Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Oakland's ultimate Deco building

This is the I. Magnin building at 20th and Broadway.  It housed a chic department store until its closing in 1995.  Now it has a cafe and dress shop on the ground floor and offices above.  It was built in 1930 and is made of green terra cotta tile and black serpentine.  Isn't it stunning?  Sorry to violate the one picture only rule, but I couldn't get just one photo to do it justice.  I like the way the black base creates a visual pedestal for the floors above, the way the big windows lighten the bulk of the building, the distinctly deco bas-reliefs, and most of all the color.  The varigated tile colors let the eye dance across the surface.  I read somewhere that there was a penthouse on top.  Wouldn't that be something to see.

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