Friday, May 31, 2013

Cyclops!

Panhard Dynavia, 1948

Musée national de l'automobile, Mulhouse, France

Photos by stkone @ Flickr

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Expressionism

Lyonel Feininger
Lady in Mauve
1922

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Belgian Banana

The Autorail Type 608 was a diesel railcar of the Belgian State Railway (SNCB/NMBS). Six units were built in 1930s by Forges et Fonderies d'Haine-Saint-Pierre, powered by a license-built 370 kW Ganz engine coupled to a mechanical transmission. The railcar took 10 second-class and 54 or 50 third-class passengers. Its maximum speed was 126 km/h, commercial speed - 85 km/h.
The streamline design bears a remarkable resemblance to GWR 'Flying Banana' and ČSD 'Slovenská strela'.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Lady and the Gull

11 Sep 1936, Berkshire, England, UK
Pilot Beryl Markham,
posing for photographer at Abingdon Aerodrome, Berkshire,
prior to take off for her solo flight across the Atlantic.

When Markham decided to take on the Atlantic crossing, no pilot had yet flown non-stop from Europe to New York, and no woman had made the westward flight solo, though several had died trying. Markham hoped to claim both records. On 4 September 1936, she took off from Abingdon, England. After a 20-hour flight, her Vega Gull, The Messenger, suffered fuel starvation due to icing of the fuel tank vents, and she crash-landed at Baleine Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada (her flight was, in all likelihood, almost identical in length to Mollison's). In spite of falling short of her goal, Markham had become the first woman to cross the Atlantic east-to-west solo, and the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop from east to west. She was celebrated as an aviation pioneer.

Info: Wikipedia

Monday, May 27, 2013

Engineer Strong

The Stenberg brothers
A poster for The Project of Engineer Strong*
1929

---------------
* The Project of Engineer Strong is the Russian title for Not for Publication (1927), directed by Ralph Ince

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Sea Cruises

Xanti Schawinsky
A poster for Cosulich Società Triestina di Navigazione,
a part of Flotte Riunite (Italia Line)
1934

via Oldimages @ Flickr

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Valencia Style

A building in Valencia, Spain
1930s

Architect: Javier Goerlich (1886-1972)

Photo by tonogayora @ Flickr

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Exhibition Halls

The Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution (Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista) was a show held in Rome at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni from 1932 to 1934. Opened by Mussolini on 28 October 1932, it had 4 million visitors.

Its director and designer was Dino Alfieri, with the cooperation of Luigi Freddi and Cipriano Efisio Oppo. Seen as a great success, it was repeated in 1937 and 1942, though these two repeats did not have the same public success.

Telling the evolution of Italian history from 1914 to the March on Rome, it was never conceived as an objective representation of the facts or as being solely based on the exhibiting of historic documents, but as a work of Fascist propaganda to influence and involve the audience emotionally. For this reason not only historians were called in to assist in the exhibition, but also exponents of various artistic currents of the era, such as Mario Sironi, Enrico Prampolini, Gerardo Dottori, Adalberto Libera and Giuseppe Terragni.

Info: Wikipedia

Friday, May 17, 2013

Plaza San Martín

Buenos Aires
The plaza in 1909 was the site for the inaugural of both the first premier hotel in Argentina (the Plaza) and of the new National Museum of Fine Arts, for which the glass and steel pavilion used at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris was enlisted; structurally inadequate, the pavilion was demolished in 1932, however. Plaza San Martín and its surroundings acquired their current physiognomy in 1936, when Charles Thays' son, Carlos León Thays, designed the esplanade surrounding the monument and when the 33-story Art Deco Kavanagh building was completed.

Photo by fstop22 @ Flickr

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Arm and Ventilator

André Kertész 
1937
 
Gelatin-silver print
printed in the 1940s-1950s
30.5 x 26.7 cm
Collection of Eric Cepotis and David Williams

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Electricity and Hot Water

Hotel Moskva, Moscow
Electric switchboard (above),
boiler room (below)
1930s

Monday, May 13, 2013

Then and Now

and
Zenith Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 Annual Calendar (2013):

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Centenary Trains

Liverpool & Manchester Centenary - Celebrations 1830-1930',
LR and MR poster
1930

Poster produced for the Liverpool Railway (LR) and Manchester Railway (MR) to promote their centenary celebrations. The centenary celebrations were heavily promoted, and held in Liverpool between 13th and 20th September 1930. The very latest locomotives were on show, along with miniature railway systems and a paegent of transport every evening. Artwork by P Irwin Brown. Dimensions: 40" x 50". Printed by S C Allen & Co, London.

Image & info: Flatbadger @ Flickr

Friday, May 10, 2013

Deco Liner

FTC building artwork

Aluminum entrance grilles, Constitution Avenue elevation,
Federal Trade Commission building, Washington DC.
Designed by William McVey, 1938

Photo by m2msm @ Flickr

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Palais de Tokyo, Paris

Architects: Jean-Claude Dondel, André Aubert, Paul Viard, Marcel Dastugue
La France statue: Antoine Bourdelle
1937

Photo by YOUGUIE @ Flickr

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Monday, May 6, 2013

Gears!

Alexander Rodchenko
1929

Gelatin-silver print
28.8 x 23 cm
Private collection
© Rodchenko’s Archive /
2011, ProLitteris, Zurich

Friday, May 3, 2013

Healthy Atmosphere

Gigantic buildings connected by wide, suspended roadways on which traffic will speed at unheard of rates... Helicopter planes will take the place of the ground taxi... Many persons will live in the healthy atmosphere of the building tops...
1939

via x-ray delta one @ Flickr