The Gerry Building

These days I try and take my camera with me when I am about town.  Even when I am somewhere I go often, like the garment district downtown.  I don’t know how many times  I’ve walked by this building, of course  I think the color changed recently.The Jerry BuildingSorry about  the quality of the picture, I cleaned my lens when I got home.

First of all, this style is a little unusual in the garment district, and this building was built for for garment show rooms, unlike other Beaux Arts buildings in the area that served other purposes. This is Streamline Moderne, late Art Deco.  One of these posts will be about architectural styles in LA, right now, I’ll just mention that  at the end of the Art Deco period (1930s’), money was tight , no more major decorative elements and a very strong horizontal feeling. Think big steamer ships. P1020178The color picture is mine, but you can see, in 1947, the only difference is the color and the cars.  This building was built in 1947, which is really after Art Deco ended (WWII put an end to most building for a good 5 years). Maybe the design was already approved, so once the war was over and the economy was coming back the developers just went with what they had and built the building.

Today it is once again used for fashion showrooms. Although it seems that someone wants to turn this into apartments.  I wish they would leave some of the buildings downtown for business – this isn’t suburbia after all.P1020179LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the lettering, the only decoration on the building. It just screams Art Deco!  I have no idea who Gerry was, I’m guessing it’s the name of the developers.  And I also love the bright orange color. I know it’s not original to the period, but it’s ok if some buildings take on a more modern look. I’m not a purist when it comes to restoring buildings.

Leah

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