High-Resolution Picture
This is a turnstile at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D. C. It probably dates back to 1961 when the stadium was opened. It is not clear what would happen to this stadium once Washington Nationals and D. C. United move to a new stadium (currently under construction), so this antique treasure may be lost forever.
June 30, 2007
Cole Field House, Art Deco Reliefs, 1955
All Pictures - I strongly recommend to visit the link and enjoy the images in high resolution
These reliefs are embedded in the facade of Cole Field House (an indoor stadium with almost 14,596 seats) at the University of Maryland, and according with the purpose of the building depict various sports activities. This may be a rather late example of art deco, but the geometric rendering of the figures and the ancient goddess figure clearly define the style. The "heroic" representation of sports is also reminiscent with works of art from the New Deal era (and even with Social Realism). Could these reliefs be a relic of an early design for the building which was approved before World War II but was not implemented until early 1950s?
Basketball. The figures are disproportionate, so the goddess looks more like a mother watching kids playing.
Boxing. In terms of proportions, boxers would be taller than basketball players!
Swimming. Notice the proportions again, how tall would the swimmers be if they stood up straight?
Wrestling. Interestingly, this is one of the two "classical" sports depicted here (boxing is the other). The other two are modern.
Even the Maryland coat of arms have been stylized in Art Deco. This is especially evident in the face of the fisherman (right figure).
Unfortunately, I cannot recollect the original location of the reliefs on the facade, except that Maryland coat of arms is in the center.
These reliefs are embedded in the facade of Cole Field House (an indoor stadium with almost 14,596 seats) at the University of Maryland, and according with the purpose of the building depict various sports activities. This may be a rather late example of art deco, but the geometric rendering of the figures and the ancient goddess figure clearly define the style. The "heroic" representation of sports is also reminiscent with works of art from the New Deal era (and even with Social Realism). Could these reliefs be a relic of an early design for the building which was approved before World War II but was not implemented until early 1950s?
Basketball. The figures are disproportionate, so the goddess looks more like a mother watching kids playing.
Boxing. In terms of proportions, boxers would be taller than basketball players!
Swimming. Notice the proportions again, how tall would the swimmers be if they stood up straight?
Wrestling. Interestingly, this is one of the two "classical" sports depicted here (boxing is the other). The other two are modern.
Even the Maryland coat of arms have been stylized in Art Deco. This is especially evident in the face of the fisherman (right figure).
Unfortunately, I cannot recollect the original location of the reliefs on the facade, except that Maryland coat of arms is in the center.
Labels:
College Park,
Maryland,
University of Maryland
June 16, 2007
Baltimore: An Industrial City
All Pictures
Note: I decided not to provide links to individual pictures. The link above has them all. It is much easier for me, and, I think, for you, too.
Today I for the first time realized what an interesting place Baltimore is. The city is almost three hundred year old, and its history is quite rich. After being the site of a major battle in the War of 1812 that inspired the American Anthem, it became one of the major ports on US East coast. Thus it developed as one of the commercial, manufacturing, and transportation centers of the industrial revolution. To this day, it is very much a working-class city, and it would probably be fair to call it the southernmost tip of the Rust Belt. in 1904, a fire destroyed most of the historical part of the city, but in a few years the city was rebuilt. After 1950s, the city started to decline, as did the manufacturing sector in general, but with revival of the Inner Harbor area (by then consisting of mostly abandoned warehouses and other similar structures) started in the late 1970s, the city gained a new life.
The industrial decay, however, led to accidental preservation of many historical structures, which otherwise might have been demolished. Here are a few things I photographed today.
Phoenix Shot Tower
This chimney-like structure is a shot tower. It has been to to make lead shots that are heavily used in hunting. Lead was melted at the top of the tower, then poured through a sieve which made it into little droplets. As they descended, the droplets solidified and gained spherical shape, and then fell into the water reservoir below. The pellets were then sorted and polished largely by mechanical means.
This particular Shot Tower was built in 1828 and was in operation until 1892. It is 215 feet (65.5 meters) tall, and until 1864 it was the tallest structure in the US.
Historic Ships in the Inner Harbor
A few historic vessels are on display at the Inner Harbor. I cannot say much about them now, as they are a subject for my future visits. Below is a picture of USS Torsk, a submarine built in 1944, which is well camouflaged against the National Aquarium Building.
Power Plant
Another landmark of the glorious industrial past is the Power Plant in the Inner Harbor. Unfortunately, it is hard to find information about that industrial past, it has been completely overshadowed by its commercial present.
Luckily, some of its interior is preserved, such as the smokestacks at Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Rails on Light Street
There are rails right in the middle of the Southbound lane of Light Street. After some research, I realized this is not an uncommon sight in Baltimore, as there were many railroad lines around the port and many streetcar lines throughout the city. Unfortunately, with the development boom, many of them disappear. This particular spur branching to the right was leading to the McCormick company plant (producing condiments), that was on Light Street until 1988.
Heritage Walk
Apparently, this is a trail connecting some of the city's attractions. It has plaques in many languages embedded in the pavement. I just find this Russian translation very funny, especially since Baltimore has a huge Russian population.
To those of you who do not know the language, the only sensible interpretation of those two words that I could think of would mean something like, "They spend their inheritance away." Or maybe even "They drink their inheritance away."
Sources
A lot of the dates and general information on this page come from Wikipedia (articles on Baltimore and Phoenix Shot Tower). In addition, an article on shot towers has pictures of shot towers from around the world. Also, special thanks to the tower historian, who introduced himself as Henry, and told us a lot of interesting things about the tower and the city.
The story behind the railroad spur comes form the site called Baltimore Ghosts and is verified by chronology on McCormick website.
Note: I decided not to provide links to individual pictures. The link above has them all. It is much easier for me, and, I think, for you, too.
Today I for the first time realized what an interesting place Baltimore is. The city is almost three hundred year old, and its history is quite rich. After being the site of a major battle in the War of 1812 that inspired the American Anthem, it became one of the major ports on US East coast. Thus it developed as one of the commercial, manufacturing, and transportation centers of the industrial revolution. To this day, it is very much a working-class city, and it would probably be fair to call it the southernmost tip of the Rust Belt. in 1904, a fire destroyed most of the historical part of the city, but in a few years the city was rebuilt. After 1950s, the city started to decline, as did the manufacturing sector in general, but with revival of the Inner Harbor area (by then consisting of mostly abandoned warehouses and other similar structures) started in the late 1970s, the city gained a new life.
The industrial decay, however, led to accidental preservation of many historical structures, which otherwise might have been demolished. Here are a few things I photographed today.
Phoenix Shot Tower
This chimney-like structure is a shot tower. It has been to to make lead shots that are heavily used in hunting. Lead was melted at the top of the tower, then poured through a sieve which made it into little droplets. As they descended, the droplets solidified and gained spherical shape, and then fell into the water reservoir below. The pellets were then sorted and polished largely by mechanical means.
This particular Shot Tower was built in 1828 and was in operation until 1892. It is 215 feet (65.5 meters) tall, and until 1864 it was the tallest structure in the US.
Historic Ships in the Inner Harbor
A few historic vessels are on display at the Inner Harbor. I cannot say much about them now, as they are a subject for my future visits. Below is a picture of USS Torsk, a submarine built in 1944, which is well camouflaged against the National Aquarium Building.
Power Plant
Another landmark of the glorious industrial past is the Power Plant in the Inner Harbor. Unfortunately, it is hard to find information about that industrial past, it has been completely overshadowed by its commercial present.
Luckily, some of its interior is preserved, such as the smokestacks at Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Rails on Light Street
There are rails right in the middle of the Southbound lane of Light Street. After some research, I realized this is not an uncommon sight in Baltimore, as there were many railroad lines around the port and many streetcar lines throughout the city. Unfortunately, with the development boom, many of them disappear. This particular spur branching to the right was leading to the McCormick company plant (producing condiments), that was on Light Street until 1988.
Heritage Walk
Apparently, this is a trail connecting some of the city's attractions. It has plaques in many languages embedded in the pavement. I just find this Russian translation very funny, especially since Baltimore has a huge Russian population.
To those of you who do not know the language, the only sensible interpretation of those two words that I could think of would mean something like, "They spend their inheritance away." Or maybe even "They drink their inheritance away."
Sources
A lot of the dates and general information on this page come from Wikipedia (articles on Baltimore and Phoenix Shot Tower). In addition, an article on shot towers has pictures of shot towers from around the world. Also, special thanks to the tower historian, who introduced himself as Henry, and told us a lot of interesting things about the tower and the city.
The story behind the railroad spur comes form the site called Baltimore Ghosts and is verified by chronology on McCormick website.
Sailships in Baltimore
All Pictures
Two foreign ships have docked in Baltimore this weekend and were open to the public. Both of the ships are modern , yet still it have a plenty of charm of the good old sailing days.
The first one was Brazilian Navy Vessel Cisne Branco, from Rio de Janeiro. This is the fourth visit to Baltimore for this ship. One thing missing from the images is the the Brazilian music that was playing on board.
There are five US midshipmen from the Naval Academy in Annapolis on board this vessel, on a month long exchange program. According to them, the greatest difficulty was the language barrier: neither crew spoke the language of the other, except for a few basic phrases. It would be really interesting to find out how did they manage to communicate and bring this ship all the way from Rio.
The second vessel was INS Tarangini, from Kochi, India (INS stands fro Indian Navy Ship). It was built in 1997 in Goa, India.
The crew of this ship has challenged American Navy for a soccer match. I wonder if US sailors play baseball with their counterparts when they visit different parts of the world.
This article has more information about these ships.
Two foreign ships have docked in Baltimore this weekend and were open to the public. Both of the ships are modern , yet still it have a plenty of charm of the good old sailing days.
The first one was Brazilian Navy Vessel Cisne Branco, from Rio de Janeiro. This is the fourth visit to Baltimore for this ship. One thing missing from the images is the the Brazilian music that was playing on board.
There are five US midshipmen from the Naval Academy in Annapolis on board this vessel, on a month long exchange program. According to them, the greatest difficulty was the language barrier: neither crew spoke the language of the other, except for a few basic phrases. It would be really interesting to find out how did they manage to communicate and bring this ship all the way from Rio.
The second vessel was INS Tarangini, from Kochi, India (INS stands fro Indian Navy Ship). It was built in 1997 in Goa, India.
The crew of this ship has challenged American Navy for a soccer match. I wonder if US sailors play baseball with their counterparts when they visit different parts of the world.
This article has more information about these ships.
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