The Architectural Buddies print series

In 2023 I was very excited about zoomorphic buildings, and since then they've always had a place in my heart. Here you have the printed consequences of that excitement: the Architectural Buddies print series. All five have the same dimensions (they're a team of sorts) and 4/5ths of them are a product of American small business in the 1920s and 1930s. To do a roll call: 

"The Giant Koala" is the youngest of the set, built at 5829 Western Highway in Dadswells Bridge, Australia, in 1988 by the Dutch sculptor Ben Van Zetten. She's still standing and her full name is "Sam" or "the Giant Koala Tourist Complex", and in-person she looks quite a bit larger and more haggard than what I've drawn. Here's a great article about her and her past. 

"The Bulldog Café" has many imitators. The real one was built in LA in 1928 at 1153 West Washington Boulevard, and it sold burgers and tamales until being demolished in either 1955 or 1966. It spent most of its life dogged by the imitative Pup Café, and was also resurrected at 2:3 scale for Disney's 1991 LA-set and very deco movie the Rocketeer. That smaller bulldog is currently harboured inside LA's Idle Hour.  

"The Toed Inn" had three different locations from 1920 to the 1950s, all in Los Angeles and environs and none well-documented. The first was somewhere, the second probably on Channel Road in Santa Monica until it was destroyed by a floor in 1938, and the last at 12008 Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, where it just became "Ben's".

"Hoot Hoot I Scream" as described by Waterandpower.org: "For over 50 years, Tillie Hattrup ran this refreshment spot designed and built by her husband, Roy in 1926-27. It was originally on Valley Boulevard [in LA], then moved to 8711 Long Beach Boulevard before being demolished in 1979." Its eyes, apparently, were car headlights.

"The Big Duck" is also a still accepting visitors, as its reinforced concrete body has changed very little since being cast in Riverhead, New York, in 1931. Born there, the duck moved to its current nest in Flanders, New York, in 1937, and it was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. A smaller version of the Big Duck was built to be displayed at (and destroyed after) the 1939 World's Fair, too. Read all about this beauty right here. 

Available at 12x18" or 24x36" on Epson Enhanced Matte 192 gsm paper printed with Epson UltraChrome XD2 archival ink. Sold in an open edition, unframed, signed and dated on reverse.