Art Deco

[omro]

As an aside, how dare people say bad things about Hamilton when it has examples of buildings like these!!

[omro]

Were the TH&B Station, Hydro Building (was it always that?) and the Port Authority all designed by the same people?

[flar]

I'm just the opposite, out of those pics I think only the train station is deco because of the carvings on it (I don't have closeups) The others I would call moderne. The columns are undoubtedly classical, but that's what makes architectural classification so difficult: styles are so often mixed.

[astroblaster]

Originally Posted by highwater

The Port Authority building is another lovely Art Deco building, restored.

oh yah.. forgot about this one.. beautiful building

[omro]

Originally Posted by flar

but that's what makes architectural classification so difficult: styles are so often mixed.

Ah, but that's what makes it so much fun to go and have a look at these places and admire them :-)

[flar]

There are a couple really nice examples of art deco in London, Ontario. The Dominion Public Building is my favourite building in that city.

[omro]

How cool :-) Love those buildings, who said concrete has to be drab!

Love the way you guys stick your flag on everything. We're not allowed to do that here, it's politically incorrect, racist or something....

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by flar

There are a couple really nice examples of art deco in London, Ontario. The Dominion Public Building is my favourite building in that city.

that top building (the old post office I believe) is an absolute gem inside too.

and you can't fly Canadian flags here on public buildings? Now that's what I find an insult. I love american cities in a way for their patriotism, look at any skyline, you'll see several HUGE flags on top of buildings.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by omro

From Timeout's website, the quintessential Art Deco building, the former Hoover building (now owned by Tesco).

I drove by the hoover building last summer quite by chance. What a gorgeous building!

[omro]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

that top building (the old post office I believe) is an absolute gem inside too.

and you can't fly Canadian flags here on public buildings? Now that's what I find an insult. I love american cities in a way for their patriotism, look at any skyline, you'll see several HUGE flags on top of buildings.

I was talking about british flags in the UK. Thanks to far right groups, the Union Jack is now seen as offensive to minorities and is rarely flown except officially.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by omro

However, that said, looking at the website...

Half of what it says is Art Moderne, I'd have said was Deco.

Maybe in the UK we see both styles and just lump them together as Deco.

Here the sweeping curves, that it has in its Art Moderne page, would certainly be called Deco.

That said, one lead on from the other, so they could just have been lumped together in our defintions :-)

I only have an undergraduate degree so I'm no expert, but I specialized in 19th and 20th century North American architecture, and my fourth year dissertation was on New York Art Deco skyscrapers, so I'm a bit of a Deco geek. Here's my semi-educated opinion. What we call 'Art Deco' had two distinct phases: the earlier, more decorative style of the 20's, typified by the Dominion Public Building (now the courthouse), and the more streamlined style of the 30's typified by the Go station. I think you Brits are correct to lump them together. 'Art Moderne' is really more of a popular term rather than a scholarly one IMO, and is better understood as a sub-category of Art Deco.

[omro]

Originally Posted by highwater

I only have an undergraduate degree so I'm no expert, but I specialized in 19th and 20th century North American architecture, and my fourth year dissertation was on New York Art Deco skyscrapers, so I'm a bit of a Deco geek.

Your degree sounds so cool compared to mine

[flar]

Originally Posted by highwater

I only have an undergraduate degree so I'm no expert, but I specialized in 19th and 20th century North American architecture, and my fourth year dissertation was on New York Art Deco skyscrapers, so I'm a bit of a Deco geek. Here's my semi-educated opinion. What we call 'Art Deco' had two distinct phases: the earlier, more decorative style of the 20's, typified by the Dominion Public Building (now the courthouse), and the more streamlined style of the 30's typified by the Go station. I think you Brits are correct to lump them together. 'Art Moderne' is really more of a popular term rather than a scholarly one IMO, and is better understood as a sub-category of Art Deco.

Educated enough for me and makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by omro

Your degree sounds so cool compared to mine

Yeah. The really cool part is all the job opportunities in the exciting, fast-paced world of Art Deco skyscraper arcana. Now you'll have to excuse me. Someone needs to have their butt wiped.

[adam]

Compare LIUNA station to the Roman Pantheon - Classical Roman architecture at its finest. Notice the triangular gable at both entrances and classical columns. LIUNA's smaller entrance to the side also has a triangular roman gable.

I think a lot of these buildings we are talking about are a combination of a couple or even a few styles...


LIUNA vs. Pantheon

[astroblaster]

Originally Posted by highwater

I only have an undergraduate degree so I'm no expert, but I specialized in 19th and 20th century North American architecture, and my fourth year dissertation was on New York Art Deco skyscrapers, so I'm a bit of a Deco geek. Here's my semi-educated opinion. What we call 'Art Deco' had two distinct phases: the earlier, more decorative style of the 20's, typified by the Dominion Public Building (now the courthouse), and the more streamlined style of the 30's typified by the Go station. I think you Brits are correct to lump them together. 'Art Moderne' is really more of a popular term rather than a scholarly one IMO, and is better understood as a sub-category of Art Deco.

thanks! i should do some more reading on these topics. any suggestions on books that provide a decent summary, either of art-deco or an overview of various architectural styles?

[highwater]

One of my favourites for the layman is Architecture: the Natural and the Manmade by Vincent Scully. It's very readable and very well illustrated, and is available used on Chapters.

A good pocket field guide is American Architecture Since 1780: a Guide to the Styles by Marcus Whiffen, although he weirdly calls Art Deco "Modernistic". Also available used on Chapters.

The definitive text for architecture wonks is probably Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries by Henry Russell Hitchcock, also used on Chapters.

The indispensable resource for architecture keeners as far as I'm concerned, is The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture by Nikolaus Pevsner, John Fleming, and Hugh Honour. An encyclopedia of architects, styles, and terms. Soon you'll be using words like 'fenestration' and boring people at cocktail parties. I keep it by my bedside in case I forget what a lesbian cymantium is. (It's a cyma reversa with a leaf and dart motif! Honestly, you people. ) Available used on Amazon.

Have fun!

[astroblaster]

thanks!

[flar]

You wanna see Art Deco? Check out Buffalo: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=158116

[vid]

Thunder Bay's Royal Edward Arms is a mash up of Art Deco and Neo Gothic from 1928 and Windsor has a highrise that is also a combination, which I why I posted the Piggott building. It fits into both categories, imo. Architecture isn't one of those things where buildings fit neatly into categories. Fort William Colligate in Thunder Bay combines Beaux-Arts and Gothic Revival. Like Piggott, it has a Beaux-Arts form but Gothic ornament.

I guess some architects couldn't help themselves when it came to the ornamentation part, but it's produced some wonderful results.

Here is an Art Moderne house from Ontario Architecture:


http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/Artmoderne.htm