A Spirit of Progress - Miles Lewis

DECOTECH 

DECOTECH 

th the materials t i l and d techniques t h i 

of the twenties and thirties 

Miles Lewis 

MMildura ld 2008

former Capitol Theatre, 39 Langtree Ave, c 1935-38 

Mildura Rural City

Royal Victoria Regiment drill hall, San Mateo & Twelfth St, Mildura. Mid-1920s 

Mildura Rural City

7 Princess St, Mildura 

Miles Lewis

former Astor Theatre, 20-22 Langtree Avenue, Mildura 

Mildura Rural City

former 

Commercial 

Bank of 

Australia, 45 

Langtree 

Avenue, Mildura, 

c 1932 93 

Mildura Rural City

Deakin House, 

Etherington’s 

Etherington s 

Jewellers, 65 

Deakin Avenue, 

Mildura, 1932 

Joe Pasquale

Temperance & 

General Building, g, 

Eighth Street & 

Langtree Avenue, 

Mild Mildura, bby A & K 

Henderson, 1937 


Temperance & General BBuildings, ildings Eighth Street & Langtree AAvenue, en e Mild Mildura, ra bby A & K 

Henderson, 1937; 115 Collins St, Hobart, by A & K Henderson, 1938 

Miles Lewis; Patrick Van Daele & Roy Lumby, A Spirit of Progress: Art Deco in Australia (Sydney 1997), p 81

Mildura Base Hospital Hospital, 137 Thirteenth Street Street, Mildura Mildura, 

by Irwin & Stevenson, 1933-4 


Mildura Base Hospital 

from a postcard

Mildura Base Hospital, details 

Joe Pasquale

Mildura Base Hospital, entrance area; ‘Craigend’, Sydney, by Bloomfield & 

McCulloch, completed 1935 

Joe Pasquale; Robert Irving, John Kinstler & Max Dupain, Fine Houses of Sydney (Sydney 1982), p 126

Ci Civic i BBuilding, ildi DDeakin ki AAvenue, Mild Mildura 


CCommercial i l BBank k of f AAustralia, t li 45 LLangtree t AAvenue, Mild Mildura, 

c 1932; Commonwealth Bank, 83 Pacific Highway, Roseville, 

NSW, by the Department of the Interior, c 1936 

Mildura Rural City; Patrick Van Daele & Roy Lumby, A Spirit of Progress: Art 

Deco in Australia (Sydney 1997), p 102

Irymple Packing 

Company, 

Merbein 

before and after 

refurbishment 

Miles Lewis 

Mildura Rural City

what is Art 

D Deco? 

?

Villa Savoye, Poissy, Seine-et-Oise, by Le Corbusier, 1928-31 

Adrian Tinniswood, The Art Deco House (London 2002), p 71

Penguin Pool, 

Regent’s Park 

Zoo, Lonsdon, by 

Berthold 

LLubetkin, b tki 1933 1933-55 

Tinniswood, The Art 

Deco House, p 15

‘Ornament is Crime’ 

Alkolf Loos, Loos Ornament und Verbrechen Verbrechen, 1908

Unity Temple, Oak 

PPark, k Illinois, Illi i USA, USA by b 

Frank Lloyd Wright c 

1905 

Elliot Katz, 'A Day Trip to Oak 

Park', Spirit of Progress, 9, 2, 33 

(Autumn 2008), p 11

the Schröder House, Utrecht, Netherlands, by Gerrit Rietveld, 1924 

Tinniswood, The Art Deco House, p 58

eastplate depicting Osiris, from Tutenkhamen's tomb 


Aeolic capitals 

from Salamis 

and Cyprus, 7th 

Century BC 

Musée de 

Louvre, Paris 


ollout drawing of a vertical drum 

Esther Pazstory, Aztec Art (New York 1983), p 273, after Marquina

ug owned by Robyn Saalfield & Robin Grow 

Robyn Saalfield & Robin Grow, 'Floor Coverings in the Art Deco Era‘, Spirit of Progreess, 8, 

1, 28 (Summer 2007), p 23

Le Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau, 1925, by Le Corbusier & Pierre 

Jeanneret, with sculpture by Lipchitz 


salon in the Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau, 1925 

Frank Scarlett & Marjorie Townley Townley, Arts Décoratifs 1925: a Personal 

Recollection of the Paris Exhibition (London 1975), p 7

Chambre de Dame in the Galeries Lafayette Pavilion 

Scarlett & Townley, Arts Décoratifs 1925, p 47

Cabinet de Travail, by Eric Bagge 


Bureau by Djo Bourgeois for Studium Louvre 


1925 Exposition, p , Paris: entrance to the Studium Louvre Pavilion; ; detail of the 

Porte d'Honneur, by Henri Favier and André Ventre 

Scarlett & Townley, Arts Décoratifs 1925, pp 39, 20

Cercle Française de Tientsin [French Club] Club], 29 Jie Fang Bei Rd 

(cnr Bin Jang Rd) , Tianjin, China, 1931-2 


Cercle Française de 

Tientsin [French 

Club], 29 Jie Fang 

Bei Rd (cnr Bin Jang 

Rd) , Tianjin, Tianjin China, China 

1931-2: entrance 


8-10 Jie Fang Bei Rd (cnr Bin Jang Rd), Tianjin, China 


88-10 10 Jie Ji FFang 

Bei Rd (cnr 

Bin Jang Rd) Rd), 

Tianjin, China 

detail at the 

entrance 


Beaux Arts Ball, Hotel Astor, New York, 1931 (William van Alen as the Chrysler Building) 


the stepped profile 

'Empire State' AWA Radio, with matching cigarette box, in bakelite, 1935 

T & G tower, Mildura, 1937 

Peter Sheridan, 'Australian Bakelite Classics: "The AWA Radiolette"', Spirit of Progress, 8, 1, 28 

(Summer 2007), cover ;Joe Pasquale

Chrysler Building, New York 

Luna Park entrance, entrance Milsons Point Point, NSW NSW, 1935 

Miles Lewis [ed] Architectura (London 2008), p 70 

Van Daele & Lumby, A Spirit of Progress, p 189

THE IMPACT OF 

OF 

THE 

EXPOSITION 

DES ARTS 

DÉCORATIFS 

CORATIFS

Th The PParis i show h iis full f ll of f novel l conceits it and, d bbut t ffor th the 

modern sculpture, which is uniformly vile, pleasing and 

striking striking. In furniture and interior decorating, decorating especially in 

lighting effects, many ideas could be picked up. Even when 

the designs are outré, they always are artistic and possess a 

cachet of their own ...... 

th though h some of f th the pavilions ili are most t bbrazen iinnovations ti on 

what we would consider artistic fitness, they are strikingly 

original and attractive so long as sculptural details are not 

too closely examined. Some of the "cubist" wall decorations 

– well, they are the dizzy limit! .... the palais des marbres et 

mosaiques is gorgeous 

Ernest Wunderlich, Wunderlich All My Yesterdays (Sydney 1945), 1945) pp 93 93-44

Wunderlich 

Limited, 

Colour in 

Wunderlich 

Products 

(Sydney 

1933)

'Modernistic' 

Osbert Lancaster, Homes Sweet 

Homes (London 1939), p 73

title page g 

Carol Hardwick, 

'The Influence 

of Art Deco on 

Architecture in 

Victoria' 

(2 vols, MArch, 

University of 

Melbourne, 

1980)

FLORA & FAUNA

Castlemaine Art 

Gallery & 

Museum, 

LLyttleton ttl t St, St 

Castlemaine, 

1931 


planter box, Castlemaine Art Gallery & Museum, 

Lyttleton St St, Castlemaine Castlemaine, 1931 


‘Burnham Beeches’, Sherbrook, by Harry Norris, 1933-4 


cement relief decoration at ‘B rnham Beeches’ 

cement relief decoration at ‘Burnham Beeches’ 


cement relief frogs, g , North Sydney y y Olympic y p Swimming g Pool, , Olympic y p Place, , Milson's 

Point, by Rudder & Grout, 1936 : photo by Mark Ferson 

Mark Ferson & Mary Nilsson [eds], Art Deco in Australia: Sunrise over the Pacific (Sydney 2001), p 86

W d li h Li it d C l i W d li h P d t (S d 1933) 

Wunderlich Limited, Colour in Wunderlich Products (Sydney 1933) 

Adrian Feint, Mary Grey & Hera Roberts, The Charm of Colour in the Home, 

with Hints on Interior Decoration (Parramatta [NSW] no date, c 1935)

decoration by Adrian Feint 

Adrian Feint, Mary Grey & Hera Roberts, The Charm of Colour in the Home, with Hints on Interior Decoration 

(Parramatta [NSW] no date c 1935) pp 8-9

decoration by Hera Roberts & Mary Grey 

Feint et al, The Charm of Colour in the Home, pp 5, 12

MATERIALS 

Arts & Crafts v High-Tech 

High Tech

‘Rio Vista’, Mildura, 1891 


Murray pine 

lining in the 

library of ‘Rio Rio 

Vista’ 


Mildura 

buildings 

in the pre- pre 

Modern 

ttradition diti 


Sh Shops and d Offi Offices at t Mild Mildura ffor MMessrs W BBowring i & CCo: 

signed 8 August 1928, by Andrew Douglas, contractor: 

elevation to Eighth St 

State Library of Victoria

Shops for W Bowring & : elevation to Langtree Avenue Avenue, detail 

State Library of Victoria

The new approach to materials, which 

contrasts with that of the Arts and 

Crafts, is to make them seem as 

synthetic th ti as possible, ibl rather th than th as 

natural as possible. 

Most Art Deco building is in more or 

less traditional materials, but they are 

made to look as High High-Tech Tech as possible possible.

United 

Kingdom 

Hotel, 199 

Queens 

Parade, 

Clifton Hill, 

byJH by J H 

Wardrop, 

1938 

photo: Peter 

Zubov 

Ferson & 

Nilsson, Art 

Deco in 

Australia, p 86

Loddon Bridge Hotel, Bridgewater, Victoria 


Empire State 

Fisk Radiolettes 

of 1935 

'Fret & Foot' 

Fisk Radiolettes 

of 1936 

Peter Sheridan, 

'A 'Australian t li BBakelite k lit 

Classics: "The AWA 

Radiolette"', Spirit of 

Progress, g , 8, , 1, , 28 

(Summer 2007), pp 20, 

21

Gentleman's 

wardrobe in book 

matched, highly 

figured 

Queensland 

Maple 

Brian Scott, 'Veneers: 

Coming of Age', Spirit of 

Progress, 8, 3, 30 (Winter 

2007) 2007), cover

'Colour in 

Bricks and 

Brickettes’ 

Wunderlich Limited, 

Colour in Wunderlich 

Products (Sydney ( y y 

1933), p 69

advertisement, N.S.W. State Brickworks, 1931 

W L Richardson [ed], Ramsay's Architectural Catalogue (Melbourne 1931) 

sec 3f (p 21)

terrazzo in the entry porch of the Commonwealth Bank, 83 Pacific 

Highway, Roseville, NSW, c 1936 

Van Daele & Lumby, A Spirit of Progress, p 103

entrance hall & stair, 'Mahratta', Warrawee, NSW, by Douglas Agnew, 1941 

Ferson & Nilsson [eds], Art Deco in Australia, p 137

'Mahratta‘ 

staircase 

detail 

Van Daele & Lumby, A 

Spiri of Progress, p 30

Manchester Unity 

Building, 220-6 

Collins St St, by 

Marcus Barlow, 

1932: opus p 

sectile plaque 

above the lift 

door 


y, 

Spirit of Progress, p 75

stained glass 

window at the 

Mildura RSL 

Cub, Tenth 

Street & 

Madden 

Avenue. by 

Napier Waller Waller, 

1954 

Rural City of Mildura

Ballarat Observatory 

window, i d 1914 1914, and d 

detail 

Trust News, August 1989, p 26

seascape transom light, Milton House 21-3 Flinders Lane, 

by Sydney Smith & Ogg with Robert Haddon Haddon, 1901 


Wunderglaze 

windows by 

Wunderlich, 

1933 


Colour in Wunderlich 

Products, p 12

Wunderglaze light 

fittings and doors doors, 

1933 

Wunderlich Limited, Colour 

in Wunderlich Products, pp 

13-14

leadlight glass from the former Sydney County Council Offices and Showroom, 

1935, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; flats, 57 Ramsay St, Haberfield, NSW ; 

Criterion Hotel , Pitt & Park Sts Sts, Sydney Sydney, by Copeman Copeman, Lemont & Keesing Keesing, 1936 

Van Daele & Lumby, A Spirit of Progress, pp 100, 139, 177

champlevé enamel: pastoral staff by A W N Pugin, made by John Hardman & Co, 

c 1842; chalice, by J H Powell made by John Hardman & Co, c 1854, both 

Archdiocese of Hobart. Brian Andrews

Jewellery from 

Cartier, 

Exposition 

des Arts 

Décoratifs, 

Paris Paris, 1925 

Scarlett & Townley, 

At Arts Dé Décoratifs tif 

1925, p 70

the stages of 

champlevé 

enamelling lli 

Castlemaine Art 

Gallery 


‘colour colour in 

vitreous 

enamels’ by y 

Wunderlichs 

, 1933 

Wunderlich 

Limited, Colour in 

Wunderlich 

Products, p 5

construction of terra cotta work, Government Savings Bank, 

Martin Place, Sydney, 1926 

Susan Bures, The House of Wunderlich (Kenthurst, NSW, 1987), p 107

capital for Government Savings 

Bank, Martin Place, Sydney, 1926 

Forty Years of Wunderlich Industry, p 20

glazed g terra cota work, National Bank, Dean St, Albury, y 

by W C Meldrum, with F H Newton 


terra cotta work at the Manchester Unity Building, Melbourne, by Marcus 

Barlow: view and detail drawing of the tower 

FFerson & Nilsson, Nil AtD Art Deco in i Australia, A t li p 82 

Journal of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects, XXX, 6 (January 1933), p 123

'Colour Colour in 

Architectural 

Terra Cotta Cotta', , 

by 

Wunderlichs, 

1933 


Colour in 

Wunderlich 

Products (Sydney 

1933)

'Elmslea Chambers', 

17-19 Montague St, 

Goulburn, NSW 

by y L P Burns, , 1934 


Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Co, 41-49 King William Street, Adelaide, by Hennessy & Co,1935-6 


CColonial l i l MMutual t l 

Life Assurance 

CCo, Ad Adelaide, l id 

detail of the 

BBenedict di t St Stone 


Staircase, 

Midlands Hotel, 

Castlemaine, 

Vi Victoria t i 


door handle, 

Midl Midlands d Hotel, H t l 

Castlemaine 


Alberto's of Rome, 

Brisbane St, , 

Launceston, by 

Colin Philp, 1932, 

detail of chrome 

plate decoration 



prizewinning design for a cinema foyer in aluminium by John Carter, 1934 

British Aluminium Co. Ltd. Cinema Foyer Designs in Aluminium (London 1934), pl 1

prizewinning design for a cinema foyer in aluminium by Hilary Lewis Lewis, 1934 

British Aluminium Co. Ltd. Cinema Foyer Designs in Aluminium (London 1934), pl 10.

Monel Metal 

advertisement 

Building, 65, 9 (25 

September 1939), p 10

Buckley & Nunn, 294-6 Bourke St, Melbourne, by Bates, Smart & McCutcheon, 1933 

Julie Willis; Van Daele & Lumby, A Spirit of Progress, p 97

McPherson's 

Building, 546 

Collins St, 

MMelbourne, lb 

by S P Keith Reid & 

John A Pearson; 

Stuart Calder, 

architects in 

association, 1935: 

corner detail 

Van Daele & Lumby, A Spirit of 

y, p 

Progress, p 96

Mural Hall, Myer 

Emporium, 314- 

336 Bourke SSt, 

Melbourne, by H 

W&FB W & F B 

Tompkins, 1933, 

‘Saybrite’ y 

balustrade of the 

Mannequin 

St Staircase i 



SGold S Gold, Neon, Neona a 

Handbook for 

Electrical 

Engineers, 

Neon 

Man Manufacturers, fact rers 

Sign Salesmen 

and Advertisers 

(London 1934), 

cover

tower of the T & G Building, 

Mildura: architect’s detail & 

current view 

State Library of Victoria 

Joe Pasquale

DECOTECH

A Spirit of Progress - Miles Lewis

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