Last year’s Art Deco World Congress in Buenos Aires was followed by an optional post-congress trip to Montivideo. Having looked at the GoogleMap, I suspected Montevideo might be richer in Art Deco than Buenos Aires, and indeed it was.

To be fair, Buenos Aires had its share of Art Deco and even more sensational Art Nouveau whereas Montevideo had no Art Nouveau at all, as far as I could tell.

The fastest way from Buenos Aires to Montevideo is by ferry, about 3 hours. People go back and forth frequently, and the ferries are huge. For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, passengers must wear booties during the trip.

My epectations of finding Art Deco in Montevideo were comfirmed when I saw a sign!

This post is so long overdue (and so long, period) I’ll just get to the photos. One observation: If you want to get rich in Montevideo, sell coax cable. In the older neighborhoods, every building is tacked, clipped or stapled with wires. Adobe would have you believe these are quickly removed in Photoshop, but in fact the process is usually time consuming and always tedious. So, despite the abundance of wires in these images, I removed many others. Just one example:

The photos in this post were taken on 3 days of long walks. The weather was dry but as in Buenos Aires, sun was in short supply. In situations that were overly overcast, I switched to black and white.

Merging my 3 walks into one, let’s start in Ciudad Vieja. From the old city, I’m walking east, then south through Palermo and finally east to Parque Rodo and the Pocitos neighborhood.

Rule #1 for picture taking in Montevideo: There is always a car parked in front. This building, at Calie Juan Carlos Gomez 1388 is my pick for the grandest Art Deco example in Montivideo.

The lobby’s great too, with stained glass windows.

A few blocks over, at Calle Trienta y Tres #1334, another outstanding example.

This place is also home to a tailor shop that has been here since the building opened in 1928 and has its original terrazzo floor.

Paris, 1925? Actually downtown Montevideo, 2019.

Calle Perez Castellanos 1532. (This needed a lot of Photoshop repair. To make it presentable, I gave it the old postcard treatment.)

Calle Serrandi 554

An interesting, somewhat unique detail in Ciudad Vieja.

Sun break! Two fantastic apartment buildings on Calle Maciel:

Somebody was following what was going on in Paris.

Right next door, and I suspect by the same architects, Nunez & Podesta.

I’ve lightened these up for a better look. Don’t know if they are original, but a very nice touch! In color and design these are reminiscent of Carlo Ciampaglia’s murals for the Texas Centennial.

(These premises are being watched.)

Another fantastic garage. I assume that’s a No Parking sign.

Look closely at the level of detail – amazing!

A bank, but you’d have a hard time guessing where it was if you didn’t know.

An unusual and somewhat dilapidated building, this is Calle Solis 1531.

At left, a terrific zodiac door.

And above the door, this.

And above that, this.

Leaving downtown, heading east, one of the first things you come to, and the only non-Art Deco item in this  post, Palacio Salvo (1922). Said to be the twin of Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires, Palacio Salvo is a bit scaled down, but every bit as wild.

The seemingly plain Grupocine has nice Egyptian details.

I took a break at Edificio Tapie, Constituyente 1402, before turning south.

Edificio Tapie (1933)

I felt certain these were electrical wires, perhaps with a dash of Ely Jacques Kahn. But they’re not. Apparently, this is stylized foliage.

Turning south towards Palermo steered me to a neighborhood that was mostly pre-Art Deco, but not entirely.

A window from the garage door, above.

At the end of a charming street that had little Art Deco, I came to this:

I think we can assume this wasn’t originally a Hyundai dealership.

Door on the right

One of several similar decorations on the building.

Turning east, I headed for Parque Rodo. Not a lot of Art Deco on this route but there were a few items of interest.

Parque Rodo honors writer Jose Enrique Camilo Rodo Pineyro or just Jose Enrique Rodo for short.

Jose Enrique Rodo monument, Parque Rodo

The park also has an Art Deco bandshell that’s dwarfed by a tree that seemed ideal for the infrared camera.

More clouds. But quite a bit of Art Deco in this area.

A horeshoe shaped street across from the park, Calle Javier de Viana has an assortment of somewhat scruffy Deco buildings.

All four doors are identical, so it was probably a good idea to raise the two in the center.

We’ll come back to the park at the end. On my final day’s walk, I went up and down streets in Pocitos and along Avenida 21 de setimembre.

Lovely nautical motifs

Hard to tell, but the glass behind the ironwork looks amazing.

This door had such a beautiful weathered finish, I’m leaving the image as it is.

Center detail of photo above

Finally, a few blocks from McDonald’s, I passed this place at the southern end of Parque Rodo:

And I made my last stop at this beauty. Many thanks to my friend Jeremy for spotting this one.

Very similar to the Savoy Apartments in Shanghai. Some similarity to the Chicago Motor Club as well.

I guess it goes without saying, if you’re a fan of Art Deco and find yourself in Buenos Aires, a side trip to Montevideo is a must–and if you want to take photos, expect lots of cables!