"Fire and Ice" and The Flack Block

In this post I feature the Flack Block, the inspiration for another work in my Vancouver (VBC) Gargoyles and landmarks series. The series highlights decorative details on well known Vancouver landmarks, which I refer to as "gargoyles" because they add a fanciful air to the Vancouver skyline and give character to the structures they guard or adorn.

The “Flack Block” was built for, and named after, Thomas Flack who struck gold in 1897 at the beginning of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Investment money from the gold rush had created a building boom along West Hastings Street. The Flack Block, built in the Romanesque revival style, is located at the corner of West Hastings and Cambie Streets. It is the work of William Blackman (1842-1904), built between 1899 and 1900. It has four storeys, a stone, brick and masonry façade and columns and arch details on windows. The façade is dominated by a richly decorated arched doorway on the Hastings Street entrance.

 Hastings Street entrance details:

The original Provincial Court Building, built at Court House Square, now Victory Square, was in the then centre of the city's financial and legal district. The Flack Block, located across the street, held offices of barristers, insurance agents, mining brokers, gold dealers and jewellers and the original Bank of Vancouver with small retailers at street level.

Years of neglect left the building in disrepair and a face lift removed the arched, carved doorway. This heritage building has recently been carefully restored including recreating the details on the arched doorway from historical photographs. The restoration of the building, by the Salient Group, received a 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award from Heritage BC.

"Fire and Ice" by Gillian Olson © 2010

It is the carved arched doorway that is the subject of my work “Fire and Ice” which brings together several of the elements of the doorway. Done in ink and watercolour, the ink work was finished with orange and blue washes to highlight the contrast between the dragons and the facial elements. This image is available as cards or prints, for more details see my website http://www.pswhimsy.com/

Hope you enjoy this Whimsy Wednesday post.

Just one more thing for today........ Go Canucks Go!

Marine Building and "Marine Mosaic"

The Marine Building at 355 Burrard Street in Vancouver was built in the art deco style. Designed by McCarter, Nairne and partners (they also designed the Georgia Medical Dental Building), it took 16 months to complete and opened in October 1930. It has 21 floors, and rises 321 feet. The exterior is terra cotta coloured brick and cream coloured brick decoration making it resemble, to some, an iced cake. Built for G A Stimson Co., by the time it was completed the stock market had collapsed, the owner was in financial difficulty and, as a result it was sold (for less than it cost to build) to British Pacific Building Co. (owned by the Guinness family of Ireland). The Guinness family had previously bought property in West Vancouver and had financed construction of the Lions Gate Bridge to provide access to their new subdivision British Properties (see my earlier blog, "Lion at the Gate" on the Lions Gate Bridge).

Marine Building reflection

A J Taylor, managing director of British Pacific Building Co., converted the observation deck of the Marine Building into a penthouse apartment for himself, his wife and his daughters, but later moved out because his wife disliked the height.

The interior of the Marine Building is beautifully appointed with several types of hardwood, brass and stone. Both the interior and exterior are decorated with striking relief sculpture in a marine theme.

Lobby details

Exterior details

The building was renovated from 1982 to 1989 to update the structure, during which the lobby floor was replaced with marble and the former Merchant Exchange on the ground floor was replaced by a restaurant.

The variety of marine life and lore on the building is fascinating and includes ships, marine birds, fish and shells and images of Neptune. This is what interested me in the building and why I chose the mosaic theme which allows me to integrate these elements in a single piece. Here is my tribute to the Marine Building titled "Marine Mosaic":

Here are more of my marine theme works:

 "Barnacle Beaks"

"Beached by a Storm"

 "Ocean Pearls"



 "See Shells"

"Seeing Stars"

These images are available on 5" x 7" cards or as prints (4" x 6" or 8" x 10") at http://www.pswhimsy.com/

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Just a reminder:

ART SHOW @ Knox Fellowship Hall, May 29, 2011 from 11 am to 3 pm. My painting friends and I will be having an art show and sale at Knox Fellowship Hall on Sunday, May 29, 2011. Knox Fellowship Hall is located beside Knox United Church at 5600 Balaclava Street, one block east of Blenheim just north of 41st Avenue. There will be a variety of media (watercolour, acrylic, oil), subjects and sizes of original work and light refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there. Here are some of the paintings I will be showing: 

Thank you for reading this latest post.

"Creature Comfort" at Cathedral Place

Cathedral Place is named because of its proximity to Christ Church Cathedral. To understand the origins of the decorations on the current tower at Cathedral Place, which has been named The Shaw Tower at Cathedral Place, you need to know a little history.



The Georgia Medical Dental Building, pictured above, was built in 1929 on the corner of Georgia and Hornby Streets. It was an art deco building designed by McCarter, Nairne and Partners (who were also responsible for the design of the Marine Building). The Tower had 17 floors with an exterior facade decorated with terra cotta and masonry. Most of the tenants were doctors and dentists, thus the Medical Dental building title, and it was Vancouver's first comprehensive medical dental building. At about the 10th storey level were three 11 foot terra cotta statues of Nursing Sisters in WW1 uniforms, one on each of the corners along Georgia and Hornby Streets. These statues were designed by Joseph Francis Watson, a sculptor and architect who worked with McCarter and Nairne, and were chosen to reflect the medical use of the building and to honor the WW1 nurses that McCarter credited with saving his life when he was badly injured while serving overseas in WW1. In the 1980's when the building was found not to be up to the earthquake standards of the time, it was gutted and then brought down by a controlled explosion. The demolition took place on Sunday morning May 28, 1989 and lasted 10 seconds. The streets around the building were closed off and a large crowd gathered to witness the event.

      

The three terra cotta nursing sisters were the only items from the facade that were saved. The Vancouver Museum took the least damaged head from the three statues, (which had deteriorated through time and neglect), repaired and patched it and holds it for display. A fibre glass replica of this head, shown below, is now on display in the lobby at Cathedral Place.


The original statues were too badly damaged and too heavy to be remounted on the new building. They had been molded in terra cotta and filled with concrete and weighed about 5000 pounds each. The least damaged statue was repaired and used as a model to build fibre glass replicas (500 pounds each).
"Requiem for the Medical Dental Building" contains some interesting details about the building and pictures of the nursing sisters and front entrance way. The article compares the Nurses' statues to "twentieth century gargoyles" and suggests they were "placed there in 1929 to remind us that it is now the wonders of modern science, not the mysteries of medieval superstition and magic, that will save us from evil spirits...".

The Shaw Tower at Cathedral Place, a 23 storey office tower, was opened in 1992. It was built in a post modern style, the facade includes limestone, granite and blue green reflective glass. Paul Merrick headed the design team. The decorations on the exterior of the building, which  were done by Ital Decor Ltd. include replicas of the Nursing Sisters (about the 3rd storey level), gargoyles placed much higher up the building (perhaps going unnoticed by many) and beautiful relief sculpture. Highlights of the molding and placement of the decorative details can be viewed in this slideshow. In 2003, 3 more replicas of the nursing sisters statues, called the "Sisters of Mercy", were mounted on the UBC Technology Enterprise Facility III.



The Nursing Sisters, gargoyles and some of the other decorative details were used in the ink and watercolour work "Creature Comfort". I found the contrast between the noble stance of the nurses and the menacing look of the gargoyles very compelling. The Shaw Tower's roof in blue green glass is to me a modern homage to the copper roof on the Hotel Vancouver, just across Georgia Street.


ART SHOW @ Knox Fellowship Hall, May 29, 2011 from 11 am to 3 pm 

My painting friends and I will be having an art show and sale at Knox Fellowship Hall on Sunday, May 29, 2011. Knox Fellowship Hall is located beside Knox United Church at 5600 Balaclava Street,
one block east of Blenheim just north of 41st Avenue. There will be a variety of media (watercolour, acrylic, oil), subjects and sizes of original work and light refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there. Here are some of the paintings I will be showing: 

Thank you for reading this post, please feel free to leave a comment.