LCV Winter 2013-14 - (Page 17)
THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
When the new General
Laundry Cleaners and Dyers'
building opened in 1930, the
owner hired an orchestra to
entertain 5,000 guests at an
all-night dance. In spite of
the vegetation growing in
the building's fissures, the
vibrant Art Deco tile work
remains mostly intact.
PHOTO BY JOHN LAWRENCE
Orleans is the General Laundry
Building on St. Peter Street, which
dates from about 1929 and is usually
characterized as an example of Aztec
Art Deco style. Like the Egyptianstyle Sixth Precinct Station, the
revival style has been lavished only
on the façade, which is attached to a
simple brick and metal structure that
housed the laundry and dyeing
operations of the business.
The General Laundry Building,
though in need of maintenance,
presents an exuberant use of glazed
terra-cotta decorative elements in
bright colors that echo geometric
forms found in the ancient structures
of some pre-colonial Middle
American cultures. The General
Laundry Building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in
1974.
Surviving references to exotic cultures
(or what were once considered such)
often hide in plain sight under the
protective coloration of everyday life
and the passage of time that tends to
make what was once novel seem
familiar. Studied observation of such
places can provide a respite from and
perhaps a counterweight to aspects
of contemporary existence.
final example of exotic revival architecture
in New Orleans is the General Laundry
Building ... usually characterized as an
example of Aztec Art Deco style.
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John Lawrence is director of museum programs at The
Historic New Orleans Collection.
Winter 2013-14 * LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 17
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