Paramount Theatre, Oakland

The Paramount Theatre in Oakland is one of the best, if not the best, Art Deco theatre I have ever been to. It was designed by Timothy Pflueger from the architectural firm J R Miller & T L Pflueger and opened on 16 December 1931 with the film The False Madonna.

Theodore Bernardi, a designer working for Miller & Pflueger, was made responsible for the overall decoration of the theatre and a number of artists were brought on to work on different aspects of the theatre.

Gerald Fitzgerald drew the cartoons that were used to create the enormous mosaics of a male puppeteer and a female puppeteer on the facade of the building.

Each puppeteer controls a variety of animals and people is various activities.

There is an exotic dancer with a snake draped across her body and a man wrestling a bear ...

... a Japanese dancer and a sailor doing the hornpipe (don't quote me on that, the hornpipe is the only sailor's dance that I know) ...

... boxers ...

... and three woman portrayed playing tennis, a bather wrapped in a luxurious towel and as a golfer.

Next time I'll show the interior of this spectacular building.

References:
Paramount Theatre website
Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger, Therese Poletti

Oxford Art Supplies, Darlinghurst

I don't know what is more impressive about the 225 Oxford St half of Oxford Art Supplies. The amazing geometric pattern on the facade or the amazing collection of air conditioners on top of the verandah.

And I don't know what is less impressive. The appalling remodelled shopfront at street level or the appalling collection of air conditioners on top of the verandah.

I do know that the business which started as a hardware store in 1964 run by Alf and Bessie Altshuler morphed into an art store in the 1970's under their son David and their grandson, Marc, is associated with the store today. That, at least, is a good thing.

Reference:
Oxford Art Supplies website

Huntingdon, Elizabeth Bay

This is another one of those red brick Art Deco apartment blocks in Sydney. This is Huntingdon in Elizabeth Bay and I am not sure about the awning over the entrance bearing the block's name. I presume it is a later addition and I suppose it is a deco font but seems a bit cliched to me.

However, I do like the brickwork. Again a common feature of Sydney, and in fact Australian, Art Deco.

A House and Shop in Portland

This is an interesting house in Portland, Australia. It is quite plain but the rounded porch give it away as a house probably from the 1930s or 40s. There is also the Art Deco shopfront at the front of the house. No longer open as a shop and with half the window boarded up I can only wonder what it was like in years gone past.

Maricopa County Courthouse, Phoenix

A plaque on the front of the Maricopa County Courthouse says that the building was completed 1928-29 and was used as both the County Courthouse and as the Phoenix City Hall. It goes on to say 'The County Courthouse portion of the building was designed by Louisiana architect, Edward F Neild. The City chose the Phoenix firm of Lescher and Mahoney to construct the city hall'.

Waymaking.com have it the other way around and have spelt the architect's name as 'Nield'.

I would hope that the plaque on the building is correct but stranger things have happened.

It matters little as this is a beautiful building and US Registered Historic Place.

The wings of the building carry plainer decoration than the Courthouse entrance except for the lower storey windows which are stunning.

United Artists Theatre, Berkeley

The United Artists Theatre in Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley opened in 1932. It was designed by Clifford A Balch, P A Eisen, Casto Fernandez Shaw and A R Walker.

Reference: Cinema Treasures, United Artists Berkeley 7

The Card Market, Blackpool

This interesting shop in Blackpool was The Card Market around 2000 when I photographed it. For all I know, it still is the Card Market.

Run-down House in Silver End

I've blogged before about the village of Silver End in Essex where a number of modernist homes designed by Thomas Tait were built for workers of the nearby Crittal windows manufacturing plant.

There were a number of simple homes built for workers and a few larger house for managers, such as Wolverton.

I visited Silver End about 10 years ago and photographed this house, which is very similar to Wolverton, so I would say it is one of the manager's houses. It was quite run-down but offers wonderful potential as a fantastic home.

I wonder how it has faired over the past decade?