Sunday, July 25, 2010

Kirkwood Firehouse Mosaic by Deanna Sirlin

Atlanta just finished Fire Station 18 in Kirkwood. It features Deanna Sirlin's "Falling Waters," a remarkable 29 x 14 feet mosaic.


Kirkwood isn't on the way to anywhere, not a hip destination right now, but it's worth multiple visits and rewards exploration. You'd need a guide like me to show you around. It has a quite good Wiki Page though, lots for Architecture Tourists to enjoy.

Downtown Kirkwood has the makings of a lovable town center. Parks, library, post office, police station, many churches (and Churches Fried Chicken), funeral home, mansions, bungalows. It is more like a small town than a real small town. It's mostly level ground, rare in Atlanta.

Studio ALA (Li Qi, Zhi Feng, George Hornbein and Nathan Koskovich)
designed Fire Station No. 18. You may have stumbled by their Eureka Drive studios near ADAC.
P1030051-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Firestation-18-Facade

Do you like the new Firehouse? I do. Modern and historic in one package. It keeps my eye moving. Did they build the fire house behind a waterfall?

Compared to Arden's Gaden, it's modest. Kirwook is funky enough to take it in.
P1030058-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Ardens-Garden-Firehouse

It's certainly in keeping with the 1927 Sutton and Whisenant Building.
P1030074-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Sutton-and-Whisenant-Building-1927

It looks great framed in a bay of the Kirkwood Car Wash next door. Is it a Mondrian?
P1030078-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Firestation-Mosaic-Kirkwood-Carwash

Don't those doors look great? Inside, the fire trucks and firefighters are ready to help.
P1030063-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Ardens-Garden-Reflected-In-Firehouse-Doors

I feel cool and calm up close.
P1030054-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Firestation-18-Mosiac-by-DEANNA-SIRLIN-Detail

I wonder, what if Sirlin switched that red tile and the turquoise tile?
P1030054-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Firestation-18-Mosiac-by-DEANNA-SIRLIN-Detail-Detail

I hope you'll see it one day.

More Atlanta commisions by Deanna Sirlin
At Terminus 200 ( intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont Rd in the lobby.
Faraway Near, 2009 C-print transparancy on glass 6 x 30 feet Commission by Pope and Land, Atlanta, GA, at the building at Peachtree and Peachtree Dunwoody [3660]

P.S. Thanks to PB & J Gallery in Kirkwood for last night's reception. More pictures here.

P1030091-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-PBandJ-Gallery-Susan-Provost-Dubois-Gossip-Raku

P.P.S. Here is Kirkwood Car Wash's Facebook page. Thanks to owner Stuart Brady for saying hello last night. He was out on a Friday night making sure everything was clean and working properly.
P1030077-2010-07-23-Kirkwood-Firestation-Kirkwood-Carwash

5 comments:

  1. What a great firehouse! Love the mural - form and function together.

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  2. I really like it!... and what could be more appropriate for a firehouse than the use of "water" ...~Terri

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  3. I can't even imagine the patience and vision it took to do the mosaic, what a juxtaposition to my eye at first and yet fits well on second glance.

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  4. Love the mosaic on the Firehall. I come from an entire generation of firemen and I know they would have appreciated it.

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  5. Mosaics make me happy. There is an amazing mosaic in the Houston Intercontinental Airport by Dixie Friend Gay. It is HUGE and there is lots to spot within it.

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