The reason the picture looks a little stretched is that every brick in City Hall was made two inches longer than standard to reflect the proportions of the building (which is … er … very long).
A magnificent mélange of Art Deco bronze, stone, rare woods and hand-made brick, City Hall - while minimalist on the outside - boasts some spectacular sculpture and detailing inside, reminiscent of the Chrysler Building (the lifts are spiffy beyond words; I shall have to sneak my camera in one day) and the longest balcony in the country. It was also - somewhat distastefully - Hitler's favourite building in England and thanks to the misguided taste of that dismal failure of an artist was spared being bombed during WWII (he intended to use it as his centre of government after the invasion when London was flattened, probably dreaming of strutting up and down the balcony). What a dick.
Anyhoo … Angels. Enjoy.
13 comments:
I confess I've not seen that one, Kate. Leo was good in The Departed but before that his attractions were lost on me.
You know I actually started thinking in reply, "well, Dive, get yourself some pot and ......"
But then I remembered I'm a good mummy figure now and not Attila from the chronicles.
It's a bit of a visual feast of a movie, great for one of those brain dead slothy type nights.
Great building and love the art deco style angels... They make a wonderful complement to the bricks. Thanks for that bit on Hitler in the history... I would say that Mr. D. Head was just as you described.
Bises,
Genie
Kate, every night is a brain-dead slothy night in my house. I'll watch out for it on the movie channels.
Genie, I shall endeavour to sneak a camera past the security guards next time I have a meeting in the Planning Department. The interior detailing of the building is an Art Deco marvel.
Judging by their facial expressions, those angels mean business. You're lucky to have them on your side.
I never argue with stern-looking people carrying swords, Robyn. Especially when they've also got scary skeleton feet like these two.
I love the art deco angels and cannot wait to see the lifts! Thanks for the dickhead history. I did recently watch Inglorious Basterds and thought that I heard a reference to Norwich. I heard a reference to your fair Norwich somewhere, anyway, but the triple-digit temperatures have melted my brain a bit.
Thanks!
I was wondering at the stylized appearance of the angels, which turned out to have feet with horrible bunions! Can't even get a good pair of shoes in heaven, huh! Is there any sucha thing as a sexy pair of comfortable shoes - a sort of cross between Jimmy Choo and New Balance?
Gorgeous.
I love Art Deco and I hope sometime you are successful in sneaking in a few interior shots. The angels look like they mean business -- at first glance, I thought one would shout, "en garde!" at any moment.
Speaking of Nazi dicks, I read that R. Hess's bones and gravesite were destroyed to prevent it from becoming a Neo-Nazi shrine.
"Touche!"
I hope that heatwave breaks soon, Neetzy. I'll have to watch Inglorious Basterds and listen out for the reference (at last I have an excuse to watch it after all the bad reviews).
Speedway, those feet are creepy; they look like skeleton feet to me. You're right, of course, some decent shoes would help. If the statue were not so high up (or so close to the police station) I might be tempted to climb up there and fit them with a pair of pink, sparkly platform shoes.
Concise and accurate as ever, Lucio.
Ms.M. They get snotty about letting cameras inside (probably more to do with selling their own guide books than security) but I have the occasional meeting in there so I'll see what I can do.
Yes, I heard about Hess. The neo-Nazis will have to go parade somewhere they're more welcome; perhaps they can go work for the Koch brothers or get jobs on Fox News where they'd fit in just fine.
Dive, I'm Ms. M's husband and have enjoyed your postings. I write about architecture for several U.S. and U.K. publications and currently doing an omnibus review on art deco in Iraq and the Philippines. Your photo of the Norwich city hall fascinated me. Who was the city hall's architect? Are there other architects who tapped Aumonier's sculptural skills? Or other art deco architects who also went for art deco angels. I don't like using Facebook altho I have an account, and use email for my architectural as well as personal communication. How can you be contacted other than this blog?
Hi, Norm! So good to hear from you.
Norwich City Hall's architects were Charles Holloway James and Stephen Rowland Pierce. Most of the building's sculptures were by Alfred Hardiman (including some awesome and very stylised bronze lions flanking the entrance but Aumonier carved the stone figures on the façades (weirdly, the best ones are right around the back, hidden from view from all bar the car park attendant).
Aumonier was used (together with the much better known Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore and Eric Gill) to provide a series of statues for the London Underground system, my favourite of which are Epstein's truly scary and bizarre figures on the great Art Deco building that now houses St.James's Park tube station and the London Underground headquarters.
I'm afraid that's all I know about him.
As for contacting me (I keep my addresses away from my blog as I have a stalker), I'll send a message to Ms.M via facebook with my email address.
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