Predio E Z??ini, São Paulo

This building in São Paulo has lovely Art Deco motifs along its roofline.

When I'm out and about I often take a photo of the name of the buildings to help to identify them later. Sometimes it is more successful than others.

Can anyone fill in the gaps for me?

Tribunal de Cuentas, Montevideo

This building in the Ciudad Vieja (old city) of Montevideo seems to be occupied by the Tribunal de Cuentas. I'm not sure what that has to do with the friezes representing the four seasons up the façade.

Primavera

Verano

Otono

Inverno

Minas Tênis Clube, Belo Horizonte

The Minas Tênis Clube was established in Belo Horizonte in 1935.

Reference:
Minas Tênis Clube website

Memorial Tower, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

This is the Memorial Tower at the Howard College Campus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. It was designed by Powers & Powers and built immediately after the Second World War in 1947.

Reference:
Durban Deco Directory

Edficio Biarritz, Flamengo

Go Borough!

Port Melbourne won the VFL Grand Final today beating age-old rivals Williamstown 22.12.144 to 13.10.88. It's been 29 years since our last premiership and there are a lot of happy people in The Borough tonight. This is one of the banners that the local Council hung on the Port Melbourne Town Hall earlier in the week to celebrate the team reaching the Grand Final.

No doubt you are wondering what this has to do with Art Deco, especially since the Town Hall is very clearly a Victorian building, designed by J J Wild and constructed in 1882. However in the late 1930s, the then Port Melbourne City Engineer, Fred Cook, redesigned the auditorium and Council Chamber in Art Deco style.

courtesy Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society

Above is a photo of the Red Cross Ball held for the official opening of the remodelled auditorium on May 24th, 1938. The auditorium has been modified several times since then and sadly little or none of the 1938 hall remains. This ship plaque (below) was salvaged and is now part of the collection of the Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society.

courtesy Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society

I mentioned that at the same time Cook also designed the Council Chamber but around the 1960s a false ceiling was put in and the lovely deco ceiling he designed was covered up until several years ago after a severe storm when part of the ceiling collapsed. Here is some detail from Cook's ceiling which I was lucky enough to photograph before it was removed and replaced with a very, very plain, dare I say boring, barrel vaulted Victorian facsimile.

I know PMTH is a Victorian building so I can understand the desire to put in a Victorian ceiling but I think there was a very strong reason to retain at least some of the Art Deco. Cook also designed some furniture for the room and this is his original hand-drawn sketch.

courtesy Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society

And this furniture still sits in the Council Chamber somewhat at odds with its Victorianised surroundings.

The Rutland, Darlinghurst

I like the shape of the decoration on the roofline of The Rutland, an apartment block in Sydney's Darlingurst area. I also like the incised lines on the balconies but why are they such a dull colour?

Campbell Town School

This State School in Campbell Town, Tasmania was built between September 1937 and June 1938. It was designed by S W T Blythe of the Public Works Department assisted by J H Walter.

An article in the Hobart Mercury newspaper from September 23, 1937 referring to the plans described the new school as follows.

Architecturally the building has been designed in a modern style, with a tower at the corner as its dominant feature. The tall glass brick panel in the tower will offer a pleasing contrast to the marked horizontality of the class and cloak rooms.

References:
PLAN OF CAMPBELL TOWN SCHOOL. (1937, September 23). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29198046

NEW SCHOOL. (1938, June 22). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25479858