Royal York Hotel, Toronto

Since the mid 19th Century this site in Toronto has been the location of a hotel under various names. Sword's Hotel and the Revere Hotel laid the foundations for the Queen's Hotel which became a much loved institution into the 20th Century until the Canadian Pacific Railway announced that they wed going to build a new hotel on the site which is directly opposite Union Station.

The Queen's Hotel was demolished and in 1927 work commenced on what was promised to be the largest hotel in the British Commonwealth. It was named the Royal York Hotel and was officially opened on 11 June 1929 and quickly became the byword for the best in hospitality. In later years the hotel became part of the Fairmont group and is known as the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Reference:
Fairmont Royal York Hotel website

Building, San Telmo

You can find deco in the backstreets of San Telmo if you can drag yourself away from the Sunday market in Plaza Dorrego. This commercial building, probably with residential quarters on the second floor, is in a street called Bolivar.

former San Francisco Stock Exchange, Exterior Sculptures

The final art works for the former Stock Exchange building (Miller & Pflueger, 1929-30), two large pylons place at either end of the Pine Street façade, were completed by Ralph Stackpole.

The gray Yosemite granite pylons, one depicting male figures, the other female figures, were unveiled on New Year's Eve 1932. Stackpole, Timothy Pfluger, and Angelo Rossi (Mayor of San Francisco) took part in the unveiling ceremony.

Reference:
Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger, by Therese Poletti, photography by Tom Paiva, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2008

former San Francisco Stock Exchange, Interior

Back in February I wrote about the Sansome Street entrance to the former San Francisco Stock Exchange teasing that the building had a fabulous interior without going into any further detail. The building was designed by James R Miller & Timothy Pflueger and despite the stock market crash in October 1929, the new trading floor was unveiled on January 4, 1930.

Michael Goodman, an architect, worked as a draftsman and interior designer with Pflueger around this time and it is his memory that Pflueger wanted to use individual works of art as specific pieces designed for the building. Goodman, himself, got the idea for the geometric ceiling in the foyer from a night club in Berlin.

Elsewhere in the building you can find art glass windows depicting hunting scenes and reliefs depicting sports such as golf and American football (such as this one).

The lounges and dining room of the tenth and eleventh floors were especially opulent employing the best materials and stylish furniture to complement the artworks.

This fireplace displays how the various materials were combined with the art.

The most impressive artwork in the building is Allegory of California, a mural by Mexican artist Diego Rivera which spans the stairs between the tenth and eleventh floors. The mural was created in 1930 after the building was completed and was well received despite earlier concerns in some quarters over Rivera's Communist philosophies.

And if you can draw your eyes away from the mural, you'll notice that the railing of the staircase incorporates figures of a man at work and a man at play, although it is difficult to distinguish between the two in this photograph.

Reference:
Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger, by Therese Poletti, photography by Tom Paiva, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2008

Griffith War Memorial Hall and Art Gallery

The War Memorial hall was built in 1939, a lovely Art Deco building completed just in time for the start of another global conflict. In more peaceful times, 1983, the Art Gallery leased the eastern wing, giving the building its current dual purpose.

Reference:
Griffith Regional Art Gallery website

Trojan House, Wellington

Nice lettering and an off-centre flagpole on Trojan House in Wellington.

Tira Moana, Mount Victoria

I couldn't believe my (bad) luck. In the few seconds between the time I had got out of the car and the time I was in position to take a picture of this Art Deco house called Tiro Moana in Mount Victoria, the people who lived at the back of the property had parked their car blocking most of the lower floor. Truth be known the ground floor wasn't that interesting and I was still able to get a nice photo of the gate.

Mackintosh Church, Queen's Cross

This certainly isn't Art Deco architecture. In fact it was commissioned in 1896 by the Free Church (of Scotland?) but there is no denying that this small church in Queen's Cross, Glasgow is interesting architecture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It is the only church designed by Mackintosh and today serves as the headquarters of the CRM Society.

Reference:
www.mackintoshchurch.com