Friday, March 4, 2011

Ararat Hotel, Ararat

Ararat Hotel, AraratThe Ararat Hotel, in Barkly Street, Ararat was built around the end of 1939 or the start of 1940. It must have caused quite a stir when it arrived in rural Victoria just a war was starting.

The main features are the large fins supporting the curved balconies about the main doorway.

Also there is a decorative Art Deco panel above each of the windows.

I'll have to go back when it is open and have a beer. All in the name of research, of course, to see if there is any decoration inside.

Ararat Hotel, Ararat

Window Detail, Ararat Hotel, Ararat

Window Detail, Ararat Hotel, Ararat




Reference:

Landmark Disappearing, COUNTRY NEWS. (1939, June 9). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), p9

Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12137293

Posted by David Thompson
Place: ,

9 comments:

  1. ToniMarch 4, 2011 at 6:46 PM

    WOW, isn't that stunning! I bet there was a real love/hate reaction from the locals!

    I love the horizontal lines, too -- now there must be a name for those?

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  2. HelsMarch 5, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    Great find! The fins are quite like vertical blade on almost all Deco picture theatres except these fins are HUGE. Plus the fins are not just decorative - they seem to be holding up two balconies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. David ThompsonMarch 5, 2011 at 6:37 PM

    Thanks Helen & Toni.

    It's a shame the speedlines are partly covered by painted over (?) Carlton Draught signs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susan DeMarkMarch 7, 2011 at 2:28 AM

    Wonderful piece. Those fins make it seem like the building will take off in motion!

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  5. David ThompsonMarch 7, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    Thanks Susan. A different scale, of course, but I think the Ararat Hotel shows just how widely the Art Deco style was adopted from Europe to New York and rural Australia.

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  6. Thomas RyanMarch 8, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    An interesting building, I don't think I recall seeing curves jutting out that far in a Modernist building before, it's what makes the Modernist period so interesting, there is always something out of the ordinary to grab ones attention.

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  7. David ThompsonMarch 9, 2011 at 9:03 AM

    Thanks Thomas, the architects from the Modernist period, I think more than at any time before, were able to take elements from around the world and modify and adapt them to their own designs so they form a recognisable style within a wide variety of buildings.

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  8. AnonymousMarch 9, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    I grew up in Ararat and remember kids from my class selling the Herald to hotel patrons as they left to go home. I never went inside myself, but I think my dad had a beer or two there :)

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  9. David ThompsonMarch 9, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    Thanks bookgrrl. I'm sure a lot of Ararat dads had a beer or two there :)

    ReplyDelete

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