Brisbane Architecture

[TonyW]

There seems to be a bit of an architecture undercurrent going on here and I thought I would show a few examples that I have collected over the years. I have avoided the big prominent buildings here and these are not glamorous. I have deliberately tried to avoid enhancing colours and to show them as they appear in real life.

1. This is one of the earliest buildings (or possibly the earliest) in the Fortitude Valley area, near where Dave Ellis took his pictures of Art Deco buildings.

056A8230 on Flickr


2. This is in the same area, probably a warehouse originally.

056A8218 on Flickr

3. An old house in Paddington, an inner suburb of Brisbane.

056A5287 on Flickr

[Shadowman]

Nice series, that first one looks like a party balcony.

[dje]

Nice shots Tony. I don't recognise any of them specifically but if the first one is at Bakery Lane as suggested by the sign on the window, we've probably had a coffee there not so long ago (a bit trendy for us though!). The second one has me stumped completely although I feel i should know it. The Paddington house is a good example of the typical design of that era.

Dave

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Tony,

The Apothecaries Hall (#1) looks very reminiscent of New Orleans to me (not that I've ever been there).

I'd like to see more of #2, but I'm sure there's a reason for this limited view/crop.
BTW, it appears to be exhibiting severe coloured borders on the right hand side - I'm not sure what you are using for PP, but if it is ACR or LR, do make sure you have the "CA" (Chromatic Aberration) Lens Corrections always enabled (on 'Color' tab).

I'd also like to see more of the building in #3, but that's beyond your control (unless a winter visit would have less foliage).

There seems to be a bit of an architecture undercurrent going on here and I thought I would show a few examples that I have collected over the years. I have avoided the big prominent buildings here and these are not glamorous. I have deliberately tried to avoid enhancing colours and to show them as they appear in real life.

I noticed we have a few gems like this round here too; I must try to shoot them to fuel the 'undercurrent'

I hope I am as successful as you have been with these.

Cheers, Dave

[TonyW]

Thanks for your comment John.

Dave E, the first building is in Ann St, I think no 690, close to Brunswick St and therefore in the same block as your McWhirter building diagonally opposite. In spite of the sign, I believe it was built in the 1880s. I don't quite remember exactly where the second is but it is obscured by surrounding buildings. Probably off Wickham St somewhere not far away.

Dave H, thanks for your comments. I should try what you suggest to get rid of CA. I use ACR>Photoshop. The building no 2 was obscured by various things, including a television aerial and bits of other buildings, so that I could not show more of it and I can see now some results of careless editing.

I have not been to New Orleans and can't comment on any similarity. However, an architect I know claims that Australia does not have any truly vernacular architecture because it is all derived from elsewhere.

The tree in the third picture I think is an evergreen, as are most native trees. On a bitterly cold winter's day here the temperature might get just below 20 degrees C.

Edit: I just tried the defringing slider in ACR and it worked a treat. Thanks for that.

[just me]

I found these photos interesting, incl. the comments about their origin........I live in Adelaide, and we too have still some of these old, but often charming buildings..........

Thank you for showing these Tony.......

Griddi.......

[NorthernFocus]

Definitely not the typical views of Brisbane. We really enjoyed walking around and seeing the dramatic comparisons between old buildings still standing among ultra-modern architecture. I really liked Old Govt House at the university and as I recall there were some old homes and churches visible across the river from the botanic gardens. Also the multiple old churches along Ann St were awesome. We attended Sunday service in a church there that has been in continuous operation since 1883. On the way back to the hotel we visited the ANZAC memorial.

It's quite amazing what a city you folks managed to build in the middle of a mangrove swamp

[ShaneS]

This is a great trend Tony I enjoy seeing the often overlooked side of the various cities we call home.

I love Apothecaries Hall and only wish to see how the bottom floor integrates with the lovely upper balcony with that darned construction barrier.

If only the warehouses of today had such nice exteriors as the one shown in your second image. That brickwork must have taken some time to design and lay! I would love to see this building under better lighting conditions.

Dave's point about the house is valid but you have done a nice job of capturing it given the limitations presented by the foliage and surrounding 'stuff'. This problem is one I can relate very well too unfortunately...

Thank you for sharing.

[IzzieK]

Allow me to give my thoughts here...

1 is a nice shot, but I do not like the bakery part. Don't know why so don't ask me...
2 I can say this is a straightforward favourite if I did not see #3 because too of that extra open window angle shot that you did here -- dark but mysterious because of that. A bit of drama there as I can see...and I like the story it can tell.
3 Nicely framed, good composition and lighting and represents the style of old houses I've seen in many areas in Australia actually...something familiar and homey and it is a clean shot, enough to see what needs to be seen from behind those trees and shrub.

Anyway, just my opinion. Love them all.

[TonyW]

Thanks, Griddi. Adelaide is interesting too. My father's first job as a civil engineer was to help build the King William St bridge across the Torrens and he met my mother while in Adelaide. I have been back a few times to visit relatives and I am a little familiar with the place.

Dan, architecturally speaking at least, Brisbane has always been a mixed bag, with good, bad and ugly. The modern buildings still range through the whole gamut.

Shane, thanks for your comments. There are quite a few other brick buildings in Brisbane with similar brickwork, many looking much more attractive overall. At the time, before concrete and steel were readily available, brick was probably the only option for buildings of this size and houses were almost always of timber.

Izzie, thanks as always for your comments. The downstairs of #1 is being renovated and that is why it looks strange at present. I actually don't mind the tree in front of #3. These houses were usually symmetric so if you see one side you have seen them both and it's nice to have greenery in an old built up suburb like this.

[John 2]

Nice, interesting series Tony. No. 2 is a familiar type of architecture to me. I think the brickwork uses what I think is known as engineering brick, i.e. it has a glazed more hard wearing finish. A lot of these industrial building were pulled down during the 70's and 80's in the UK until people started to realise that converting them for other uses was a more attractive option. The other two have a charm about them but I agree with Izzie, the new façade on the first seems cruelly out of character. Nice shots.