Friday, July 27, 2012

East Side Triple Threat



Three slices 'o east side of Providence. Top is Central Congregational Church with a dome after my own heart, by the vaudeville team of Carére & Hastings.
Next is a common but welcome sight of an Empire Style house with the non-MacDonald's type mansard roof lifted above a vibrating yellow body capped by crisp white moulding profiles of various sorts.
Finally at the bottom is a smidgeon of a rare and rather unique Providence roof shape. This bell curve  occurs in several buildings downtown as well as on the east side, this being the final if not penultimate example.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Scythian Myth-Busters

The griffin is a mythological creature with the body of a lion, head and wings of an eagle, and the heart and mind of a certified pubic accountant.  Its job was to guard the riches of the Scythians, no scythies themselves.

This sturdy version is in front of the Acacia Building in Washington DC, and with its twin stares in the direction of the US Capitol Building, keeping the lawyers within from being sacked by Congress (shouldn't it be the other way around?).

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Creature from the Black Lampoon

It is unclear why Edmund Wheelwright thought the Flemish Renaissance style would be considered a humorous abode for the Harvard Lampoon, but certainly the tower in front, which looks like a person wearing a Prussian helmet, rates a few giggles.

The ibis is the 'Poons mascot - representing the Egyptian god Thoth. Thoth was the patron of knowledge, secrets, and writing, but it is unclear whether this extended to comedy writing as well.