Celebrating the ziggurats, chevrons and exploding Aztec suns of the Australian style moderne.
Think about art deco architecture and buildings like Manhattan’s Chrysler Building or The Rockefeller Center usually spring to mind. It’s unlikely that the strip of shops including Myer and David Jones in Bourke Street, Melbourne, or Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) will be at the top of your list. But, according to Robin Grow, the Melbourne-based president of the Art Deco Society, they are great examples of this particular style of 20th-century architecture. “On a world level,” he says, “Australian cities rank quite highly as far as the volume of art deco architecture goes and stylistically they’re pretty well up there, too.”
Art deco architecture is a term that’s often bandied about, particularly by real estate agents. “We don’t get too hung up about it,” Grow says. “It can be misunderstood, but can also be quite inclusive and we celebrate all styles.” Generally, he says, curvaceous houses, painted white and with features such as portholes and steel-framed windows fit into domestic deco. As for larger buildings – anything from offices, factories and flats to pubs and parking garages – they’re often colourful and asymmetrical, with large cantilevered balconies or a tower, and with minimal but stylised ornament.
Many people date the start of deco as the 1925 Paris Expo, others believe it was first seen more than a decade earlier and came about as a reaction to the excesses of Victorian and Edwardian architecture and a response to new materials and technologies. As to whether art deco architecture is fully appreciated, Grow believes “we’re getting there, but it’s a battle to get people to understand its beauty. There was a view for a long time that anything built after 1900 wasn’t of any value. Fortunately that’s changing.”
Art Deco Architecture around Australia
Sydney
Archibald Fountain
Hyde Park.
Sculpture by François Sicard, design by BJ Waterhouse, 1932. An example of French art deco; the sculpture was exhibited in Paris before coming to Australia.
Delfin (Aft) House
16-18 O’Connell Street.
C Bruce Dellit, 1940. Influenced by New York skyscrapers, the building has an enormous arched portal incorporating the sculpture Sunrise Over The Pacific.
MCA
Circular Quay West.
Withers and Baxter, 1938-52. The former Maritime Services Board building was designed between 1938 and 1944. Construction was held up by WWII and finally completed in 1952. It has shades of New York’s Rockefeller Center.
Railway House
19 York Street.
Budden & Mackey, 1936. The first fully airconditioned building constructed by a government department. With its green terracotta cladding it’s a colourful example of art deco.
Transport House
99 Macquarie Street.
Budden & Mackey, 1938.Inter-war sandstone office building featuring sculptures of Mercury by Rayner Hoff.
Willoughby Incinerator
2 Small Street, Willoughby.
Walter Burley Griffin, 1935. One of two surviving Burley Griffin incinerators in Sydney. The intricate stonework belies its prosaic function.
Other Sydney examples
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Anzac War Memorial, Hyde Park.
David Jones, corner of Market and Castlereagh Streets.
State Theatre, 49 Market Street.
Asbestos House, 65-69 York Street.
Grace Building, 77 York Street.
AWA Building, 45-47 York Street.
Hayden Orpheum, 380 Military Road, Cremorne.
Luna Park, Milsons Point.
Apartment buildings in Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Bondi Beach.
Regional New South Wales
Civic Theatre
144 Kelly Street, Scone.
Crick & Furse, 1938. A rare survivor designed by a well-regarded firm that specialised in cinemas.
Moree
The once rundown main street of this country town in northern New South Wales has been upgraded, showing off its large collection of buildings constructed between the world wars.
The Paragon
65 Katoomba Street, Katoomba.
Henry White, 1934. The lavish cocktail bar of this famous cafe features engraved mirrors, maple booths and frosted glass.
Melbourne
Capitol Theatre
113 Swanston Street.
Walter Burley Griffin, 1921-24. Griffin’s largest civic work.
David Jones
310 Bourke Street.
Bates, Smart & McCutcheon, 1934. Outstanding use of terracotta and zigzag forms.
Manchester Unity Building
220-226 Collins Street.
Marcus Barlow, 1932. With a strong Chicago influence, the exterior’s rich decoration carries through to interior public spaces.
McDonald’s
199 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill.
JH Wardrop, 1938. Sleek former hotel, with Mondrian-like windows.
Newspaper House
247-249 Collins Street.
Stephenson & Meldrum, 1933. The famous mosaic mural by Mervyn Napier Waller depicts man’s potential to embrace technology.
Regional Victoria
Burnham Beeches
Sherbrooke Road, Sherbrooke.
Harry Norris, 1930-33. Built for Alfred Nicholas, the developer of Aspro, this is an excellent example of streamline moderne.
Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum
14 Lyttleton Street, Castlemaine.
Percy Meldrum, 1931. One of the earliest examples of modernist architecture in regional Victoria.
Other Victorian examples
Mitchell House, corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne.
McPherson’s Building, 546-566 Collins Street, Melbourne.
Former National Bank of Australasia building, 271-285 Collins Street, Melbourne.
Heidelberg Town Hall, 253-277 Upper Heidelberg Road, Heidelberg.
Block Arcade, 280-286 Collins Street, Melbourne.
Maryborough Swimming Pool, Darling Street, Maryborough.
Glenferrie Oval grandstand, Linda Crescent, Hawthorn.
Astor Theatre, 1 Chapel Street, St Kilda.
Century Building, 133 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Former Victoria Car Park, 103-107 Russell Street, Melbourne.
Queensland
Forgan Smith Building
University of Queensland, St Lucia.
Hennessy, Hennessy & Co, 1937. One of a number of Brisbane buildings designed in classical manner but with a touch of deco detailing.
Former Ipswich Baptist Chruch
Brisbane Street, Ipswich.
Brockwell Gill, 1938. A bold deco facade on a Victorian church.
Innisfail
Demolished by a cyclone in 1918, this north Queensland town was rebuilt largely in the art deco style.
McWhirters
Wickham & Brunswick Streets, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
Hall & Phillips, 1931. Features rich exterior decoration in polychrome glazed terracotta tiles.
Tattersall’s Club
Queen & Edward Streets, Brisbane.
Hall & Prentice, 1925-26, Hall & Phillips, 1938-39. Featuring one of the city’s best art deco interiors.
Australian Capital Territory
The Anu School of Art
Childers Street, Acton.
Cuthbert Whitley, 1939. A mix of classical symmetry with art deco styling.
Australian War Memorial
Treloar Crescent, Campbell.
John Crust and Emil Sodersteen, 1941. Design draws on Egyptian, and classical monumental and funereal elements.
National Film and Sound Archive
McCoy Circuit, Acton.
Walter Hayward Morris, 1929. Carved flora and fauna motifs. This was once the Australian Institute of Anatomy.
Patents Office
National Circuit, Barton.
Cuthbert Whitley, 1941. Now home to the Attorney-General’s Department.
South Australia
Capri Theatre
141 Goodwood Road, Goodwood, Adeliade.
Chris A Smith, 1941. Hollywood comes to Adelaide in this curvaceous building, decorated with wave motifs.
Port Adelaide Masonic Centre
Dale Street, Port Adelaide.
Charles Walter Rutt, 1928. Largely original building displays the Egyptian influences prevalent at the time of construction.
Semaphore Palais
The Esplanade, Semaphore.
City of Port Adelaide, 1922. When it opened, it was regarded as the most beautiful beach structure in the country.
Western Australia
Former Senses Foundation
134-138 Whatley Crescent, Maylands.
AE Clare, 1937. The most prominent surviving example of inter-war stripped classical with art deco details in WA, the building features rich exterior decoration
Mosman Park Memorial Hall
16 Lochee Street, Mosman Park.
Kreightmeyer & Rowe, 1939. Council chambers and offices were sympathetically restored after falling into disrepair.
Narembeen Public Hall
Latham Road & Longhurst Street, Narembeen.
Powell, Cameron & Chisholm, 1939. Streamlined functionalist style with a lack of decoration.
Regal Theatre
Rokeby Road & Hay Street, Subiaco.
Bennett & Leighton, 1938. One of the many examples of art deco cinema architecture to be found in Perth.
Tasmania
Former Hydro-Electric Commission Building
Davey & Elizabeth Streets, Hobart.
A&K Henderson & Partners, 1939. Celebrates electricity in various ways, including the use of neon tubing for ornamentation.
Luck’s Corner
George & Paterson Streets, Launceston.
HS East and Roy Smith, 1937. Well-integrated graphics and a good example of art deco in a regional area.
Source: Qantas The Australian Way April 2007
Updated: August 2008