Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Project365: Day 5 - Structural Gnomes


Day 5 - Structural Gnomes, originally uploaded by Tim Bungert.

This is my first Project 365 photo featuring people!

Well, sort of. Gnomes are people, too.

The Equitable Building in Des Moines was completed in 1924. It was designed by Proudfoot, Bird, and Rawson (a predecessor of Brooks Borg Skiles, my current employer). A pair of these awesome little gnomes are working hard to support the building at each of the perimeter columns.

Proudfoot and Bird demonstrated a wonderful sense of humor in many of their buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s in Iowa. Other places to see their humorous handiwork in Des Moines include the Polk County Courthouse and Roosevelt High School.

I think the idea that architecture can be funny got lost somewhere between Mid-Century Modernism and today. I'll try to capture more of these funny figures and faces in Des Moines throughout the rest of my Project 365.

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