Past Post: Modern Ideals

April 24th, 2008 @ 12:59 am by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post |

Anne Forestieri let me know about an upcoming lecture by Alan Hess on Googie architecture held on May 21 at the Swedish Club. Here are the details below and I’ve coupled two postcards of some modern Seattle buildings, Washington Plaza and the Norton Building. Thanks Anne, we’ll see you there.

A Second Look: Googie Architecture and the Modern Ideal
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Docomomo WEWA presents a lecture on Googie architecture. The event will be held at 6:30 pm at the Swedish Cultural Center (1920 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle). California architecture critic Alan Hess will examine how Googie architecture successfully combined Modernism and popular culture and why it is important today. Docomomo WEWA thanks our co-sponsors for the event””360 Modern, Historic Seattle, Seattle MODERN, the Swedish Cultural Center, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. For tickets ($10 each) and information, visit Docomomo WEWA’s website at http://www.docomomo-wewa.org/events.php.

Front: Washington Plaza Hotel Seattle Washington. This 40-story circular toward — 96 feet in diameter — is Seattle’s newest hotel. Combined with the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, the entire complex provides a total of 715 guest rooms; an adjacent seven-story garage accommodates 415 cars. The unusual building and beautifully landscaped plaza give an entirely new concept to the downtown section of Seattle.

Front: The Norton Building. 1st and Columbia, Seattle, Wash. The new, unique 21-story office building has 200,000 square feet of office space and a 300 car parking garage. This building has the appearance of being built completely of glass and aluminum. It has complete air conditioning throughout and was built at a cost of $12 million. It has the finest elevators in the country and all elevator cars go directly to the parking area. On the top floor is the Harbor Club, a membership men’s club.

5 Responses to “Past Post: Modern Ideals”

1. didi says:

   April 24, 2008 at 9:27 am

   That first one reminds me of the Marina Towers in Chicago.
2. RPH says:

   April 24, 2008 at 9:45 am

   Now you’ve got me Googling “Googie”.
3. Holly says:

   April 24, 2008 at 1:48 pm

   The first one is now one of the Westin Towers, yes? I always thought they were both built at the same time.

   It says something about the era that both post cards note the parking capacity of the buildings.
4. Cliffe says:

   April 24, 2008 at 6:12 pm

   Holly: Ya. The tower in the photo was built in 1969. The 2nd tower was built in 1982. The Orpheum was torn down in the 60′s to make way for the towers.

   Cliffe
5. Leroy says:

   April 24, 2008 at 11:36 pm

   You all should be looking at the website for the local DocomomoWeWa group. See the style section.