Dominion Court, Durban

Dominion Court in the Grey St or Indian area of Durban harks back to South Africa being part of the British Empire. A nearby building is called Empire Court.

The building has several Art Deco features. A flagpole with a nice example of a rule of three decoration at the base.

The central panel below the second storey balconies bears a stylised sunburst that could also represent the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. The bays either side are decorated with a tapering horizontal stepped design.

Dominion Court has seen better days but with a bit of work could become a very stylish building once again.

Office Building, Twickenham

I snapped this Art Deco office building in Twickenham in 2003 when this fabulous clock tower attracted my attention.

I know nothing about the building but from the decoration I suspect it was associated with a local Electric Board or and Electrical Showroom.

A relief above the door shows a disembodied hand perhaps generating or conducting electrical waves to transmission lines.

Other reliefs on the building are less ambiguous clearly showing a lit electric light globe.

Co-Op Building, Woolwich

This is the former Co-Op department store in Woolwich. I took these photos in 2003 so I can only imagine that the building has deteriorated further since then.

I see on the We Love Woolwich that the building is earmarked for demolition by Greenwich Council to make way for the Woolwich Triangle re-development.

I hate to see a building like this demolished when it could become a landmark feature of the redevelopment and provide a tanigible link to the past use of the site.

Please sign the online petition to Save the Woolwich Co-Op building and hopefully we will see this beautiful building occupied and operational again.

Birch Room, French Embassy, Ottawa

This is the so-called Birch Room at the French Embassy in Ottawa. I say so-called because officially this is Le Fumoir or the Smoking Room.

The astounding thing about this room is that Eugene Beaudouin had the walls and ceiling covered with white birch bark giving the room an alternate name and creating the effect shown below.

Intercontinental Hotel, Chicago

The Chicago Intercontinental Hotel at 505 North Michigan Avenue was built in 1929 but back then it was the Medinah Athletic Club, designed by Walter W Ahlschlager for the Shrine Organisation.

It became a hotel towards the end of WWII when in the mid 1930s the Shrine Organisation were not been able to keep the building due to the affects of the 1929 Stock Market crash and it was used for various purposes during the intervening years.

The external decoration includes this Assyrian inspired frieze and a group of three warriors several floors above it.

Westhope, Tulsa

Frank Lloyd Wright designed Westhope in 1929 for his cousin Richard Lloyd Jones.

The house is constructed from concrete blocks but unlike some of Wright's concrete block houses in Los Angeles, Westhope has large expanses of glass and has a very bright and airy feeling inside.

In particular I love the stepped glass nook that Wright has created in the windows shown from outside in the photo at the top of this post and then from inside in the final picture.

Other Links:
Tulsa Preservation Commission
Tulsa Gentleman
Galen R Frysinger

Bass Museum of Art, Miami

The Bass Museum of Art in Miami South Beach started life as the Miami Beach Public Library and Art Center in 1930.

The building was designed by Russell Pancoast who was a grandson of Miami Beach pioneer John A Collins.

In the 1960s the City of Miami Beach accepted the at collection of John and Johanna Bass and the Bass Museum of Art was established.

The building includes decoration featuring seabirds such as this panel with a pelican and a series of 3 seagulls at each corner.

Glen Alpine, Vredehoek

This absolutely fabulous Art Deco block of flats is Glen Alpine in the Cape Suburb of Vredehoek.

Dating from 1939, Glen Alpine was designed by architect Dawood Jacobs.

The location is spectacular, in the foothills of Table Mountain overlooking downtown Cape Town.