Locovisual

“The Vic”; Former Lotus Restaurant

"The VIC" (Klee, 2009)

"The Vic" (Wellington City Council, 2012)

“The Vic” building designed by James Bennie, built in 1935 is a clear example of Art Deco architecture, located on 154-156 Cuba street. The Art Deco style is very present in Wellington, particularly down Cuba Street. Between the great wars Wellington architecture boomed with the predominant style being Art Deco. Art Deco became an internationally fashionable style in the 1930s after the 1925 Industrial and Decorative Arts Exhibition in Paris, France.

Art Deco is a design style which was “characterised by simplified ornamentation and an emphasis on geometrical decoration”(Kelly, 2005), it was also influenced by new advancements in transport of the time, such as trains, planes and cars. This often resulted in a lot of design being 'stream-lined', to create the illusion of speed. Another key feature was the use of motifs such as sunbursts/sunrises, fountains and footlights as well as patterns such as zig zags and chevrons. Art Deco also made reference to other design styles such as Classical design, in particular the use of Classical columns.

“The Vic” building uses a lot of these features. Firstly a sunrise motif is used as a central feature created from basic triangular geometries. Zig zags are used above the window frames, whilst basic geometries are stacked on the concrete 'Classical' columns. The use of tall vertical columns creates an “exaggerated vertical emphasis”(Wellington City Council, 2012), which is also another feature of the Art Deco style, creating elongated design. It is these features which class “The Vic” building as a clear example of Art Deco architecture.

References:

Kelly, M. (2005). Art Deco Heritage Trail (2^nd ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: Wellington City Council.

Wellington City Council. (2012). Heritage. Retrieved from http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/heritage/details.php?id=199&m=search&street=Cuba%20Street

Petty, J. (2012, May 9). Alt-Modern. Unpublished lecture notes, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Klee, A. (2009). The VIC (Lotus Restaurant Building). Retrieved from http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=5356