Deco Deliveries

[BobHufford]

Delivery, of sorts.

Rob

Going with that theme...

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

Saw these two tin-toy deco delivery vehicles on Ebay today:

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Zombie_61]

It's not exactly a delivery vehicle, but...

 

[BobHufford]

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ Those are both outstanding and wonderfully serving a need of the community.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[BlueTrain]

What bvilding is that?

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I have no idea.

Rob

 

[Zombie_61]

It's the Avtomotive Bvilding at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; currently known as the Allstream Centre Avtomotive Bvilding.

 

[BlueTrain]

I've noticed that many buildings in towns and cities, large buildings and small, have names. Few are as grand as those, but some are, to be sure. Many of the really grand public buildings, if you can call a railroad station grand, are no longer used. I don't think many new ones are being build like that anymore. I've been in a few malls that were pretty grand but only from the inside. I've never seen a mall that looked good from the outside.

I suppose giving a building a name was something commonly done to satisfy the vanity of the owner in most cases. Can't say as I blame them, even though the name wasn't always prominently displayed.

 

[Fading Fast]

It's the Avtomotive Bvilding at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; currently known as the Allstream Centre Avtomotive Bvilding.

And here it is today, with the "Allstream Centre" addition awkwardly and thoughtlessly added on:

 

[Fading Fast]

I've noticed that many buildings in towns and cities, large buildings and small, have names. Few are as grand as those, but some are, to be sure. Many of the really grand public buildings, if you can call a railroad station grand, are no longer used. I don't think many new ones are being build like that anymore. I've been in a few malls that were pretty grand but only from the inside. I've never seen a mall that looked good from the outside.

I suppose giving a building a name was something commonly done to satisfy the vanity of the owner in most cases. Can't say as I blame them, even though the name wasn't always prominently displayed.

New York City has an incredibly large number of named buildings. To be sure, as you note, my not-scientific review says that naming them was most popular in the teens (of the 1900s) and the '20s as, IMHO, this was the period when the skyscraper took off and building bigger and higher was testing the ultima Thule of technology. So it was both a dramatic leap forward and on the edge of technology.

Skyscrapers, then, captured the public's attention, so putting ones name on them had both ego and marketing benefits and, maybe (being more positive), just a way of noting achievement. Today, both ego and marketing, IMHO, drive most of the naming, but there is nowhere near the public passion as, I think, most new buildings now aren't a big technological leap forward or dramatically different than what is already out there.

I seem to remember a bit of a hubbub when the new Dallas Cowboy stadium was built as that was a bit of a leap forward (or, at least, was marketed that way), but overall, the public has moved on from getting really excited about new buildings.

 

[BlueTrain]

Well, maybe the new buildings aren't exciting! I think that sports stadiums, mostly, look very impressive from the outside. Inside, of course, the focus is on the playing field itself. They are by their nature very large and usually surrounded by few large buildings to restrict the view and so usually look pretty grand, if not art deco.

It's probably worth mentioning that architectural styles come and go but the architects and designers themselves might be in business for 40 years or more, with a career spanning more than a single style.

Is it just me or do buildings look more impressive in black & white?

 

[Fading Fast]

Well, maybe the new buildings aren't exciting! I think that sports stadiums, mostly, look very impressive from the outside. Inside, of course, the focus is on the playing field itself. They are by their nature very large and usually surrounded by few large buildings to restrict the view and so usually look pretty grand, if not art deco.

It's probably worth mentioning that architectural styles come and go but the architects and designers themselves might be in business for 40 years or more, with a career spanning more than a single style.

Is it just me or do buildings look more impressive in black & white?

The buildings from the first half of the Twentieth Century were dominated by Classic Greek, Beaux-Arts and early Art Deco architecture (with some Arts and Crafts influences here and there) which, IMHO, are aesthetically more perennially pleasing than a lot of the fads that have come and gone since. So, I think it's less about the black-and-white iconic images (although, I do think many building look better in B&W photography), but the timeless appeal of the architectural and design aesthetic of the period.

Yes, some of the buildings from that period are overwrought and some just not well done and there have been many beautiful buildings done since, but the relatively consistent architectural design of the period - and that design being of such a (now) time-tested aesthetic - is, IMHO, why those building still stand out today.

 

[BlueTrain]

If they're still standing. Some have fallen into ruin, which I may have mentioned already. I'm sure buildings look better when they are still in active use. Some buildings may look better in B&W--or maybe it's because that's the way we're conditioned to see them, especially in old movies (that were Hollywood backlots). But some look much more impressive in real life because of the color, provided they're in good shape.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, maybe the new buildings aren't exciting! I think that sports stadiums, mostly, look very impressive from the outside. Inside, of course, the focus is on the playing field itself. They are by their nature very large and usually surrounded by few large buildings to restrict the view and so usually look pretty grand, if not art deco.

Of all the "classic era" ballparks, none was more elegant than Shibe Park in Philadelphia -- at least when it was first built. Over the years it was expanded, and the neighborhood grew up around it and it got a bit overwhelmed.

And then nobody wanted to play there anymore, and some kids set fire to it, and it got torn down.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

That makes me sad.

A lot of ballparks...and buildings...have suffered that fate, due to the lack of social/commercial architectural empathy during the 60's and 70s.

Rob