Tag Archives: art deco

Washington National

IMG_2811.jpgIt has been quite a while since I last flew in to National Airport in Washington DC (or Virginia if you are being accurate). My recent visit to DC took me through the airport but not through the main terminal that I have used in the last decade. Southwest operate from the original terminal which, I have to admit, I didn’t realize was still in use.

IMG_2812.jpgThis is quite a distance from the rest of the airport and so you have a ten minute walk to get to the access to the metro station. It takes you all the way through the original terminal building which is a pretty impressive art deco structure. I did not have a camera other than that on my phone but I did grab a few quick pictures of this building which seems to have been restored as it is in good condition. It seems to be a bit of a gem that is missed by most people traveling through the airport.

Treasure Island Air Terminal

wpid9844-AU0E6883.jpgMy sister is a bit of a fan of architecture so, as part of our travels around the Bay Area, we stopped off on Treasure Island. The old air terminal building which the US Navy inhabited until handing it to the City of San Francisco when they closed up shop is an art deco structure that I thought might be worth a look. As it is a city building, it is open on weekdays. I had only been there during the weekend so had not been able to go inside. This time we were able to take a look around.

wpid9840-AU0E6853-Edit.jpgInside is a huge mural covering a historical view of Navy activities including some projections of the future which are still a bit ahead of where we are. The guard on duty was a very friendly guy who knew plenty about the building and its history and was happy to tell us all about it.

wpid9838-AU0E6841-Edit.jpgThe interior is a good match for the exterior with a lot of art deco features. Most of the building is only for the access of tenants so we couldn’t check it all out but the bits we could see were very nice. As an aside, I used the restroom while there and it was a pretty stunning looking place. The corridor down which you went to reach it was very dull and had the look of many functional governmental decorational styles but entering the bathroom was like entering a movie set. Needless to say, I decided not to go taking pictures in there since that might have seemed a bit weird!

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