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Moderns from Muskogee

Space Age lamp in Wall's Bargain Center parking lot.Over the last few months we've had a couple of video shoots over in Muskogee. Traveling to the various locations revealed a few interesting moderno style buildings amongst the azaleas. Here are a few we stumbled across.

I noticed this unusual light (right) in the parking lot of Wall's Bargain Center. It appears light was emitted from the Saarinen-esque shape on top. Unfortunately we may never know. As darkness fell, it never lit up.

The front of the Tony Goetz School has a distinctive maritime feel with the flagpole thrusting forward from a "keel" of sandstone. This school building also featured the wall o' glass treatment with glass bricks on the south-facing exposures.
Great facade on Muskogee elementary school.

Here's an aerial shot of Muskogee Regional Medical Center. It's easy to see the building's many additions over the years. A three-wing expansion in the Sixties used an interesting zig-zag pattern. I assume the idea was to provide the most windows but with some level of privacy.
Muskogee Regional Medical Center from the air.

Mid century office building.Speaking of zig zags- this medical office building has a great awning and a very unique facade (below) made of glass and concrete block. I couldn't resist including that sign in the shot.

Ooops... someone parked a pickup there!

Detail of concrete block and glass facade.
That's just some of the neat buildings we managed to photograph. We spotted others, like east end of the high school is kinda' cool, and I'm sure there are even more. Feel free to send us pics or links if you know of others.

Comments

Anonymous said…
east end of the high school is kinda' REAL cool!

thanks-
Yogi♪♪♪ said…
I liked the angled flag pole at the school. It seems that I've seen the effect before but can't remember where.

The Recent Past

Oklahoma State Capitol Bank

On the Trail of Julius Shulman: Stop 2 "This is a bank," the sign outside the futuristic building read. According to legend a prankster added a strategic question mark and echoed the sentiment of many passers-by: "This is a bank?" That was back in 1964 when it opened. Today the Arvest on Lincoln Boulevard looks a bit less Jetsonian, mostly due to replacement of structural glass below the "saucers," but it's still an unusual bank. Designed by Robert Roloff of the architectural firm Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson & Roloff, the State Capitol Bank caused quite a stir in Oklahoma City when it opened. Heck, it's still pretty shocking today! Originally the flying saucers appeared to hover above the building (as seen in this vintage postcard). All the glass that made that effect possible also made heating and cooling an expensive proposition. Security concerns also mandated replacement of those windows with solid materials and small square portholes

Visit to the Prairie Chicken House

This unique house on the edge of Norman, Oklahoma is known to most as the prairie chicken house. Designed by Herb Greene in 1960, he preferred to call it simply the Prairie House .  Thanks to the  Prairie House Preservation Society  (PHPS) it is now possible for the public to experience one of Oklahoma's most unusual architectural treasures. 

Home of ORU Architect on the Auction Block

Frank Wallace is best known as the man behind the futuristic look of the Oral Roberts University campus. On October 14, 2010 his unique home overlooking ORU will be sold in a public auction conducted by Mister Ed's Auctions . Jackie and I recently had a chance to visit with Mr. Wallace and learn more about the house, his career and his thoughts on architecture. When we visited we expected to snap a few photos of an empty house and speak with a representative from the auction company. To our surprise the door opened, and we were greeted by Mr. Wallace himself! After assuring him we were not architects, he let us look around. Unfortunately we were not prepared to interview the man whose buildings incite such extremely diverse reactions- but that didn't stop me from asking him several questions anyway.  The home, completed in 1980, was designed and built by Wallace who is now 87. The expansive home is so large that Wallace spends most of his time in a room that was his la