Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

When I was in Leeton for their Art Deco Festival earlier this month I got a tip that nearby Yenda had some Art Deco buildings. It's about a 50 minute drive from Leeton to Yenda which by Australian standards IS nearby although it is closer to Griffith which also has some nice deco and modernist buildings.

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

I hope you can see why I really, really like the Yenda Cafe. Firstly it has a classic deco element right in the centre of the slightly stepping roofline.Then there is the lettering ... full-on deco and no doubting where in the world we are.

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

And how about those serations on the top corners. I can't describe them simply as stepping because they are so much more than that. Notice also that the metal rods that hold up the verandah are mounted on a small shield, such attention to detail.

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

On either side of the door there are these glass display cases. I'd just seen similar but slightly more ornate ones at a shop in Leeton. Both buildings also had the same vents below the front shop windows so perhaps there were designed or built by the same person.

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

The Yenda Cafe could be a very classy venue in any city in the world so it is a real shame that it is vacant, not looking its best and perhaps with no chance of rehabilitation. Yenda is a small place and I don't know that it can support a cafe or a shop of any kind. There is another vacant deco shop within 50 metres and, no joke, I only saw three people and a small dog. Perhaps everyone else was in the pub watching the footy.

Yenda Cafe, Yenda

Posted by David Thompson
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9 comments:

  1. Beautifully shot! It is still a fine building - hopefully someone will restore it some day.

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  2. a new future for you running a Cafe in Yenda?
    It is fabulous - fine simplicity and beautiful details

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  3. Thank you Sam. Beacuse it is off the main road, it needs someone to make it a destination so people especially seek it out and generate some word of mouth because otherwise noone is going to know it exists.

    Hmmm, I don't think a cafe in Yenda is for me, Janet, even one that looks as good as this.

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  4. I love the way you've presented this series because one of the things about art deco buildings like this is that at first glance, they look rather utilitarian but reward closer inspection.

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  5. Thank you Bill. One of the things that appeals to the Art Deco period for me is that it marks the changeover from individual artisans to mass production and the widespread use of new materials such as concrete in construction and plastics in manufacturing. So you still get the variations in design and attention to detail that an craftsperson can bring but also the simplicity of design required for more efficient production.

    I really like photographing the details and testing my companion's patience as I zoom in for yet another detail or look for another angle to shoot a building. In Melbourne Art Deco, Robin Grow, laid out one of the chapters as The Devil is in the Details and we had a lot of fun photographing and then choosing the details to feature.

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  6. That's interesting David. I love artdecobuildings but I suppose when you look at buildings one by one, it perhaps doesn't give the lay reader like me the bigger Art Deco moderne picture. So I liked this commentary.

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  7. Thnaks Janet. Of course there are many things that influenced Art Deco and its development over time. Some good some bad.

    Skyscrapers blocking the light in NYC led to a city ordinance that they must be 'stepped' to allow the sun to right street level.

    Fascists wanted strong bold shapes.

    Howard Carter's discovery of the virtually intact Tutankhamum's tomb reignighted the 'egyptomania' craze and probably led to architects looking to their own (and other) country's heritage, flora and fauna for decortion of buildings (and objetcs) so we have maori designs in NZ and kangaroos, koalas & platypus in Australia, mayan and aztec designs just about everywhere and elephants on a menswear chain in the UK!

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  8. Stumbled upon your post accidentally, I'm a fan of art deco architecture and this vacant cafe is architecturally a very well designed structure. I especially like the lettering and the awning.

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  9. Thanks Heather. I hope you stick around and enjoy some of my other posts.

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