I like collecting decorative details on buildings with my camera. I get especially excited when I notice one that had previously passed me by as it was with this magnificent doorway on Flinders Lane in Melbourne. The National Trust tells us that the building was built in 1901 for Robert Reid and Co as a warehouse and showroom. It was designed by Bates Peebles and Smart. The doorway has a sort of 'pared back till it is almost invisible' classicism. The long vertical grooves set with geometric rosettes suggest pilasters. The central 'keystone' has been transformed into a sort scroll tablet. I think you can see elements of mannerism in the way that classical forms are being played around with (as I suggested in a recent post about a doorway in Fitzroy) as well as the elegant elongation and simplification of classical forms which looks forward to the architecture of the Art Deco period.
I always analyse the architectural details, before looking at the date of the building. You wrote "elements of mannerism in the way that classical forms are being played around with, as well as the elegant elongation and simplification of classical forms which looks forward to the architecture of the Art Deco period".
ReplyDeleteAgreed absolutely. I would have tipped Deco c1935 but with more classical crispness than normal. I would have been wrong.
Given this building was created in 1901, a smart architectural historian would have to ask "what did Deco actually grow out of?".
There is no end to the questions :)
Well the Deco definitely grew out of the classical style, but it became much more about surface than structure. Highly stylised classical elements such as columns are common in Deco.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Katya, I landed here via walking melbourne (i'm Joan Batman)
ReplyDeleteand I went there to see if anything was posted about the Walter Burley griffin building at 109 Little Bourke Street for The Chinese Club.
but found nothing, which surprised me.
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/jcollins/0/1/9/doc/jc019279.shtml
At the SLV online, there is a John Collins photo of it jc019279
The link above may be too long to work in a search.
It is truly fantasmagorical, and I hate admitting I have passed it many time WITHOUT noticing. Can I blame this on the heavy foot-traffic on the paths nearby?
I am very interested in Style Moderne by Marsh & Mitchelson
(and often wonder if Dale Marsh is a descendant)
They did Glenferrie Oval turret pavilion, my friends house in Colac, and a shop with curved glass windows I had once in Flinders Lane.