Southlands Moderne
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The National Trust Guide to Art Deco America (ISBN 0471143863) lists eight buildings in Houston, all are obviously in this book with another ninety or so but look through the photos and it becomes clear that many of them are living on borrowed time unless the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance can save them.
The authors (they took the photos, too) have done a great job in capturing the essence of probably every Deco/Moderne building in Houston. There are a few interiors but mostly they are exteriors and some close-ups of detail. Divided into commercial, theaters, institutional, residential and industrial sections. Each section has at least one gem, I loved the interior of the Alabama Theater which is now a bookshop but unfortunately it looks like it will be demolished soon. Page thirteen has a fascinating period postcard of an aerial view of the River Oaks Community Center designed in 1937, the buildings still stands but for how long?
The printing and design of the book are fine and the back includes a building index, a short bibliography and nicely an alphabetical index of architects. If you live in the city the book will be an excellent reminder of some good working architecture of past decades. For others, like me, it's a useful visual reference to a European design cleverly modified to an American style.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
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