313 W 57th St, New York

This is a great little survivor and it does surprise me that small buildings like this survive in New York City where the skyscraper is king. They do survive however and the city is richer for what they add to the streescape.

Mont Clair, Darlinghurst

This fabulous brickwork belongs to Mont Clair in Darlinghurst in inner Sydney.

A detailed Heritage Study completed in 200o by Rod Howard Heritage Conservation Pty Ltd indicates that the block was designed in 1937 by architect firm Esmond B Wiltshire & Hodges.

The newly constructed flats were featured in Decoration and Glass, August 1938 where many of the internal features are highlighted including the Bent Glass used in the curved windows of the facade.

Piscine Rosemont

The swimming pool in the Montreal suburb of Rosemont is an Art Deco gem.

Deco panels above and below the windows. A great little flagpole and scalloped metalwork around the roofline.

In my opinion, the best feature is the relief panel showing a swimmer diving through the water.

Phylstan, St Kilda East

This is Phylstan, a streamline house in St Kilda East.

I like the use of contrasting dark brown bricks for the base of the house and as decoration in two bands around the roofline. The stepped chimney is also constructed from these dark bricks and the two-tone decoration is continued in the low wall surrounding the front garden.

To the right of the entrance the house has a beautiful curve and a curved glass window which I assume looks out from the loungeroom.

The curve is echoed in the concrete shelter of the porch which also bears an interesting design of repeating semi-circles which is reminiscent to woodwork I have seen on the verandahs of older Victorian and early Edwardian weatherboard houses in inner other inner Melbourne suburbs.

At the rear of the house there is this matching double garage. A planning permit sign attached to the fence indicates a proposed extension including the demolition of the garage. Which is a shame.

McTavish Apartments, Montreal

McTavish Apartments were built in 1941 on the site of the home of the Lyman family, Thornhill Mansion. They were designed by architect Charles Grenier.

The building is now part of Montreal's McGill University and is used for academic rather than residential purposes.

The apartments feature maritime elements such as metal-railed balconies and porthole windows with embedded square panels which for ventilation.

Along the McTavish Street facade the windows facing onto the balconies use glass bricks, presumably for privacy and the setback entrance also has porthole windows with glass bricks above the door.

Inside there is a small foyer with a green and yellow gingham pattern on the floor and a pair of fantastic handrails either side of a short flight of steps leading to the central core of the building.

The main stairs for the building wind around this semi-circular stairwell.

The maritime theme reoccurs in the colourful relief on the wall in the foyer. This wonderful sight greets you as you first walk into the building. Ancient mariners accompanied by an albratros or other large seabird looked over by a horse-borne goddess. A superb design.

Traffic Islands, Golf Links Estate, Camberwell

The Golf Links Estate in Camberwell is a wonderful collection of interwar houses but when I visited a week or so ago I was taken by the these small traffic islands.

I saw two and as you can see they are triangular in shape with a round light on a concrete support in the middle of the island.

The streets in the estate are quite narrow by today's standards and it is good to see that the traffic islands have survived where surely there would have been pressure to shrink them to aid the flow of cars through the intersection.

El Sonia, St Kilda East

El Sonia in St Kilda East is wonderful mish-mash of deco styles.

A central entrance tower with glass bricks, two Art Deco decorative panels, El Sonia spelt out in cursive metal work and flanked by two small rounded balconies.

Two original garages with wooden doors and small windows and maybe with the move to a greener world cars might fit through those narrow openings once more.

Then there is that almost clumsy square open balcony above one of the garages not to mention the conventional (but practical for Melbourne's weather) pitched tile roof.

If you look carefully on the nearest rounded balcony you'll see, alongside the Australian flag, a Geelong FC flag. Deep in enemy territory, so to speak, but Australian Rules Football, in general, is not like that.

Congratulations to Geelong in the Grand Final yesterday. They have been an awesome team over the past three years.

For St Kilda - heaven can wait.

Carn the Saints