Main Post Office, 1927-1931, Plaza del Alcalde Manuel Casas, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain

This beautiful main post office in A Coruna was featured on a 2002 Spanish postage stamp. Built between 1927 and 1931 on land reclaimed from the sea, the architects of this eye-catching gem were Luis Lozano Losilla and Joaquin Otamendi Machimbarrena. All components of this large building, which is easily the best-designed construction in this part of the city, seem to flow easily one into the next, they are so well-coordinated.

http://www.ateeme.net/angles/at70postco.htm

 All photos taken on 3rd May, 2018.

Piscine Municipale/Piscine du Cours de la Republique, 1937, Le Havre, Normandy, France

This absolutely gorgeous frontage belonging to the public swimming pool in Le Havre is another miraculous survivor of WWII in this city that was mostly reduced to rubble by bombing and shelling. The pool's website is here in French:

https://www.lehavre.fr/annuaire/piscine-du-cours-de-la-republique

 Photos taken 5th May, 2018.

SNCF Gare du Havre, 1932, Le Havre, Normandy, France

Built in 1932 and designed by Henri Pacon, Le Havre's railway station is one of few buildings to survive the intense bombing of the city in World War II. This art deco station building replaced the original, of which all that remains is the roof over the platforms. The station hall, with its impressive roof and windows, and beautiful clock, still have the power to transport the onlooker back in time to days of greater attention to aesthetics and detail. It's a real treat just to walk around and sit in this station, what to speak of catch a train from here!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Havre_station

 All photos above taken on 5th May, 2018.

Montague Burton, The Tailor of Taste, 1938, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion

This beautifully preserved Grade II listed building is a real joy to behold. With so many intact original features, it is a splendid example of Burton's art deco town centre buildings from the 1930s. All the details are available here:

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300083477-burtons-building-aberystwyth#.X3nWhGhKg2w

Located on the corner of Terrace Road and North Parade in the Aberystwyth town centre. The tilework on the facades is very similar in design to the Llanelli Burton's featured in a previous post on this blog, but is in far better condition. Enjoy the rest of the pictures!

 All pictures here were taken on 28th September, 2020.

Montague Burton, the Tailor of Taste, 1937, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire

Llanelli 'boasts' a number of Art Deco buildings, but perhaps boasts is not quite the right word, as the buildings are somewhat or more than somewhat dilapidated. Burton's appears to have only retained the upper part of its facade, but that is at least something, as it is quite tastefully designed. Built in 1937, a foundation stone with an inscription, as well as a very nice copper/bronze (?) air vent are retained at ground level.

For the rest, one has to look upward, and it is worth it, for the beautiful Burton logo in relief, and the tile work. A rare gem amid advanced urban decay.

This building is screaming for cash for restoration, that will likely never come.

Residents of Llanelli mostly just seem to pass by with a downtrodden gaze born of economic depression.

In Llanelli, we are definitely witnessing the passing of an era.