More Austin

A walk around downtown.Old Texas home, local sandstone, covered porch. It would be nice to think that this will be saved, but I doubt it, probably will be torn down. Austin is a real boomtown right now, building all over, which means that many wonderful old buildings will be lost before someone wakes up and tries to save some of them.A wonderful old home now being used as a business.  Nice for now, but at some point the land will be much more valuable with a larger structure.Now here is a great example of adaptive reuse through the years. Built in 1874 by the Morely bros. who were Druggists – I guess the word pharmacists wasn’t used in those days. At a latter date the blade sign was added, still a drug store with a soda fountain. Since then it has become a music venue, notice the banner for SXSW is proudly waving out front.Wonderful old theater, the sign is newer, although to an untrained eye, it all looks old.The 1920′-30’s must have been good times in Austin, there is a lot of Art Deco. Love how the old sits next to the ‘new’.This doorway is completely Art Deco, the whole building is, but this is the best feature.Look up at the Beaux Arts details.Look down at more modern mosaic street art.Signage on buildings.One of the many bars on 6th street.And then there is the Frost Bank Tower.   One thing I’ve noticed about the sky line of many newer buildings is how they play with glass and interesting shapes. Of course the color changes with atmospheric changes as well.Once again, thanks Becky for the night shot.

Standing right underneath you don’t get to see the tip of the tower. I was calling this style Neo-Art Deco. A term I may have coined myself.  The base is wide and squat, then the tower rises with some setbacks the taller it gets.  Of course the wonderful ornate roof line that just keeps drawing the eye further up.

I know, purists codify a style and nothing can ever be as good as the original. But in design and architecture, one is always looking back.  Then a good designer takes the elements and creates something new. Kudos to the Architects, I think they created a masterpiece.