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Window detail, downtown bank building (Original Post) Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 OP
What a beautiful detail, my dear Diamond_Dog! CaliforniaPeggy Aug 2023 #1
Thank you, CaliforniaPeggy. Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #3
I love the detail. Great shot, Diamond_Dog. brer cat Aug 2023 #2
Thank you, brer cat! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #4
Gorgeous. MLAA Aug 2023 #5
TY, MLAA! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #7
The marble columns are beautiful also. MLAA Aug 2023 #9
Yes, they are sort of a pale pinkish brown color. Really pretty. Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #14
When I opened your post cyclonefence Aug 2023 #6
TY so much, cyclonefence! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #10
You're right, they don't build em like they used to.. Deuxcents Aug 2023 #8
I agree Deuxcents! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #12
I grew up in Miami and those old art deco buildings Deuxcents Aug 2023 #17
True - Those older buildings give a city a unique face. Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #18
Beautiful workmanship! 70sEraVet Aug 2023 #11
Absolutely, 70sEraVet. Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #13
And unless they come up with a way to resurrect those workers, there will never be another like it. 70sEraVet Aug 2023 #16
Recently Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #19
A story, if you dont mind Diamond-Dog. I think you'd appreciate. 70sEraVet Aug 2023 #23
Wow! What a discovery! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #25
Thanks, Diamond. Glad you enjoyed. 70sEraVet Aug 2023 #30
I wish they still built beautiful buildings. LisaM Aug 2023 #15
I know - the bottom line is often what counts most. Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #20
Sadly most of the skilled craftsmen are gone, and restoring historic buildings takes time and housecat Aug 2023 #21
I was disgusted to learn that there is an actual school of architectural niyad Aug 2023 #28
Very effective combination of arts & craft plus art nouveau (art deco) styles. Do you know the date ShazamIam Aug 2023 #22
Yes, I looked it up Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #24
So beautiful. Thank you. niyad Aug 2023 #26
Thank you, niyad! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #27
First let me compliment you absolutely on the photo. It is very good! PatrickforB Aug 2023 #29
Thank you so much, PatrickforB! Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #31
Well, I certainly would not be surprised if he had been a freemason, or perhaps a practitioner of PatrickforB Aug 2023 #32
It certainly is, when you understand the design and the times in which it was built. Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #33
Can I ask what city? we can do it Aug 2023 #34
Youngstown, Ohio Diamond_Dog Aug 2023 #35

CaliforniaPeggy

(152,301 posts)
1. What a beautiful detail, my dear Diamond_Dog!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 07:28 PM
Aug 2023

I just love its ornate textures. I guess I'm just a romantic viewer at heart!

Thank you for posting this bit of beauty.

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
3. Thank you, CaliforniaPeggy.
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 07:57 PM
Aug 2023

I stumbled upon this purely by accident - I was sitting in our parked car while my husband ran in to pick up our pizza order … I happened to notice this beautiful detail around the bank building windows so I took a quick phone camera shot. I am happy you like it! They don’t build things like this any more!

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
4. Thank you, brer cat!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 07:59 PM
Aug 2023

I love these old buildings with the beautiful craftsmanship and detail. They don’t build ‘em like this any more.

cyclonefence

(4,873 posts)
6. When I opened your post
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:06 PM
Aug 2023

I instantly saw the top part of the window, and I really and truly went "Oh!" out loud.

You've taken a beautiful photo of a spectacular architectural detail--I love it!

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
10. TY so much, cyclonefence!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:14 PM
Aug 2023

I am happy you liked my photo so much!

Just picture the workers creating this beautiful piece. Someone had to design it, too. And it still looks beautiful after 94 years!

Deuxcents

(19,950 posts)
8. You're right, they don't build em like they used to..
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:10 PM
Aug 2023

I love the ornate old architectures. I also always hope they don’t raze the old buildings because the modern ones just don’t have any expression..they’re so sterile.

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
12. I agree Deuxcents!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:15 PM
Aug 2023

Probably a lot of these ornate buildings, bridges, etc. were built during the Depression I bet.

Deuxcents

(19,950 posts)
17. I grew up in Miami and those old art deco buildings
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:33 PM
Aug 2023

Are just beautiful…better than the ones they tried to replicate

70sEraVet

(4,196 posts)
11. Beautiful workmanship!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:14 PM
Aug 2023

Imagine if the facade ( am i using the right word?) were damaged over one of those windows, and they asked a contractor to rebuild it just like it was. Think of the face he'd make!

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
19. Recently
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:42 PM
Aug 2023

A 100-year old movie theatre in my area was renovated back to its original glory, complete with a plethora of wall details, a huge chandelier in the lobby, refinished marble and brass, it’s just stunning. I wonder where they found the painters who could refurbish all the detail on the walls.
I love that people are starting to care about historical treasures like this.

70sEraVet

(4,196 posts)
23. A story, if you dont mind Diamond-Dog. I think you'd appreciate.
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 09:29 PM
Aug 2023

Five years ago, my wife and i bought what was once a grand old Victorian style home, built in 1907. We got it for a song, because it had been neglected for many years, and, it was in this tiny rural town in Tennessee that had once been a very flourishing, promising town, but the interstates had bypassed it, and the train line quit running passenger cars through it.
What attracted me most about the home, is that most of the house was ORIGINAL! Still had old, wavy glass windows, lathe and plaster walls with wallpaper on walls AND ceilings!
Anyway, the thing i wanted to tell you, is that many of the rooms still had original woodwork (doors, door and window trim, baseboard, etc.), and i was struck by the 'fact' that each room had its own type of wood. The octagonal library had mahogany woodwork, the parlor had oak, the upstairs had quarter-cut oak, and the dining room even had burl wood, including the panels of the pocket doors!
It was a couple of months after working on it, that i realized that all of the woodwork was PAINTED to LOOK like different types of wood! It was all apparently southern yellow pine, a very hard species of pine that was very plentiful here back in the day.
Anyway, i thought you would like that. Of course, I'm trying to make the house livable, but preserving everything I can.

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
25. Wow! What a discovery!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 09:38 PM
Aug 2023

Someone PAINTED all that pine to make it look like different kinds of wood? That’s just unbelievable! That really must have taken some kind of skill!

Thank you for sharing that amazing story! And good luck refurbishing your beautiful Victorian!

LisaM

(28,687 posts)
15. I wish they still built beautiful buildings.
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:25 PM
Aug 2023

Some of the crap they throw up now is so ugly in pains me to look at it.

housecat

(3,138 posts)
21. Sadly most of the skilled craftsmen are gone, and restoring historic buildings takes time and
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 08:59 PM
Aug 2023

more money than many owners/cities can afford.

niyad

(120,398 posts)
28. I was disgusted to learn that there is an actual school of architectural
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 09:53 PM
Aug 2023

design called, very proudly apparently, brutalism. WHY???

ShazamIam

(2,716 posts)
22. Very effective combination of arts & craft plus art nouveau (art deco) styles. Do you know the date
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 09:27 PM
Aug 2023

date of the building?
Arts and crafts style: 1850- 1915, Art Nouveau style: 1880-1910 with Art Deco/modernism dated as 1880-1940.
I used to buy/sell antiques/vintage stuff and had noticed things kind of stood still during the depression era with repeats of various earlier styles versus new designs which dominated after WWII.

*Edit: thing to things.

PatrickforB

(15,121 posts)
29. First let me compliment you absolutely on the photo. It is very good!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 09:59 PM
Aug 2023

What I'm interested in is the symbols - the five inverted pentagrams moving across the top frame.

For those who have not thought about this, the pentagram symbolizes the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) and spirit. Placed upright the lower left leg of the star is earth. The left arm is air. The right leg is fire, and the right arm is water. The upper point of the pentagram is considered to be immortal spirit, also called akasha.

It is interesting that the designer of ornate masonry placed these pentagrams upside down, signifying that earth and fire rule, with air and water below, and all four of the elements (earthly things, desires, attachments) rule over spirit.

That is quite something, and your photo captures the essence of this in a stunning way. Very skilled.

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
31. Thank you so much, PatrickforB!
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 10:14 PM
Aug 2023

So apparently this isn’t just a pretty design, there is some rich symbolism behind the designs. Thank you so much for lending your expertise. That’s fascinating.

I also noticed that there were many leaves and flowers (tulips?) and daisies? in the designs.

The designer of the building is Morris Scheibel if that means anything to you and it was built in 1929.

PatrickforB

(15,121 posts)
32. Well, I certainly would not be surprised if he had been a freemason, or perhaps a practitioner of
Fri Aug 18, 2023, 11:40 PM
Aug 2023

some other esoteric art.

By putting those pentagrams upside down, he was making a statement in living stone that for that building and those in it, money and power (earth and fire) ruled over that immortal flame that is spirit. I suspect he knew exactly what he was doing.

If you think about it, the really fascinating thing is the year the building was erected - 1929. The October crash that year brought on the Great Depression. Perhaps he was prescient, either consciously or unconsciously.

I just think this whole thing is fascinating, Diamond Dog. It really is.

Diamond_Dog

(34,991 posts)
33. It certainly is, when you understand the design and the times in which it was built.
Sat Aug 19, 2023, 07:57 AM
Aug 2023

The Historical Society occasionally gives walking tours of downtown architecture. Now you made me want to go on one.

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