Sherbrooke Hotel, Miami

The Sherbrooke Hotel on the corner of Collins Avenue and 9th Street in Miami South Beach is a fine example of streamline design.

It was constructed quite late, post WWII, 1947. The architects were MacKay and Gibbs. It is a building as a ship, the corner parapet acting as a bridge. There is even a couple of portholes, one each side of the main entrance.

Often streamline buildings have regular, horizontal bands of windows but the Sherbrooke Hotel has an unusual arrangement of different sized windows.

As is often the case in sunny climates concrete eyebrows provide shading for the windows.

James T Foley Courthouse, Albany

The James T Foley Courthouse in Albany, NY was built in 1933 and for over 60 years operated as both a courthouse and a post office. Today it just fulfills the function of courthouse.

James Thomas Foley was appointed to the Federal Court by President Harry S Truman in 1949 and served as a judge until 1989 when he was 80 years old.

The courthouse was renamed in his honour in 1989. He died in 1990.

The postal service moved out of the building in 1995 but the frieze along the front shows various postal activities.

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.

A House in Tulsa

A modernist house in Tulsa with a simple metal balcony curving around the rounded corner of the house.

The house also has a porthole window and there is also a flight of stairs leading to what is probably a flat roof.

Unity Temple, Oak Park

A recent post at the designslinger blog alerted me to the fact that Unity Temple in Oak Park turned 100 years old in September.

It givs me an excuse to dust off my old photos of Unity Temple (from 2001) and show them here.

I am pleased to see that there is a certain overlap between the photos at designslinger and the ones I shot however I am sorry I missed the angle that opens their blog post. For me it sums one of the best aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, the interplay and levels of the various rooflines he works into his designs. Pop over and have a look at their photo, it is a beauty.

Now back to my photos.

These exterior shots show how Wright was using concrete to incorporate decoration onto his buildings. This arrangement reminds me a lot of Hollyhock House in Los Angeles which Wright designed for Aline Barnsdale in 1921.

The photos also show one of the main problems with early concrete buildings with damage clearly visible in each of the two main pictures. The Unity Temple Restoration Fund are working to maintain and restore the building.

The interior of Unity Temple is one of those views in modern architecture which everyone should see. So detailed and warm compared to the exterior. Yet the decoration is still made up of very simple geometric shapes.

Of course, being a FLLW building, there is lots of stained glass windows as well.

313 W 57th St, New York

This is a great little survivor and it does surprise me that small buildings like this survive in New York City where the skyscraper is king. They do survive however and the city is richer for what they add to the streescape.

Vars Building, Buffalo

The Vars Building on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, NY is a wonderfully decorated commercial building.

Dating from 1929 it was designed by Lawrence Bley and Duane Lyman the same architects who worked on the magnificent Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Building in Syracuse, NY.

While the Niagara Mowhawk Power Corporation Building is black and chrome with the spectacular 'Spirit of Light' figure on the facade, the Vars Building relies on carved relief panels for decoration.

Many recognisable Art Deco motifs are represented on the Vars Building.

A frozen fountain with stylised sun rays and clouds sits in a panel above the doorway. The spandrels on the upper floors feature chevrons, triangles and other stepped forms. Stylised floral designs decorated the tops of the columns separating the black framed windows.

Look at the delicately scolloped roofline and the panel on the second storey above the door which depicts a vase or perhaps a stylised cornucopia bearing a wide variety of flowers.

The closer you look at the Vars Building, the more there is to see.

Blue-Sky Mausoleum, Buffalo

"...a burial facing the open sky ... The whole could not fail of noble effect...".

These words, by Frank Lloyd Wright, are inscribed on the headstone of the Blue-Sky Mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

Wright designed the mausoleum in 1928 at the request of Darwin D Martin, secretary of the Larkin Soap Company. He had previously designed his residential complex in suburban Buffalo, a summer residence, Greycliff, in nearby Derby and the Larkin Company Headquarters (demolished).

At the time, the mausoleum was not constructed however in 2004, the Forest Lawn cemetery faithfully realised the project.

The mausoleum consists of 24 crypts, aligned in pairs stepping up a grassy slope overlooking a small lake and if you feel the need to be buried in an architectural masterpiece, the crypts are available for purchase.

Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester

The Asbury First United Methodist Church in East Avenue, Rochester in upstate New York is quite a late building to be described as Art Deco. According to this case study on the InSpired Associates website,

The church was constructed with an Indiana limestone façade according to plans developed by the Reverend Dr. Weldon Crossland and the architectural firm of Wenner and Fink, Methodist Church Architects, located in Philadelphia.

I like the stepped style of the body of the church, mirrored in the buttresses of the spire.

And this spectacular art deco style 'hand of God' plaque on the face of the spire directly above the main entrance.

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, Syracuse

We designed our two-day roadtrip from New York to Buffalo so we could stay in Syracuse overnight to see the fabulous Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation building.

The building did not disappoint us and after dinner we went back to check it out in all its floodlit glory.

Designed by Buffalo architectural firm Bley and Lyman for Niagara Mohawk's predecessor the Niagara Hudson Power Corporation, construction was completed in 1932.

The exterior facade features a large stainless steel figure as well as other decorative elements on the spandrels between the windows.

In the lobby there are four vitrolite panels bearing stylised murals relating to various aspects of power generation. These are titled Gas, Illumination, Generation and Transmission.

There is no doubt, however, that my camera kept returning the 'Spirit of Light' as the figure on the façade was named as a result of a competition.

Fire Department Headquarters, Buffalo

I saw the Buffalo Fire Department Headquarters from the distance when heading off to the City Hall and never got back to explore it in more detail.

Web sources such as this and this one list the building as being constructed in 1931 and although it no longer houses an active Engine, it is still used by the Fire Department.

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant, New York

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant on Lexington Avenue occupies a sweet little Art Deco building. It is hard to beleive this restaurant is close to the Chrysler Building, probably the most recognisable Art Deco building in the world. It just highlights the range of Art Deco architecture.

Lake Theatre, Oak Park

The Lake Park Theatre in Oak Park, Illinois is a classic Art Deco cinema.

It was designed by architect Thomas Lamb and opened in 1936. In recent year it has been turned into multiplex but it has become home to many decorative features from other cinemas around Chicago that have not survived the onslaught of modern entertainment.

Bryant Park Hotel, New York

I love the contrast of the black brick against the gold decoration and embellishments.

Originaly the American Radiator Building, this Art Deco building was designed in 1924 by architect Raymond Hood and now serves as the Bryant Park Hotel.

Henry Lomb Memorial, Rochester

In the mid 19th century Henry Lomb loaned his friend John Bausch some money to help out the optical shop Bausch was operating in Rochester, NY. After a short time he became his business partner and together they formed the company Bausch & Lomb.

Lomb died in 1908 after serving the Rochester community as a public benefactor and in the 1930s a memorial was erected to his memory.

It was designed by Walter H Cassebeer from black ganite and stands 48 feet tall.

Church Building, Poughkeepsie

A fine Art Deco building in Poughkeepsie. It was built in 1932 and is currently owned by the Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie from which it gets the name Church Building although it is occupied by a cafe and various offices.

Bee Line Wheel Alignment, Auburn

Sometimes when you take a wrong turn in a strange city it can work to your advantage. When we took a wrong turn in Auburn, NY I saw the sign for Bee Line Wheel Alignment down a side street so when we did a U-turn I was ready with my camera and snapped this photo.

Hunter Dinerant, Auburn

Auburn, in up-state New York, has this wonderful streamline diner ... in fact a dinerant ... more than a diner but not quite a restaurant (?), I don't know.

I stuck my head inside and it looked exactly as I would expect a diner to look and I wish I'd had time to have a late breakfast and sample some of the atmosphere but Rochester and Buffalo were calling and we had to get back onto the interstate and onto the next town.