Commonwealth Bank, Leeton

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

For Leeton, in rural NSW, this meant that their 1921 Government Savings Bank by Sydney architects Ross & Rowe became a branch of the Commonwealth Bank. That was in December 1931 and by the end of the decade the new owners had made some alterations in Art Deco style. There have been more changes since then it remains a very stylish building.

Reference:
Leeton ~ Yanco ~ Whitton - Heritage Trails booklet, Leeton Shire Council, 2011
(Available for free download from www.leetontourism.com.au/art-deco.html)

Service Station, Yenda

What do we think of this little servo in the rural NSW town of Yenda?

I really like it.

I like the stepped roof line at the side of the building and I like the curved ends of the faded CALTEX signs.

255 & 265 10th Street, San Francisco

This is a pair of deco buildings dating from 1932 in San Francisco's Tenth Street.

The nearer, number 255, has been painted to bring out the Art Deco details and while I have to admit it was the colours that confirmed that this was the next stop on my walk, I think I prefer Number 265, the unpainted twin next door.

Reference:
Deco by the Bay: Art Deco Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area ~ Michael F Crowe

Apartments, Euclid Avenue, Miami

We are so used to seeing pastel colours in Miami South Beach that it is nice to see some a primary colour. On this apartment building in Euclid Avenue it is a red roofline, framing around the windows and the entrance.

I think the red colour fits very well with this particular building because it is different in style to many Miami buildings. Simplier and modernist in style with a large expanse of raw brick.

And next door for comparison we have a more typical Miami apartment block painted in typical Miami shades.

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.

I wouldn't call it deco but I did find the combination of chunks of glass interspersed with the irregular blocks of stone forming the rest of the wall.

Even the windows are set in the wall as diamonds as if to further enhance the crystaline feeling to the building.

At the corners of the building the glass takes over from the stone creating these point. I can't decide if they are futuristic or prehistoric. It is certainly very organic.

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.

This is Rose Court in Avenue St Denis. Again it has squared-off open balconies atthe corners of the building with deep concrete eyebrows to provide lots of shade.

The entrance is marked by two vertical fins. They rise above the name of the building spelt out in metal letters above the door either side of a series of small square windows providing light for the stairwell.

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.

From memory (and the other photos I have), Bordeaux Court is symetrical with squared-off stepped back sections either side of this central cureved area. The balconies at the corner of the building are open with those on the top shaded by deep concrete eyebrows.

This view from the another angle shows the open balconies and the dramatic setting Bordeaux Court provides for its residents in the shadows of the hills around Cape Town overlooking the ocean.

St John's Court, Perth

St John's Court, Perth