I am displaying my naiveté here, but I always thought that terra cotta was that fired earthen-colored clay they made cactus planters out of… cheap and not very pretty. But as I delve into more of the architecture of Oakland, “terra cotta” continues to pop up in unexpected places. Unquestioningly, I’ve referenced it in posts on:
- The Alameda County Courthouse - surfaces of California granite and terra cotta trim.”
- The African Museum & Library – “exterior of tan brick and terra cotta is incised with names…”
- The Fox Oakland Theater – “repeating pattern of terra cotta ornamentation…”
And today’s building features terra cotta like you’ve never seen it! Just look at this…

So what’s the deal with this terra cotta stuff?
Well, to begin, my first statement was essentially correct. Terra cotta (or terracotta, or terra-cotta) is Italian for “baked earth.” Yes! It’s basically a clay-based material that can be molded in any variety of ways while “raw,” to be later heated to its final ceramic state in a kiln, or in ancient times on a hearth or by the sun. The material has been used for centuries in art, pottery, water pipes, bricks, roofing tiles, and architectural embellishments. While the color can vary widely, everything from yellow to gray to pink (which explains some of the references above), the more common clays contain iron which produces the orange or reddish hue. And like our simple cactus planters, the finished product is light, relatively strong, and somewhat porous, which makes it non-waterproof unless glazed.
For architectural decoration, terra cotta has advantages over other materials such as marble or stone sculpture, being lighter, cheaper, and able to be incorporated into series production using mold-making techniques, similar to cast plaster (we’ll get to this in my upcoming post on the Paramount). Though early architectural applications used the unglazed material, later developments incorporated glazing, both for protection from the elements, and to allow for greater variety of finishes, including faux metal patinas, and gorgeous coloring as in our lovely blue-green example above from one of Oakland’s Art Deco lovelies.
Built in 1931, designed by Douglas Dacre Stone, and later restored in 2004, the Mary A. Bowles Building is located on Broadway at 17th near where Telegraph and Broadway unite. The building spans the block, its backside on Telegraph just as pretty as the front.


The terra cotta panels with their repeating swirls of organic shapes and sunburst patterns, as well as the geometric zig-zag patterns on the windows below are classic Deco. Check out the detailing on the metallic flourishes at each end… also likely molded terra cotta with a faux silver finish (similar to the Floral Depot building which we’ll also get to in coming days).


One more…

I was unable to find any information on Ms. Bowles and why she might have this building named after her, but I did find this obituary for her husband. If anyone has more information, please send my way…

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that we have an organization in California dedicated exclusively to the preservation and promotion of all things Art Deco. Founded in 1981 by architectural historian Michael Crowe and other preservationists in the Bay Area, the Art Deco Society of California (ADSC) is a non-profit volunteer-run organization focused on the serious business of preserving important Art Deco historical buildings (current project is to save Berkeley’s Iceland), in addition to celebrating Art Deco culture through fun and celebratory activities, such as cocktail events (that’s right, you can get your drink on while learning about art & history!), film screenings, fashion shows, and glamorous balls… all held in gorgeous historic venues. Sounds fun, eh? You can friend them on Facebook to see more about upcoming events, or check their link (above) for more Deco history and information, or to become a member or volunteer….
Art Deco was an international design movement popular in the 1920’s and 30’s, focused on themes of luxury, technology, modernization, and craftsmanship. The movement was born in Paris, an outgrowth of the previous Art Nouveau movement that was declining in popularity at the turn of the 20th century.
Art Nouveau (French for “new art”) focused on the importance of artisan craftsmanship, and typically featured organic motifs of flowers & plants, and/or highly stylized curved forms. Art Deco retains many of the same inherent aesthetic qualities as Art Nouveau, but was considered a modernization of the style, and until a comprehensive book was written about it, following an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1971 by Bevis Hillier, Art Deco had often been referred to as “Style Moderne.”
Hillier’s book was titled Art Deco of the 20s and 30s, which first popularized the term. He took his title from an exposition held in France in 1925, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (truncating the words “Arts Décoratifs”). The Exposition was organized by a collective of French artists known as La Société des Artistes Décorateurs (the society of the decorator artists), and its purpose was to demonstrate French artists’ and designers’ dominance as leaders in the world of luxury design. The French are not known for their modesty! The exposition was originally slated for 1915, but was postposted due to WWI, which had the unlikely effect of expanding the historical influences to the designs presented.
With the increasing ability to travel abroad, and international interest in archeology fueled by discoveries such as the lost city of Pompeii and King Tutankhamun’s intact tomb, artist and designers began incorporating exotic cultures and primitive arts into their design themes. These influences are pervasive throughout the Art Deco movement – Egyptian motifs are prevalent, as well as Grec0-Roman, Babylonian, Azteca, etc. and can be seen in sunburst and zig-zag patterns, staggered tiered/pyramidal structures, pictorial representations and more.
This period of Deco, sometimes referred to as Zigzag Moderne, flourished during the hey day of the post-war roaring 20’s. The economy was booming, people were optimistic, and the lavish yet modern stylings of Deco ushered in this age. Classic examples can be seen in the Empire State Building (pictured below) and Chrysler Building, both built in the late 1920’s in New York.

As I mentioned last week, I took the tour this past weekend of our incredible Paramount Theatre, “one of the finest examples of Art Deco in the United States,” which displays many of the Zigzag influences as well as references to Art Nouveau, through repetitious use of organic themes of grass, flower, leaf, & vine. I’ll be posting about it later this week, but it’s a lot of material to compose (the Paramount’s website alone has more than 4 pages of history and artists information, so I may need to break it up a bit). We’ll see… Please stay tuned.
As Deco continued to develop throughout the 1930’s more industrial influences can be seen, such as sleek, aerodynamic stylings often referred to as Streamline or Streamline Moderne. Rounded corners, chrome surfaces, and the conveyance of speed influenced everything from buildings to cars to kitchen appliances. The renovated marquee of the Fox Oakland Theater (shown in my last post) is a good example of Streamline design, as is the 1934 Chrysler Airflow pictured below (photo courtesy of Randy Stern on Flickr).

Though a dominant design form through the early 1930’s, Art Deco waned in popularity mid-decade as the Great Depression continued to take its toll. The glitzy elegance and luxurious treatments of Deco-inspired buildings and products were seen as stark reminders of a promised prosperity, never realized. “Moreover, as the threat of a second world war loomed closer and closer, Art Deco was looked upon ever more vehemently. And with the outbreak of WWII in 1939, Art Deco was dead.” (Art Deco Style)
Not truly dead however… Because we have our wonderful historical homages to this period, many of which have been spared the wrecking ball due to their incredible beauty and craftsmanship. I’ll be looking at many of our Oakland Art Deco masterpieces in my coming posts…
I saw this flyer downtown on the same photo excursion as yesterday’s stickers. It’s a nice little piece of political art. You can feel the anger and outrage expressed through the artist’s use of line and repetition… tensed muscle fibers ready to explode!
There’s a nationwide “Day of Action” planned for this Thursday to defend public education against a growing tide of cuts to school funding. Thousands of teachers, labor unions, education organizations, and students are expected to rally across the state… more info at Defend CA Public Education.
SF Gate has a nice recap at Schools in state fired up over Day of Action, which begins “March 4th has gone viral…” Also Oakland Local has a nice summary of local events planned with their story All Out for Education: Bay Area rallies March 4, including various protest marches convening to a mid-day rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza, downtown Oakland.
This is my last day of stalling… Art Deco Days begins tomorrow!

So I came across a slew of stickers last weekend while shooting some buildings downtown for my upcoming Art Deco Days (please stay tuned). I’m throwing a bunch up while I collect my thoughts on deco architecture. Most of these are one of a kind, hand-drawn or painted works. Enjoy…





I’m particularly fond of these little x-ray men, where various organs and body parts are displayed in a see-through man portrayed in various colors and positions. They’re all over town, and I’m not quite sure why, but they always make me smile.


To celebrate the gorgeous weather this weekend, friends and I went hiking in the hills of Oakland at the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve. For those who don’t know it, this is one of the smaller parks in East Bay Regional Park system, consisting of approximately 240 acres (compare that with Redwood Regional Park’s more than 1800 acres)… but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in distinctive character.
As you may have guessed from its name – Botanic Preserve – the park hosts a unique native plant community found nowhere else in the East Bay.


The main hiking trail through Huckleberry is called the Self-Guided Nature Path, which is a well-marked 1.7 mile loop through a variety of terrain displaying the various stages of plant succession that contribute to California’s landscape. The trails are narrow single-track and because of the fragile nature of the preserve, dogs, bicycles, and horses are all prohibited, which makes for a very peaceful hike. Remember to pick up the Self-Guided Nature Path pamphlet at the trailhead if you want to read about the various plants and stages of ecological development at each numbered marker.
The earliest stages of plant succession have their roots (pun intended) in the rocky nutritionally poor soil found in portions of this park. These areas were laid down as part of the ocean floor millions of years ago, comprised of bands of shale interspersed with the skeletal remains of early marine creatures. Eventually uplifted and exposed due to erosion, the soil has a gravelly texture, poor water holding capacity, and low nutrient values. Sounds bleak, right? Not really. The fractured bedrock below the service holds water for deeper roots while the top layers provide excellent drainage, which happens to be the perfect environment for our shrubby chaparral species such as manzanita, including the rare and endangered Alameda Manzanita.

Additional moisture is obtained from winter rains and summer fog (as the park is located due east of the Golden Gate), and the north facing slopes are shaded from late afternoon sun. These cool moist conditions contribute to the evolutionary process of succession, where “plant species thrive for a time, but are gradually replaced by other species. In this way, the manzanitas eventually surrender and succumb to other species such as huckleberry, silktassel, and chinquapin. All this time, leaf and branch litter is deposited in greater quantities, soil development becomes richer and deeper, and each succeeding species’ leaf canopy continues to develop upward, eventually shading over and killing the previous species. Over a long period of time, this successional development will inevitably progress toward oak/bay forest [see picture below, right side]” (Huckleberry Self-Guided Nature Path brochure)

Another unique feature of this park is its year-round display of plants in bloom. Right now you can see the pink flowering currants (pictured above), among others.

And the small side trail to markers 8-9-10 offers a lovely lookout on Mt. Diablo (pictured above). Did you know there was an effort underway to rename it Mt. Reagan? I am happy to report, however, that the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors recently decided against it (article here). Despite the fact that a Christian zealot thought it profane to refer to it as “the devil,” a large number of supporters, including residents and community organizations, voiced their opinions to keep the name intact. Thank God.
These images speak for themselves… a pretty amazing piece of guerilla graffiti art, if you ask me.






All images provided by friend of Oaktown Art. Which reminds me… if folks have something they’d like to contribute, please contact me through a comment. I’ll be setting up a more formal contact page in the near future for content suggestions and guest bloggers…














