With its close proximity to Manhattan it was inevitable that Newark, New Jersey would someday reverse it’s decline. That day is here or soon will be, and with new development comes demolition.
Newark is, or was, home to three Art Deco schools.
The Newark Public School Of Fine & Industrial Arts’ origins go back to the 1800s, but its Art Deco building opened in 1931. Due to budget cuts, the school closed in 1997. It still stands but has not reopened.
The Newark School of Fine & Industrial Arts
Weequahic High School opened in 1932 and is still in operation.
Weequhic High School, Newark, New Jersey
And then there was Science High School. While the building was architecturally modest and in need of repair, the extraordinary terracotta was intact, ornate and remarkable. There were plans to save it but somehow it was destroyed anyway.
The wise old owl has flown.
To give some context, readers may not be aware that across the river in Manhattan, Trump Tower stands on the site once occupied by elegant Bonwit Teller building. To clear the way for demolition, Trump agreed to save two Art Deco friezes by Rene Chambellan. This turned out to be costly and time consuming, so he had them destroyed instead. The works had been promised to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and there was a public outcry so Trump concocted a story that the art works really weren’t that valuable in the first place. For those interested, there’s a 3-minute video on YouTube that gives the details.
Such exquisite tile work it brings me to tears.
The world of real estate.
Many thanks to Randy for this great site and the wealth of Art Deco images and info.
I hope you don’t mind if I take the liberty of promoting an Art Deco landmark in the land where I was born…
In the unlikely case anybody finds himself in the town of Manresa, in Catalonia region (Spain) please check Cal Jorba, used to be a department store, then empty for decades, last I heard is that’s going to be turned into a hub for start-up businesses.
It was built in 1936 with extensions in the 40’s and 50’s
Here’s a photo from Wikipedia commons…
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manresa_-_Cal_Jorba_detall.JPG
Thank you.
Fascinating, Daniel. Thanks so much!
The destruction of the 2 art deco freezes is disgraceful, property developers don’t have any respect for architectural heritage
Up to the 80s there were 2 historical buildings in Calle Pelayo area in Barcelona, both owned by the same magnate, one is Casa Damians, also kwon as Nuevo ElSiglo (art Deco department store, now a C&A) and the other was Almacenes ElAguila (ecclectic style Department Store, now destroyed), the magnate (Julio Munoz Ramonet) wanted to knock them down but couldn’t due to Heritage protection laws, but then in 1981 both buildings had two very suspicious fires, firemen saved Casa Damians but ElAguila was completely destroyed, Mr.Ramonet cashed on the insurance and built an speculative building. What added suspicion was the fact that although Ramonet owned an insurance company, he had chosen to insure this 2 buildings with another company (an English insurance company called
Alliance Assurance Company that of course sued him but got nowhere)
Here’s Casa Damians (nuevo ElSiglo) photo
Facade is still original but interior was reconstructed due to fire damage
https://ca.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitxer:Casa_Damians.jpg
Article showing pics of ElAguila (the building on the right) now gone forever
http://barcelofilia.blogspot.com/2010/10/magatzems-el-aguila.html?m=1
And Article from 1981 explaining whole thing (sorry is in Spanish can’t find anything in English)…
https://elpais.com/diario/1981/07/18/espana/364255224_850215.html