Architectural fins

Decorative architectural fins first came to feature in architecture during the Art Deco period of the 1930s. In the UK their most frequently application was on the facades of cinemas and factories where they added a very "moderne" look to buildings. In the later twentieth century and twenty first century they re-appeared periodically as decorative and functional additions. The example above is the 1 Poole Street extension of the Gainsborough Studios apartments in Hackney, London. Here they add sleek, shiny verticality as well as acting as barriers between apartments to give greater privacy to the residents.

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

Gainsborough Studios

Shoreditch Park, Hackney, is a London park near the Regent's Canal, which hereabouts is the boundary between the boroughs of Islington and Hackney. I imagine that many people using the park wonder why the word "Gainsborough" is spread along the top of a block of flats, and what the rusted metal sculptures in the park signify. The fact is that the block of flats incorporated parts of what was once Gainsborough Studios, a British film studio that produced movies from 1924 to 1951. The studio buildings were not purpose-built: prior to their use for films they were a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway. Alfred Hitchcock did his first work in movies at Gainsborough Studios. That large circular sculpture is, I imagine, based on a film reel.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5