Billboard, Hawthorn

Above the railway line near Hawthorn Station there is a much neglected Art Deco billboard.

The billboard has a lovely shape with stepping curves on the top corners and a raised section at the centre. Even the bottom corners are stepped but in this case squared off rather than curved.

I has been used in recent times but the last ad the billboard sported for a computer company if now obscured by graffiti and hastily pasted posters. The metal sheeting in the is even peeling away from the wood support in the top left corner.

It's a shame because with a bit of restoration it could do what every advertiser wants, to stand out and get noticed.

A House in Bendigo

This modest Art Deco home in the rural Victorian city of Bendigo.

I particularily like the use of brick as a decorative element against the smooth render of the walls.

The simple application of bricks arranged in a triangle is repeated three times along the front wall and also on the wall of the porch at the front door.

This porch is supported by a square made from the same bricks. The lowest part of the house is also clad with these bricks and the run up either side of the chimney and break through the roof but do not continue to the full height of the chimney.

The bricks have also been used in the shadows at the top of the walls under the eaves.

This arrangement can also bee seen in the garden wall which has a row (or two) of bricks top and bottom.

The gate posts also have a row of bricks top and bottom with the addition of a stepped element on top.

The house certainly isn't as spectacular as this nearby house but I think it is lovely that so much effort was out into the architectural decoration of a modest family home.

Finsbury Health Centre, Finsbury

A buzz has been growing over the future of the Finsbury Health Centre (FHC) in North London. A bad buzz.

An article by Richard Waite in The Architects' Journal reports that Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT) has agreed to sell off this Grade I-listed building leaving its future uncertain.

Dating from 1938, the centre was designed by Tecton architect Berthold Lubetkin. It is a modernist gem bringing much needed health services to inner London. While nearby Clerkenwell and Islington are gentrified and trendy, Finsbury has remained relatively poor.

The entire front wall of the building is constructed of glass bricks flooding light into the interior spaces.

When the centre was originally openned it included a women's clinic, dental surgery, tuberculosis clinic and solarium.

For the past seventy years the centre has continued to provide health care which in recent time has included hearing tests, physiotherapy, podiatrist, speech therapy and family planning.

The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children operates from the FHC.

The joining of modernist architecture and socialist thinking is beautifully explained on www.open2.net.

There is a Save the FHC website that is co-ordinating efforts to to put the decision to a judicial review. They are planning a Love Our Health Centre information day for St Valentine's day (Saturday 14th February) at the Holy Redeemer, Exmouth Market between 11am and 2pm.

A petition will be presented the Rt Hon Alan Johnson, MP, Minister for Health.

My photo doesn't do this building justice. I hope by exploring the other sites linked in this blog you will support this campaign. If, like me, you can't get there in person there is always the opportunity to sign the petition online.

Update - 16 February 2009
The Architects Journal report that the Finsbury Health Centre has received a reprieve from Islington Council who 'unanimously voted to refer the proposed sale of the 70-year-old modernist gem to the secretary of state for health, Alan Johnson'.

Geon Art Deco Weekend, Napier

We had an horrific day in Victoria yesterday (http://www.theage.com.au/national/death-toll-rises-from-bushfires-20090208-80jv.html). Hottest Melbourne day on record, 46.4C, hotter in other places in the State and the worst day of bushfires possibly since 'Black Friday' on 13th January 1939. 100s of houses have been destroyed and 25 people confirmed dead which expectations that the toll will rise.

My best wishes go out to all those who have been affected and their families and friends.

It got me thinking of positive stories that have come from disasters such as this and then an email arrived in my inbox reminding me of the Geon Art Deco Weekend in Napier.

Shortly after a quarter to eleven on the morning of Tuesday 3rd February 1931 a devastating earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter Scale hit the North Island of New Zealand about 15 or 20 kilometres north of the city of Napier.

Many buildings were destroyed in Napier and the nearby town of Hastings. 258 people died in the two towns and the surrounding district. A memorial in Napier honours the memory of those who died.

An Earthquake Relief Fund was established by the New Zealand Prime Minister and architects based in Napier such as J A Louis Hay and others from around the country assisted in the rebuilding of the city. By January 1933, the city was able to hold a carnival to celebrate the new Napier.

Now, the third weekend of February sees Napier host the annual Art Deco Weekend. This year the events run from Tuesday 17th to Sunday 22nd so obviously they use a different definition of weekend in New Zealand.

It is probably more to the point that the Art Deco Weekend has become so popular over its 21 years that they can't fit all the events into a two-day weekend. I suspect it won't be long before it becomes Art Deco Week.

Link: Geon Art Deco Weekend

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Bushfire Update - Monday 9th February 2009

As more news comes to hand it is clear that Saturday 7th February 2009 is one of the worst days ever for Victoria. The death toll is horrendous and the number of people who have lot their homes and all their possessions heartbreaking. The towns of Marysville and Kinglake have all but been wiped out. The response from the wider community has been fantastic and I hope something positive will eventually come from this harshest reminder of nature's devastating power.

We are custodians of this planet and it will survive in some form for a very long time, but will we.

The link for the latest news on the bushfires is http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/

The Red Cross have set up an appeal and are taking donations online through their webite - www.redcross.org.au/.

Century Building, Melbourne

This little section of Swanston Street is very interesting because it shows two buildings by architect Marcus Barlow at either end of the block with Capitol House (1924) by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahoney Griffin sandwiched between them.

The brown building in the background is Barlow's Manchester Unity (1932) which echoes the style of the Raymond Hood's Chicago Tribune Building (1922).

But the white building in the foreground, Century House (1938-40), also by Marcus Barlow when compared to the Manchester Unity shows how much his thinking changed over the course of 5 or 6 years.

While both buildings have similar structure, each with a tower on the corner, the Century Building is much simpler and shining white.

Viewed from the other end of the block, the name can clearly be seen etched into the side of the building.

The angle also shows the vertical columns that run the height of the building.

In this closer view of the roofline, those columns almost look like a hand grasping the base of the tower.

General Electric Building, New York

The first building I posted on this blog was the Chrysler Building because it is such an icon of the Art Deco skyscraper.

However, that first picture of the Chrysler Building had another fantastic Art Deco building in the foreground. The former RCA Victor Building, now known as the General Electric Building.

That is the amazing crown at the top of this page. It has flames, lightning bolts (or radio waves) and stylised faces and is truly amazing.

There is also plenty to see from street level. The lightning bolt/radio wave motif is presented on the 1st floor, placed in their own niches between the vertical banks of windows.

The panels below the windows feature zig-zag decoration and other art deco elements but in the top corners there is more fluid decoration giving an almost Art Nouveau feel.

The corner of the building has its own combination of bolt/wave motif and stylised face. This view also shows the decoration in the brickwork.

Also on the corner at street level is a clock bearing the GE logo and a pair of disembodied arms holding, perhaps, another variation of the lightning bolt/radio wave.

The General Electric Building was designed by John W Cross and dates from 1931.

Avalon Hotel, Miami South Beach

When you go to Miami South Beach, make sure you give yourself enough time to see all the Deco and MiMo (Miami Modern) buildings. Actually, it would take a long time to see them all but you should try to take a guided tour from the Miami Design Preservation League.

At the very least you must walk down Ocean Drive both during the day and at night. The hotels and other buildings along the ocean front are fantastic but they take on a different aspect when lit up after sunset.

This is a night-time view of the Avalon Hotel. The neon lettering of the name naturally stand out in the dark but also a single white spotlight really highlights the features of the building especially the eyebrows over the windows.

ABC Cinema, Brighton

The ABC Cinema (1930) in Brighton was designed by William Glen.

The cinema closed in 1999 and onverted to a casino. This picture was taken around that time. The films showing are The Haunting, Eyes Wide Shut, The Trench and The General's Daughter.