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August 2, 2014 by tomdalzell

Architecture

 

I am not clear what the correct line is on quirky and architecture.  This is not a blog about architecture, and I know that when I start talking about architecture I am an interloper on thin ice.   That said, I do find architecture intrinsically interesting and I believe that architecture contributes to the overall quirky fabric of our city.   With that equivocation, here are postings that touch on architecture.

2350-Bowditch2-433x300Hansel and Gretel Cottages

These are called “Provincial Realism” or “Mother Goose Houses” or “Storybook Houses” or my favorite, Hansel and Gretel houses.  They charm. They are quirky.

oscars3-640x416Googie (or Semi-Googie)

Googie is shorthand for coffee shop moderne, the rage of the 1950s.  We don’t have a lot, and what I call Googie might be nothing more than debased modernism, but it is here and quirky..

1000-Mariposa-2

Just Not Right

I expected to find a fair number of domes in Berkeley.  I didn’t.  So I settled for buildings not reliant on right angles.  Just not right!

 

Dwight and KingDwight and King Quirk

Karl Wanaselja and Cate Leger designed a masterpiece of quirk at Dwight and King Way.  Their home on McGree is also a testament to whimsy.

 

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., is seen on Thursday,  June 20th, 2013.The Tsui Fish House on Mathews

In actuality it is not a fish house, it is a tardigrade, a small, water-dwelling, segmented animal.  Fish or not, the quirk gun is set on stun here.

 

Dinosaurs-3

Eugene Tssui and the Flintstone Houae

A rule-breaking visit to Hillsborough to see what is new with the “Flintstone House.”  Son of Berkeley Eugene Tssui has been hired to do work on a quirkier-by-the-day  house in Hillsborough.

NormandyNormandy Village (Spruce north of Hearst)

It was built in the 1920s, evoking the character of European villages as experienced by Americans fighting in the Great War.  Construction continued until the 1950s.  It is magical.

Photo: Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association filesCastles in Berkeley

After a discussion of Coleridge’s willful suspension of disbelief, I present three castles from our Berkeley, as well as two from other Berkeleys.  With disbelief suspended, these are splendid, quirky Berkeley castles.

"Quirky Berkeley-03/19/2015"

Bathrooms

For the first post of 2016, I ignore the cardinal rule of Quirky Berkeley and go inside houses.  Inspirational bathrooms for the DIY crowd.

 

Quirky Eureka 04-02-2016

Quirky Bathrooms – Supplement

The Quirky Berkeley year is winding down.  Here for your admiration and – I hope – emulation – is another batch of quirky bathrooms.  Be inspired! What’s meant to be will always find a way.

2232-McGeeShipping Containers

After an explanation of the calculations that go into the total quirk rating, an exploration of the use of shipping containers in Berkeley’s yards – thanks to a tip about one on 5th street that made enough to post.

Quirky Berkeley 06-09-2016

The Loewy Two-Square Tower

Raymond Loew – a great industrial designer – created the tower design for Lucky’s.  This two-square Loew tower is at the Shattuck and Rose CVS, a former Lucky’s. Squares to the sky!

722-Spruce

Outbuildings

An orange, mud hut, bale, shipping container, caboose, yurt, tree house, trailer, tiny house, Aistream, bunkie.  And more.  DIY!

 

Quirky Berkeley 06-09-2016

Bungalow Courts

I find bungalow courts to be inherently quirky.  I realize that not all would agree.  Here are some – not all – some of Berkeley’s fine class of bungalow courts.

 

Quirky Berkeley 11-28-2016

Bungalow Courts – Part 2

A second look at some of Berkeley’s bungalow courts.  Courtyard living!  Simpler life!  Night-scented brugmansia!

 

Quirky Berkeley  01-20-2017

The Village

The early 1970s indoor mall at Telegraph and Blake is a magical time capsule, encapsulating a Berkeley that is slipping away.  It’s facing the wrecking ball.  Can’t we do better?

Quirky Berkeley 01-30-2017

Tree Houses!

A sampling of Berkeley’s tree houses, markers of childhood and innocence.  They evoke.  They make me smile.

 

Quirky Berkeley

Berkeley Relief

A posting on relief sculpture in Berkeley. Some of it is on its face quirky.  All of it is an intrinsically quirky part of our fabric.

 

Quirky Berkeley 04-11-2017

Shattuck Avenue Relief & Facades

Join the flaneur as he walks six blocks south from University on Shattuck, documenting  relief sculpture and facades, beauty for the sake of beauty.

 

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. is seen on December 27th, 2018.

Painted Ladies #3

Back to Old School Quirky Berkeley – the third and not final installment in photographs of houses with polychrome decoration that embellishes or enhances architectural details.

 

Quirky Berkeley 9-25-19r

Gas Stations – Old and Former

We got out the black and white camera for a tour of Berkeley gas stations, old and former.  Example – this almost-Googie Coast Gas station in the shadow of the Claremont.  Going, going, gone.

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