days coincide. Anzac Day, 25th April, is one of the most observed days in Australia. As the numbers of actual veterans of war have declined over the years I think the commemoration of those killed during conflict has become stronger. The waste of life on all sides has come into sharper focus and while we honour their memory, their are possibly moe people opposed to war today than at any point in our history.

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Hamilton Railway Station

The railway came to Hamilton in the 1870s long before the Art Deco period but obviously something happened in that interwar period and they built a new entrance to the station.

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Town Hall, Numurkah

The Town Hall in Numurkah was designed by Melbourne architects A C Leith & Bartlett. It was constructed in 1938 by builder L L Bode of Seymour.

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Danger - High Tension - Melbourne

Just to prove that I do take photos of things other than buildings I present thi old sign on a telegraph pole warning of the danger of high tension wires.

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Kinnaird Building, Numurkah

The date on this pair of shops in Numurkah, in rural Victoria, indicates that someone called Kinnaird established a business in the area in 1879. No doubt this is true but this particular building is aboyt 50 years younger than that. Read More Building Pictures: June 2012

Derwent Valley Council Chambers, New Norfolk

The Derwent Valley Council Chambers in New Norfolk, near Hobart, date from 1935. The year is, unusually, on the side of the building but more about that later.

The decoration is minimal but illustrates the rule of three deco principle perfectly.

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Commonwealth Bank, Leeton

In New South Wales, during the Depression, the Government Savings Bank was amalgamated with the Commonwealth Bank.

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Cintra, Sea Point

Cintra (1943), Sea Point

Reference:
Art Deco Architecture Cape Town Map, The Cape Art Deco Society, 2003 Read More Building Pictures: June 2012