Hi all, my apologies for the delay in posts, but I had relatives from
the old country in town (Sverige!) and I have been busy showing
them the sites of front range Colorado.
I have some really cool things coming to this website, starting tomorrow
and through the weekend, so please tune in!
In the meantime, here is the Lakewood, CO equivalant of an
old Swedish runestone . . .
More classic Googie-signage from Colfax Avenue, Denver,
and both of these are also Pete Contos establishments (of
Colfax Greektown fame).
Sit down here at this classic Colfax bar, The PS Lounge, and
you are immediately served an Alabama Slammer and your
date receives a red rose!
Famous Pete’s Kitchen, the place to be after 2:00 AM.
Not only great Greek food, but an award winning breakfast burrito for you to eat all weary eyed as the sun comes up!
I hope to illustrate this beautiful sign in SketchUp 3D sometime soon!
Nightime on Colfax Avenue!
I haven’t been illustrating much lately. I need to step it up!
I love Sketchup, but haven’t had the time lately!
sketchup, coreldraw, photoshop
Pete’s Satire Lounge has one of the best, most-famous, Googie-style
signs in Denver! The snaking arrow and the martini glass are a joy to
look at, day or night.
Pete Contos is well-known for his great Denver restaurants, most featuring
delicious Greek food. My personal favorite is Pete’s Gyro’s Place.
Pete’s Satire Lounge opened in 1962, but I think it opened as The Satire as far back as 1959. Bob Dylan played here prior to his move to New York in early 1961 and signing with Columbia Records.
The Satire was part of Denver’s burgeoning folk scene along with The Exodus (now gone), as both clubs were booked by Walt Conley. Aside from Bob Dylan, he booked early folk talent like local singer Judy Collins, Pat Paulsen & Bob Gibson.
The Smothers Brothers were discovered clowning around here at The Satire
by Mercury Records, who then shipped them out to play The Purple Onion in San Francisco. In fact, Dylan’s performances at The Satire were as an opening act
for the Smothers Brothers!
Bob Dylan then left Denver after getting in trouble for stealing a bunch of Walt Conley’s record albums!
Hey, there’s something wrong with this sign!
Can you spot the mistake?
No, it’s not the missing lettering. That letter board has been intentionally
left that way for 35 years and has become a Colfax Avenue icon!
No, if you are a Denver resident, you should have noticed that I shifted the famous letter board from the east side of the sign to the west side to make a better picture.
Bastien’s Steak House is an award winning restaurant, run by the Bastien family since 1937.
At the original building, (formerly the Moon Drive-In Restaurant) you would park and order food and beer delivered right to your car!
In 1959, the Bastien family built a new structure on the same spot, rotunda style with this incredible 24 sided roof.
Bastien’s has two entrances, a door to the restaurant on the west side and a 2nd door to their unique rounded bar on the east side.
It is one of Denver’s friendlier bars and serves up a beautiful martini!
Fine dining takes place in the main round room.
The signature item on Bastien’s menu is their famous Sugar Steak.
But on this visit, I ordered the king cut Filet Mignon with Jalepeno Bacon
with twice baked potato!
I like to be seated in this cozy sunken room in the center of the restaurant.
Bastien’s also has an upper floor (with a piano!) for parties. You need to set it up in advance and there is a minumum of fifteen people required.
The Bastien’s sign is one of the best Googie-style signs left in the Denver area!
St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, built 1964 to service the Green Mountain area of Lakewood, CO, being developed at the time.
Beautiful use of stone and shingle and octagonal features. It is also sighted to give spectacular views.
Sorry I do not know the name of the architect, if there is a chance that you know, then please leave a comment!
The unique roof of this church, St. Stephens Lutheran Church of Northglenn, CO, makes use of the mathematical shape, the hyperbolic parabaloid.
This outstanding gravity-defying structure was designed by Boulder architect Charles Haertling in 1964.
There is a webpage dedicated to Haertling’s incredible body of work.
On the Haertling site, there is a description of this church that is truly fascinating in its articulate expression of this church’s complexities.
I have previously posted photos of another Charles Haertling church, the Our Savior Parish Center.
Though not an example of modernist architecture, I thought I
would make this temporary page to show local residents
the view from the top of the local landmark, the D&F Tower
on the 16th Street Mall, in downtown Denver.
When it was built in 1910, it was the tallest building in the west.
The upper floor is only open to the public once a year for the
event Denver Doors Open, which was held two weeks ago.
This first view is looking north-west along the 16th Street Mall,
designed in 1982 by world famous architect I.M. Pei.
This shot is south-west and shows Brook Towers prominently on the left.
During the early 1970s, Brook Towers housed a nightclub called Ebbet’s Field, which hosted many touring music artists including Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson, the New York Dolls, Lightnin Hopkins, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Captain Beefheart, Howlin Wolf, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Kraftwork, the Outlaws, the Ramones and many more! The door to the place would often be run by Tom Waits and Chuck E. Weiss!
Looking south-east down the 16th Street Mall, on the left you can see patrons dining outside the Rock Bottom Brewery and on the lower right you can see the Federal Reserve Bank built by William Muchow in 1968.
And finally facing north-east, you can see Precision Fountain in Skyline Park, currently fenced off due to restoration.
Built in 1973 by Lawrence Halprin, Skyline Park was an underappreciated part of downtown Denver, let’s hope the restoration of this fountain maintains the integrity of the original sculpture!
The Daniels and Fisher Tower itself is a beautiful Venetian design.
These two pictures are from the lobby and show the ceiling and marble wall designs.
And, as an added bonus, from the lobby of the D&F Tower, you can head downstairs to a truly swank 1950s-style Burlesque nightclub in the lower level . . . Lannie’s!
It is run by famous Denver torch singer Lannie Garrett, also well-known for her dead-on imitation of Patsy Cline.
Go to the Lannie’s website and later pay the club a visit, Underground at the Clocktower.
I haven’t been drawing for a couple of weeks. I hope to get back to that this weekend, but as the winter weather lifts, I like to get out and take pictures before all the landscaping buds!
» First off, let’s take a quick peak at what is hanging right now in Wright’s Guggenhiem
» A slice of Americana, early color Kodachrome photos
» Cool and creepy at the same time, the Abandoned City of Tiawan. More here
» The world’s Most Beautiful Buildings. Seems to be a short list
» The world’s Most Interesting Bridges. And along the same lines, Eighteen Stunning Bridges from around the world
» Is this a movie theater or a spaceship? Pacific Palace in Hong Kong
» 3D urban design proposals for Skyscraper Farming
» Modernist Home Garden designs
» An island paradise floating on top of Recycled Plastic Bottles
» Ice Palaces, Hotels and Castles. Winter is over so you better look fast
» And finally, Metaefficient, a great website with many fascinating “Green” building designs. Be sure to scroll down and see the India Tower
