former Toronto Hydro-Electric Building

According to Tim Morawetz in Art Deco Architecture in Toronto, the Toronto Hydro-Electric Building was constructed from 1931 to 1933 from designs by architects Chapman and Oxley with associate Albert E Salisbury.

From a distance the buildng is very plain except for the decoration along the roofline. Originally the building was intended to be much taller so the current roofline is a band of decoration that would have appeared part-up up the original design.

The central four spandrels of the building are topped which these figures overlooking the street below.

A closer look between the modern t-shirt decals above the ground floor windows also reveals two pairs of relief panels.

The two smaller panels, in my opinion, show woman working with a ribbon of electricity bringing power to a number of home appliances and a man using another ribbon of power in an industrial setting.

The larger reliefs depict figures in a stylised settings perhaps relating to the generation and transmission of electric power.

I particularily like the wavy hair of the figure against the electricity wires in this relief.

Apartments, Cape Town

I snapped this apartment block from one of our bus tours at the 2003 World Congress on Art Deco in Cape Town.

It is always great to see when original open balconies have been retained and no doubt the South African climate helps in this regard.

The windows are relatively small. Again this is probably a reaction to the local climate, an attempt to keep the flats cool during summer. And I do like the way they are cut through the corners of the block.

Rose, Shamrock & Thistle Hotel, Paddington

If I were to sum up how I picture the typical Sydney Art Deco pub it would feature dark brown bricks with cream banding.

This is the Rose, Shamrock and Thistle Hotel in Paddo dating probably from the late 1930s.

It is probably not as streamline as many of Sydney's pubs but I like the way the windows on the right-hand side of the second and third storey curve into the space of the open balcony.

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.

Lonsdale House - Alternatives to Demolition

If there is any doubt that Lonsdale House has been approved for demolition because a lane-widening project you have to look no further than the words of the developer Colonial First State Management Company. They are quoted as saying "Caledonian Lane needs to be widened to cater for the servicing requirements of this part of the city's retail core, and this necessitates the demolition of Lonsdale House".

Shaun Carney has written an opinion piece 'A piece of history is demolished for a slice of retail sameness' in The Age this morning which outlines why he thinks the 'reasons given for revamping this part of the city are spurious'. I find it hard not to agree with him but read the article and make up your own mind.

If the developer can get their head around preserving Lonsdale House and finding another way of getting the goods to the shops efficiently, what can they do?

They don't have to look very far for inspiration. These are examples of Art Deco buildings in Melbourne that have all found a new life, while maintaining their historical and architectural context.

Middle Brighton Baths with contemporary additions

former factory, now BYFAS Apartments

former BALM Paint factory, now a self storage company

former McPhersons Hardware Showroom, now a gym, food court & offices

former garage, now Mosskito Restaurant

former United Kingdom Hotel, now the most beautiful McDonalds in the world

Lonsdale House, a Sad Day for Melbourne

The Age is reporting that the Victorian State Government through Planning Minister Justin Madden has approved the demolition of Melbourne's iconic Lonsdale House to allow Myer to widen the laneway so they have better access for their delivery trucks.

Justin Madden said Lonsdale House would 'make way for an iconic new entrance and improved access'. Time will judge whether this becomes an icon or just another entrance to a shopping centre.

President of the Art Deco and Modernism Society, Robin Grow, was very disappointed by the decision to demolish Lonsdale House and that the City of Melbourne had done little for the building which is protected by a heritage overlay.

He said 'If the City of Melbourne isn’t prepared to defend buildings that are subject to heritage overlays than what is the point in having the heritage overlays, it is outrageous.’

This is a very sad day for Melbourne.

Zig-Zag Garage, Asmara

Asmara is home to a wonderful institution that was probably built during the 1950s when a lot of American personnel were stationed there as part of the United Nations presence in Eritrea.

It is a bowling alley, a manual bowling alley. When you play there, you get assigned a young boy who skips down behind the pins and resets them after each ball is bowled. It is fair to say it is a nerve-racking experience just making sure he is out of the way before you take your next shot. You can just make him out behind the pins in this grainy pic. And there was a rut in the lane which meant I only got 4 pins. That's my story am I'm sticking to it.

Across the road from the Bowling Alley, however, is an amazing Modernist building. The Lonely Planet guidebook rightly calls it the Zig-Zag Garage. As you can see from the photo it is a mass of triangles and zig-zags.

Asmara is full of Modernist buildings and this service station can hold its zig-zag roofline high amongst this elevated company.

Lonely Planet say '...there's probably no other building like it in the world'.

Reference:
Lonely Planet, Ethiopia, Eritrea & Djibouti ~ Frances Lindsay Gordon, 1st Ed, November 2000