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What is this inside calling
that my outside wants to see?
Do I run from my heart’s longing
or does it run away from me?
Am I master of my thoughts
or a slave of inner whim?
Why do I always question:
What condition am I in?
Are my hopes for safe tomorrows
locked in yesterday once more
or do I feel a pang of something
I have never felt before?
Do I run away from dreaming
out of fear of what may come?
Does this suppression ever serve me
because its what I’ve always done?
Am I not more than just this body
made of flesh and blood and mind?
What could be more important
than this quest for all mankind?
What is our expectation
every moment of the day?
Will we finally turn to feel it
Or will we always run away?
Ganga Fondan, 2009
This artwork and poem is inspired by yesterday’s teleseminar given by Tulshi Sen in which he emphasized listening to the expectant and romantic heart. By transcending the fearful and anxious mind we “arouse the dormant powers of life and consider that which was thought to be impossible.”
ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY CROSS
READINGS: 21st December 2008 – Advent 4
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:8-16
Epistle: Romans 16:25-27
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
Sermon Theme: The Power of Expectation by Robert Sihubwa
Before we look at the sermon of today, it is important to understand that God connects us to each other for a purpose. He has directed our footsteps in this direction for a reason, so we are hear today because God has something that He desires to deposit into our lives. With this understanding therefore it is important for us to open our hearts and minds and receive with expectation that which God has prepared for us. Remember the Parable of the Sower, we need to allow ourselves to be the kind of soil on which the word of God will find readiness to grow and bear fruit.
Having laid this ground, I will discuss today a sermon entitled The Power of Expectation. I believe that expectation is part of our lives. Most of us expect a better life each day, we expect to perform well in school, we expect our business' to perform well, and we expect our children to grow in a disciplined manner and many other expectations. It is however important to note that when pain, disappointment, suffering, failure to mention a few persists; it is easy to loose the sense of expectation. We come to a place where we withdraw and convince ourselves that probably we were meant to live this kind of sub-standard live, that things will never be better for us. The moment we come to such a place, we stop to fight for a better future, we stop to plan and our lives become like a leaf that is blown by the wind.
Our Gospel reading for today arises in a context in which the children of Israel in Palestine we expecting the birth of a Messiah who would liberate them from the oppression of the Roman Government. Around this time the main challenge of the people was the exorbitant taxation that they suffered. The system was such that the Tax collectors where not paid very well so in order for them to make a living they would over tax the people. The Government of the day did not care as long as the Tax Collector handed in the amount allocated to him. Whatever was extra would go into his pocket. You will remember the story of Zaccheaus, after Jesus entered his house and he got converted, he pledged to return four times all that he had stolen from the people (Luke19:1-27). The people who were not able to pay the taxes would be arrested and made to work as slaves, or worse still their children could also be taken as slaves. Taxation was therefore a huge burden on the people and this was one of the reasons for them to have hated the Tax collectors so much. According to them Tax Collectors were sinners with who Jesus should not have associated.
Because of this kind of oppression, the Jews lived in fear and were never free, so they longed for a Messiah to deliver them. Their understanding of a Messiah was that he would be a political figure that would lead a revolt against the oppressive government and establish the kingdom of God. Many of us in our different situations of oppression and pain consistently pray that God would send someone to deliver us from such pain. The Jews I believe looked for the Messiah to come from the highest and respected people in society. What they did not know was that God had decided to bring the Messiah through a humble and simple lady by the name of Mary. In the eyes of that community Mary was a common person but in the eyes of God she was special. I believe that when you look at yourself today, you feel that you are a common person, so small in this big world that keeps moving on. Sometimes like Mary you may feel like you are not a factor, that you are the minority and that your voice would count for nothing. Mary felt the same when she received a strangle greetings from the Angel, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). During her time it was only the Pharisees and Elders of the church that were known to have access to God and not the "common" people. Mary therefore could never have thought that God would favor her and be with her a "commoner". This was the reason for her being afraid but the angel encouraged her not to be afraid and repeated the words, "You have found favor with God". He went on to say, "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33). Upon hearing this Mary inquired how possible such a thing would happen by indicating to the angel that she was a virgin and had not known a man. In other words she was saying that she had no experience; maybe there were better people to do this not her. The angel assured her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her so that whatever would come out of her would be of God. Then graciously Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said". By this response Mary's understanding of life had changed, the angel had just told her that even Elizabeth in her old age was pregnant and that with God all things are possible. She realized that it was no longer about her but about the greatness of God in her. She knew at that moment that all she needed to do was to surrender and submit to the will of God. The God who called her could not fail her. Remember that God will never take you to a place where His grace is not sufficient to carry you. And so because she submitted to the will of God, Mary carried the Messiah that everyone expected within her.
God in our time looks for people who would yield to His will and purpose so that through them the expectation of the people may be met. Today God looks at you members of the Cathedral as the carriers of the Messiah for your family, community, church and the nation. You might not necessarily be pregnant with a child, but God wants to be you pregnant with an idea, a passion, a ministry, a longing, and a commitment that would bring hope to your situation. Common as you may look in the eyes of many, you are a factor, an instrument, and a partner with God for the demonstration of His kingdom on earth. The bringing of such a Messiah would need to start from every location where a Christian is found. Interesting enough, God has spread all of us into different professions for a widespread impact. Some of you are Nurses, Doctors, Lawyers, Marketeers, Bus Drivers, Accountants and many more. Every day that you wake up in the morning to go to your work, heaven looks down with pride that a representative of the kingdom is going to impact his/her area of expertise. The important thing is for us to understand that we are not just ordinary people, we carry the presence of God with us and that God will connect us with needs for the purpose that His name be glorified.
It is because of this understanding people of God that we need to always have expectation that God will do something good in every direction that we go. Remember that like Mary you may feel inadequate and too simple to be used of God. Like the angel assured Mary, God is speaking to you today that His spirit will come upon you and you will be overshadowed with the power of the Most High. Because of this spirit what ever will come out of you is no longer about your failures, your limitation, it will now be about what God can do through you and not what you cannot do. Mary could not have a child because she was a virgin but because of the spirit of God, all things became possible. People who may not listen to your voice will listen because of the spirit of God on you; those who could not follow you will follow because of the spirit of God. It is therefore not about you but about God. To this effect, wherever you are and will be you must be expectant that something wonderful will happen because of God and His spirit on you. God will allow you to be found where there is need so that by His spirit you may connect the need to Him, as He says in Ezekiel that He has looked for someone to stand in the gap that the land may not be destroyed (Ezekiel 22:30). So as a child of God you become the one who stands between the need and the answer like Mary.
Look at how God uses people of all ages, the angel told Mary that her relative Elizabeth in her old age had also conceived and was expecting a child. People of God you may be young like Mary; God says that you are His vessel of hope for the world. You may be old like Elizabeth, God still says as long as you are alive, you are of use to Him and can still carry hope and answer for the world. We must never loose sight of the power of expectation. One of the greatest tragedies in life is to live life without expectation, without carrying within you any sense of purpose. When such a thing happens, even though you might be walking, you are already dead. Expectation keeps us alive, it gives us reason to fight for a better tomorrow, and there is power in expectation.
As I conclude, I would like to pose a challenge to you by asking two questions; firstly what kind of pregnancy do you carry for your family, community, cathedral and the nation? Secondly what expectation do you have as you wake up each day for you family, community, the cathedral and the nation? Remember that it is our level of yearning in expectation that draws us by faith into prayer. Because of our expectation, God in 2 Chronicles 7:14 indicates that if His people who are called by His name would humble themselves and pray, He would hear from heaven and come down to heal their land. We can only pray because we have expectation that God will answer. Do not fear to leave an expectant life, always hope for the best and be ready when it comes. Amen
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It's October 1st, which is Armed Forces Day. The expectation is that I should have a national flag displayed outside my house gate, or from my apartment balcony. (In particular, 2008 was the 60th anniversary of the ROK Armed Forces, and with a new far-right government in power, the festivities were especially grand.)
Pretty soon it will be October 3rd, National Foundation Day; according to the legends, on that day in 2333 BC, the first Korean nation-state, Ancient Joseon, was founded in the vicinity of Pyongyang. October 3rd is a national holiday - and flag display is expected.
Soon afterwards will be October 9th, Alphabet Day; on that day in 1446, hangul, or Korean alphabet, was officially unveiled, becoming the only artificial alphabet to ever be put into widespread use. Another day where I am expected to display the national flag.
Due to three flag days in close proximity, a recommendation at this time from authorities and community leaders was that the flag could be displayed continuously through October 9th. Good idea to buy a flag if I don't have one (or mine is dirty or damaged).
Such flag days had very high compliance rates during the military dictatorship days, but now compliance rate varies depending on the political nature of the flag day (National Foundation Day would have high rates, Armed Forces Day much lower).
FAIRFAX COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, 2007 Edition
POLICY PLAN -- ENVIRONMENT
"The expectation for the preservation, management, and rehabilitation of meaningful components of the County’s environmental heritage should be high, given the large number of people who live here and the importance of local environmental resources to the quality of life."
Amended through 2-25-2008 [Excerpts: Objectives 1 & 10. Read full Environment Policy Plan at link below]
Environment - Objective 1: Preserve and improve air quality.
POLICY C:
Support air quality improvement through tree preservation, tree planting and sensitive landscaping practices. Support and encourage the following during the reviews of development proposals:
-Maximization of tree preservation consistent with planned land use and good silvicultural practices.
-Maximization of tree planting/tree cover restoration consistent with planned land use and good silvicultural practices.
Pursuit of energy-conscious landscaping efforts such as the planting of trees to provide shading of buildings during the summer months.
-Preservation and/or planting of trees to shade parking lots, thereby reducing heating of parked vehicles and associated evaporative emissions.
-Planting of street trees within road medians and along thoroughfares where consistent with safety.
-Pursuit of landscaping practices that optimize the planting of native species of trees, shrubs and other vegetation in a manner that minimizes the need for mowing and other maintenance activities, particularly during the hotter months of the year.
-Minimization of applications of pesticides with reactive VOC content through integrated pest management approaches to pest control.
OBJECTIVE 10:
The retention of environmental amenities on developed and developing sites is also important. The most visible of these amenities is the County's tree cover. It is possible to design new development in a manner that preserves some of the existing vegetation in landscape plans. It is also possible to restore lost vegetation through replanting. An aggressive urban forestry program could retain and restore meaningful amounts of the County's tree cover.
Objective 10:
Conserve and restore tree cover on developed and developing sites. Provide tree cover on sites where it is absent prior to development.
Policy a.: Protect or restore the maximum amount of tree cover on developed and developing sites consistent with planned land use and good silvicultural practices.
Policy b.: Require new tree plantings on developing sites which were not forested prior to development and on public rights of way.
Policy c.: Use open space/conservation easements as appropriate to preserve woodlands, monarch trees, and/or rare or otherwise significant stands of trees, as identified by the County.
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/projects/reston/environment_pol...
In our country with lots of water, swimming lessons are seen as a necessity. You can get 3 different diploma's A, B, C. A is the basic level (not drowning) and C being pretty advanced. For your C-diploma you have to swim with clothes and a raincoat. If she did a good job today, she is allowed to do the exam for her C-diploma next week.
2014 WAS THE WARM UP. 2015 IS GAME TIME! 🍎🍗 #allnatural #2015 #expectation #willpower #fitness #fit #fitnessaddict #workout #bodybuilding #motivation #inspiration #cardio #gym #train #training #health #healthy #healthychoices #active #strong #determination #lifestyle #diet #getfit #eatclean #exercise
35 Likes on Instagram
7 Comments on Instagram:
amir_ladhar: sexy
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damonfizzles_: Wow!! 😍😍
instagram.com/gianni.staysmacced: Perfect❤️
ivaanvidall: Um whoa!
chaimadachraoui: Huum 💖💝💜
malekbenhalima: @chaimadachraoui amour ♥️♥️♥️
Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung - A Performance by Robin Rhode
Robin Rhode imagines Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung (Expectation) in Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung - A Performance by Robin Rhode. In partnership with Performa15. Composed in 1909, Erwartung takes the unusual form of a one-act monodrama for a solo soprano, accompanied by a large orchestra. For Rhode, this atonal opera about love, loss, and lamentation, recalled the many hardships experienced by women in South Africa during and after the fall of Apartheid. Originally set in the moonlit, wilderness of the forest, Rhodeâs reproduction of Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung - A Performance by Robin Rhode interprets Times Square itself to be a contemporary forest filled with light emanating from the electronic billboards instead of the moon. The performance takes place in a huge aria with just one soprano and non-speaking performer carrying out the opera, with the sights and sounds of Times Square acting as a Greek Chorus in the background.
Music by: Arnold Schönberg
Libretto by: Marie Pappenheim
Artistic Director: Robin Rhode
Orchestral Conductor: Arturo Tamayo
Soprano: Carole Sidney Louis
Male Character: Moses Leo
Orchestra: WetInk Ensemble
Executive Producer: Raphael Oeschger
Associate Producers: Performa and Rhodeworks GMBH
Photo Credit: Ka-Man Tse for @TSqArts
Wall memorial with winged cherub & coat of arms - "Here sleeps Abraham Clark, esquire, in expectation of a glorious resurrection in omni vita modestus ac fobrius, justitiae et aequitatis cultor eximius, summa in amicos fide, veraque in Deum. Egenorum fautor ac patrenus, orpanorum pater,
liberalitatem exercere maluit quam ostentare aliis, munificentiae testes praetor Deum aegre admisit. Satis ei magnum ad virtutem invitamentum recte factorum conscientia. Died December 4 AD 1683 aged 61 "
(Abraham was lord of the manor and abbey of Flaxley;
He was the son of Abraham & Joanna Clarke 1664 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/0o6250
Dying without surviving issue, his heir was his cousin William Boevey 1692 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/2p5xE6 who after a short life of "excesses, both in debauch and ill-humour," left the estates to his long suffering wife Catherina Riches www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/83x7Ed who never remarried and after a long philanthropic life died in 1726
The estate was sold by William Kingston in 1648 to merchants William and James Boeve (later Boevey), members of London's Dutch community. In 1654 James conveyed his interest to William, his half brother, and the latter assigned a moiety of the estate to his half sister Joanna +++ , widow of Abraham Clarke. Joanna, who bought the other moiety after William's death in 1661, died in 1664 leaving Flaxley to her son Abraham Clarke (d. 1683) and he left the estate to his cousin William, son of James Boevey. William Boevey died in 1692 and under his will the estate passed in turn to his wife Catharine Riches 1727 === www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/mWP8c6 and a kinsman Thomas Crawley who assumed the name Crawley-Boevey. Thomas died in 1741 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/v44poL and his son and heir Thomas Crawley-Boevey enlarged the estate in the 1760s by purchasing land in Westbury-on-Severn adjoining the main part of Flaxley. Thomas (d. 1769) was succeeded by his son Thomas Crawley-Boevey, heir in 1789 to a baronetcy, and from Sir Thomas (d. 1818) the estate descended with the baronetcy from father to son, through Thomas (d. 1847), Martin (d. 1862), Thomas (d. 1912), and Francis (d. 1928), to Lancelot. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/33EYte who sold the family home Flaxley Abbey in 1960 )) - Church of St Mary the Virgin Flaxley Gloucestershire
I just shot my friends Dave and Winnie's wedding banquet(the earlier pictures I uploaded were taken on their church wedding 2 months ago). I was honoured to be entrusted with covering this important event, but this was the first time I was to be the main(and only) photographer, and I was pretty nervous.
I'm still in the process of PP'g the pictures, and hope everything turns out to be ok.
This picture is slightly out-of-focus(I focused on the bride's reflection), I tried to sharpen and add contrast to salvage it, as I really like it. The Sigma 50 1.4 is 2nd on my lens wish list for this year, as the 50 1.8's focussing really lets me down in poor light.
Giant Asian Mantids (Hierodula sp., Mantidae)
Fear - in the eyes of the male mantis in the background
Expectation - expressed in the face of the large female in the foreground, of a successful union and/or an easy meal.
Pu'er, Yunnan, China
see comments for additional image......
Wednesday 17th June. There was widespread expectation First Minister Nicola Sturgeon would announce a move to phase two of lockdown on Thursday 18th June and give indicative dates for further easing of lockdown.
In phase two the virus is controlled but remains; R is consistently below 1 and WHO conditions are met. Physical distancing would still be required.
Phase two includes: People meeting in larger groups; workers being allowed to return to construction sites; opening playgrounds; small shops selling non-essential goods reopening (but not shopping malls); outdoor beer gardens but not indoor areas of pubs.
"Ms Sturgeon has previously stressed that not all of the changes will happen overnight, and it might not be until "the coming weeks" that some are in place."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53083995
This image was taken during the Covid-19 pandemic and phase one of moving out of lockdown in Scotland.
Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, United States
The Kurtz Store, a striking commercial building in the heart of downtown Jamaica, is a rare manifestation of the Art Deco style in the Borough of Queens. Its ornamentation is typical of that period of architecture prevalent in the 1920s and early 1930s, which looked to the future and to the machine with expectation and optimism. Its compact form, accented by modern materials and skyscraper imagery, enhances this bustling area of the city.
The building was erected in 1931 as a retail store for the furniture chain of J. Kurtz & Sons. This company had been founded in 1870 by Jacob Kurtz and had three other stores by that time, including the original one on State Street in Brooklyn. The Jamaica store was used continuously by the Kurtz firm until 1978, at which time it was sold to other retailers. The selling floors have recently been divided to accommodate several tenants but the exterior remains intact.
When the Kurtz company decided to expand its retail operations to Jamaica, the area was an important commercial center for Queens and for much of Long Island. Its central location and well-developed transportation systems had made it the hub of a wide area.
Jamaica had always been a crossroads for Long Island, dating back to the time when Jamaica Avenue was an Indian trail. The first railroad line arrived here in 1834, built by the Brooklyn & Jamaica Railroad Company. In 1850 Jamaica Avenue, then called Fulton Street, became a plank road and connected the area to the Brooklyn ferries. Horsecar lines were begun in 1866 and electrified in 1886. The Long Island Railroad station was completed in 1913 with the Jamaica Elevated trains arriving five years later.
Jamaica started as a sleepy Dutch village of assorted, freestanding structures, loosely grouped along main streets, when the town was granted a patent from Peter Stuyvesant in 1656. The English took over in 1664, changing the town's name from the Dutch "Rusdorp" to a variation on the Canarsie Indian word for beaver, "jamecos."
One hundred years later, the community had become a trading post where farmers from outlying areas brought their produce. The nineteenth century saw the development of Jamaica as a resort, attracting wealthy urban residents who wanted to escape the numerous summer plagues of the city. The permanent population of Jamaica also increased steadily in the early nineteenth century and brought with it the normal proliferation of new buildings.
The earliest recorded map of the land where the Kurtz Store is located, dated 1836, shows that it was owned by Henry Wilkes. Another map, compiled ten years later shows the Wilkes land subdivided, but neither shows any structures on this lot. On the 1873 Beers Map, a Methodist Episcopal Church is located here, but the building was no longer extant by 1895.^ From at least that date until the Kurtz company erected its building, this lot held a two-story commercial structure which, in 1929, housed eleven different tenants.
By this time Jamaica contained a thriving business district and the furniture company sought to take advantage of this. The Kurtz family requested that the architects create a building which would be thoroughly modern and arrest the eye of those passing by on the elevated train, which then ran along Jamaica Avenue.
The firm of Allmendinger & Schlendorf, which had previously renovated other stores for the Kurtz chain, was chosen to design the new furniture store. Louis Allmendinger (1876-1937) received his technical training at the Mechanics Institute in New York. He worked for various architects until 1922 when he started his own firm, specializing in industrial and commercial buildings. His work included other types of buildings however, including the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in Brooklyn (1916-21, a designated New York City Landmark) and its Parish House (1916).
M. Allen Schlendorf (b. 1902) graduated from Cooper Union and attended Columbia University. In 1926, he joined with Allmendinger and formed a partnership which lasted until the older man's death in 1937. Located on offices in Brooklyn, the firm was responsible for numerous institutional, industrial, and commercial designs, including the German Masonic Temple in Manhattan, the Liebman Brewery and the North American Brewery in Brooklyn, as well as the Ehler Coffee Plant in Brooklyn After Allmendinger's death, Schlendorf continued the practice under his own name, designing such projects as the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Hospital in Brooklyn, the E.B. Stimpson Co., and the East Brooklyn Savings and Loan (now Pioneer Savings and Loan).
The design for the Kurtz Store is clearly different from the other work of these designers. Mr. Schlendorf recalls that his clients requested a building that would be very "modern and colorful" and would reflect the contemporary furniture which was to be displayed there.
The Art Deco or Moderne style of this building epitomized the word "modern" for many people of the period. The straight lines, the jagged or geometrically shaped outline and decoration seemed to symbolize the immediacy of the city, with its bustling population and the prosperity which could be found there.
The term Art Deco derives from the Paris exhibition of 1925, the "Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes" but the inspiration for the style in skyscraper design came from at least two main sources: the second prize-winning design by Eliel Saarinen for the Tribune Tower competition in 1922, and the publication of Hugh Ferris's book The Metropolis of Tomorrow in 1929.
After these two events the image of the modern skyscraper became that of a "tapered, soaring ziggurat." While the compact, six-story Kurtz building in Queens can hardly be called a skyscraper, its decorative motifs in the form of tapered pylons in contrasting colors and materials, which rise on the two main facades, as well as the skyscraper-like designs originally painted on the windows pay homage to this idea.
The influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on Art Deco design was also a strong one, beginning with his use of abstract, geometric designs in the stained-glass windows of his early Prairie School houses to the patterned concrete blocks of his California houses of the 1920s.
Mr. Schlendorf recalls always having admired Wright's work and being influenced by it in the design of this building. This influence can be seen in the horizontally grouped windows and the use of ornament in clearly defined areas. In the Kurtz store this ornament takes the form of flat fields of curvilinear design and groups of horizontal bands protruding from a vertical shaft, both characteristic Art Deco motifs.
The Kurtz store contains five stories plus a mezzanine, all of which were intended to display furniture. It is constructed on a steel frame, visible both inside the windows which wrap around the corner of Jamaica Avenue and New York Boulevard and inside the large display windows which fill the two lowest floors.
Crowning the mezzanine windows are stepped horizontal bands of cast aluminum. The strong horizontal lines are pierced by verticals and by blocks containing lightning-like motifs, another important design element of this period. This lower section is set off by a broad band of black glazed tile, making it quite distinct from the light brick which faces the upper stories.
Above this base, the Jamaica Avenue facade is three bays wide while that on New York Boulevard is six bays wide. Each is symmetrically disposed, the composition alternating plain, metal - framed windows with a stepped pylon motif which rises continuously through all four stories. The Jamaica Avenue facade contains one of these pylons in the center, while the longer facade on New York Boulevard has two. They are formed by black and white glazed tiles which contrast in color and material with the rest of the facade, in a manner characteristic of Art Deco.
A narrow window is located at the center of the pylon at each floor, and this feature adds to the vertical emphasis of this motif. This verticality is arrested just above each window by a slightly protruding element covered in black tile which has short horizontal bands on each side. At the center of the New York Boulevard facade another tower-like form is outlined in black brick. Small, horizontal bands are grouped along its height, echoing the spandrel motif of the wider black and white pylons. This central tower is crowned by another group of bands, this one turned in a vertical direction and reaching up to the top of the building.
Several windows on both facades contain the remains of a design that was originally painted in silver on many of them. It takes the form of a schematic skyscraper, divided vertically, with matching halves on facing window panes. This is another manifestation of the importance of the skyscraper to the designers of this building. At the roof line of the building is a plain, flat parapet which hides the flat roof. Just below the parapet at the top of each, window bay are rectangular panels of flat, stylized designs. The gold and blue terra cotta of this ornament provides the only bit of bright color on the facades.
The Kurtz store is a distinctive commercial structure in the modern idiom, one that created a striking image for the Kurtz Company. Although it is a relatively small building, the designers chose to decorate it with the skyscraper motifs of the period, motifs which cried "modern": tall, tapering ziggurats or pylons; groupings of horizontal bands; distinct panels of flat, stylized design; contrasting colors and materials including glazed tile, terra cotta, brick and cast aluminum.
Despite the presence of strong horizontal lines, the vertical emphasis of the decoration dominates the facade, creating a building which is impressive and forceful beyond its size and still enhances the Jamaica streetscape.
- From the 1981 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, United States
The Kurtz Store, a striking commercial building in the heart of downtown Jamaica, is a rare manifestation of the Art Deco style in the Borough of Queens. Its ornamentation is typical of that period of architecture prevalent in the 1920s and early 1930s, which looked to the future and to the machine with expectation and optimism. Its compact form, accented by modern materials and skyscraper imagery, enhances this bustling area of the city.
The building was erected in 1931 as a retail store for the furniture chain of J. Kurtz & Sons. This company had been founded in 1870 by Jacob Kurtz and had three other stores by that time, including the original one on State Street in Brooklyn. The Jamaica store was used continuously by the Kurtz firm until 1978, at which time it was sold to other retailers. The selling floors have recently been divided to accommodate several tenants but the exterior remains intact.
When the Kurtz company decided to expand its retail operations to Jamaica, the area was an important commercial center for Queens and for much of Long Island. Its central location and well-developed transportation systems had made it the hub of a wide area.
Jamaica had always been a crossroads for Long Island, dating back to the time when Jamaica Avenue was an Indian trail. The first railroad line arrived here in 1834, built by the Brooklyn & Jamaica Railroad Company. In 1850 Jamaica Avenue, then called Fulton Street, became a plank road and connected the area to the Brooklyn ferries. Horsecar lines were begun in 1866 and electrified in 1886. The Long Island Railroad station was completed in 1913 with the Jamaica Elevated trains arriving five years later.
Jamaica started as a sleepy Dutch village of assorted, freestanding structures, loosely grouped along main streets, when the town was granted a patent from Peter Stuyvesant in 1656. The English took over in 1664, changing the town's name from the Dutch "Rusdorp" to a variation on the Canarsie Indian word for beaver, "jamecos."
One hundred years later, the community had become a trading post where farmers from outlying areas brought their produce. The nineteenth century saw the development of Jamaica as a resort, attracting wealthy urban residents who wanted to escape the numerous summer plagues of the city. The permanent population of Jamaica also increased steadily in the early nineteenth century and brought with it the normal proliferation of new buildings.
The earliest recorded map of the land where the Kurtz Store is located, dated 1836, shows that it was owned by Henry Wilkes. Another map, compiled ten years later shows the Wilkes land subdivided, but neither shows any structures on this lot. On the 1873 Beers Map, a Methodist Episcopal Church is located here, but the building was no longer extant by 1895.^ From at least that date until the Kurtz company erected its building, this lot held a two-story commercial structure which, in 1929, housed eleven different tenants.
By this time Jamaica contained a thriving business district and the furniture company sought to take advantage of this. The Kurtz family requested that the architects create a building which would be thoroughly modern and arrest the eye of those passing by on the elevated train, which then ran along Jamaica Avenue.
The firm of Allmendinger & Schlendorf, which had previously renovated other stores for the Kurtz chain, was chosen to design the new furniture store. Louis Allmendinger (1876-1937) received his technical training at the Mechanics Institute in New York. He worked for various architects until 1922 when he started his own firm, specializing in industrial and commercial buildings. His work included other types of buildings however, including the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in Brooklyn (1916-21, a designated New York City Landmark) and its Parish House (1916).
M. Allen Schlendorf (b. 1902) graduated from Cooper Union and attended Columbia University. In 1926, he joined with Allmendinger and formed a partnership which lasted until the older man's death in 1937. Located on offices in Brooklyn, the firm was responsible for numerous institutional, industrial, and commercial designs, including the German Masonic Temple in Manhattan, the Liebman Brewery and the North American Brewery in Brooklyn, as well as the Ehler Coffee Plant in Brooklyn After Allmendinger's death, Schlendorf continued the practice under his own name, designing such projects as the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Hospital in Brooklyn, the E.B. Stimpson Co., and the East Brooklyn Savings and Loan (now Pioneer Savings and Loan).
The design for the Kurtz Store is clearly different from the other work of these designers. Mr. Schlendorf recalls that his clients requested a building that would be very "modern and colorful" and would reflect the contemporary furniture which was to be displayed there.
The Art Deco or Moderne style of this building epitomized the word "modern" for many people of the period. The straight lines, the jagged or geometrically shaped outline and decoration seemed to symbolize the immediacy of the city, with its bustling population and the prosperity which could be found there.
The term Art Deco derives from the Paris exhibition of 1925, the "Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes" but the inspiration for the style in skyscraper design came from at least two main sources: the second prize-winning design by Eliel Saarinen for the Tribune Tower competition in 1922, and the publication of Hugh Ferris's book The Metropolis of Tomorrow in 1929.
After these two events the image of the modern skyscraper became that of a "tapered, soaring ziggurat." While the compact, six-story Kurtz building in Queens can hardly be called a skyscraper, its decorative motifs in the form of tapered pylons in contrasting colors and materials, which rise on the two main facades, as well as the skyscraper-like designs originally painted on the windows pay homage to this idea.
The influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on Art Deco design was also a strong one, beginning with his use of abstract, geometric designs in the stained-glass windows of his early Prairie School houses to the patterned concrete blocks of his California houses of the 1920s.
Mr. Schlendorf recalls always having admired Wright's work and being influenced by it in the design of this building. This influence can be seen in the horizontally grouped windows and the use of ornament in clearly defined areas. In the Kurtz store this ornament takes the form of flat fields of curvilinear design and groups of horizontal bands protruding from a vertical shaft, both characteristic Art Deco motifs.
The Kurtz store contains five stories plus a mezzanine, all of which were intended to display furniture. It is constructed on a steel frame, visible both inside the windows which wrap around the corner of Jamaica Avenue and New York Boulevard and inside the large display windows which fill the two lowest floors.
Crowning the mezzanine windows are stepped horizontal bands of cast aluminum. The strong horizontal lines are pierced by verticals and by blocks containing lightning-like motifs, another important design element of this period. This lower section is set off by a broad band of black glazed tile, making it quite distinct from the light brick which faces the upper stories.
Above this base, the Jamaica Avenue facade is three bays wide while that on New York Boulevard is six bays wide. Each is symmetrically disposed, the composition alternating plain, metal - framed windows with a stepped pylon motif which rises continuously through all four stories. The Jamaica Avenue facade contains one of these pylons in the center, while the longer facade on New York Boulevard has two. They are formed by black and white glazed tiles which contrast in color and material with the rest of the facade, in a manner characteristic of Art Deco.
A narrow window is located at the center of the pylon at each floor, and this feature adds to the vertical emphasis of this motif. This verticality is arrested just above each window by a slightly protruding element covered in black tile which has short horizontal bands on each side. At the center of the New York Boulevard facade another tower-like form is outlined in black brick. Small, horizontal bands are grouped along its height, echoing the spandrel motif of the wider black and white pylons. This central tower is crowned by another group of bands, this one turned in a vertical direction and reaching up to the top of the building.
Several windows on both facades contain the remains of a design that was originally painted in silver on many of them. It takes the form of a schematic skyscraper, divided vertically, with matching halves on facing window panes. This is another manifestation of the importance of the skyscraper to the designers of this building. At the roof line of the building is a plain, flat parapet which hides the flat roof. Just below the parapet at the top of each, window bay are rectangular panels of flat, stylized designs. The gold and blue terra cotta of this ornament provides the only bit of bright color on the facades.
The Kurtz store is a distinctive commercial structure in the modern idiom, one that created a striking image for the Kurtz Company. Although it is a relatively small building, the designers chose to decorate it with the skyscraper motifs of the period, motifs which cried "modern": tall, tapering ziggurats or pylons; groupings of horizontal bands; distinct panels of flat, stylized design; contrasting colors and materials including glazed tile, terra cotta, brick and cast aluminum.
Despite the presence of strong horizontal lines, the vertical emphasis of the decoration dominates the facade, creating a building which is impressive and forceful beyond its size and still enhances the Jamaica streetscape.
- From the 1981 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
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This is Kristen. We used to be in the same Care Group, and I hadn't seen her in a few months until Rakel (her sister-in-law and my friend) invited me to tag-a-long on a maternity shoot.
I had a BLAST! And I think the pictures turned out great ... though it definitely helps to have a great model. :)
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