Art Deco celluloid lady

This nude figure entwined with celluloid film is one of two that have been mounted in a wall in a new retail development in Cheltenham. They are Art Deco style sculptures made of stone, the work of Newbury Abbot Trent (1885-1953) and were originally on the front elevation of the 1932 Odeon cinema. They were saved when the cinema was demolished in 2014 and placed in their current location in 2015. The ladies make a striking pair and re-using them in this way was the right thing to do. It's just a shame that they have to be covered with plastic sheets. Perhaps a higher location that didn't necessitate a covering would have been better.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Former Franklin Barnes building, Bridge St, Hereford

The surprise building on Bridge Street, Hereford, is this 1930s Art Deco/Moderne building. It looks like it could have been a cinema but in fact was the retail premises of the local farm and garden merchant, Franklin Barnes & Co Ltd. The structure is steel framed with green and cream Vitrolite cladding. The stepped top, flag-posts, horizontal window bands, green "streamlines" and minimalist clock are all typical of Britain's somewhat underwhelming embrace of Modernism. All these details on the main elevation were wisely retained when it was restored c.2008. What was added at this time was the three red squares. Purists might deplore such an addition. I think they go well with the original design and improve it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Odeon Cinema, Weston-super-Mare

When the Odeon cinema was built in Weston-super-Mare in 1935 (architect T. Cecil Hewitt) it must have looked like the future had arrived. Its size, its Art Deco/Streamline aesthetic, its presence on the street corner, and the virtual absence of ornament, all marked it as different from most of the buildings being erected around that year. Only some of the blocky "Moderne" houses with their flat roofs, horizontal windows and glazing bars, and their stark white paint could compete. The Odeon still looks great today. The faience tiles in basket weave pattern have lasted well, as has the original windows and glazing and the lettering on the tower. The crowning glory (literally) is the tower with its twelve short columns and flat roof, the climax of a necessary vertical accent among all the horizontals.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10