Omaha MidCentury Modern

Great colletion of Western themed furniture and collectables.  Also mixed in are some National Parks and WPA collectables.  Great conversation room.

The Post Office has sheets of stamps featuring midcentury designs by Eames.

For the few remaining examples of playground inspired equipment, that has not yet been removed from public places, here is a fine example of a rocket ship in Bracket Park in Minneapolis.  Many parks had ‘rocket slides’ or basically this structure with a slide coming out one side.  This one has obviously fallen victum to the "dangerous" playground equipment hysteria sweeping the country.  Amazingly in this same park, in the kiddie playground area, was a 2 story spiderweb type climbing thing.  Now tell me honestly which looks more dangerous to you?  A jungle gym type rocket ship all enclosed or a 2 story web of rope that kids can climb to the top of without safety gear?

Yes, a whole shelf of Tiki objects from the past.  The are pretty rare stuff so enjoy the fuzzy photo.  For more here is a roadsite website with more Tiki photos.

 Brutalism is an architectural style that spawned from the modernist architectural movement and which flourished from the 1950s to the 1970s. The early style was largely inspired by the work of Swiss architect, Le Corbusier (in particular his Unité d’Habitation building) and of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The term originates from the French béton brut, or "raw concrete". Brutalist buildings are usually formed with striking blockish, geometric, and repetitive shapes, and often revealing the textures of the wooden forms used to shape the material, which is normally rough, unadorned poured concrete. source; Wikipedia

 The expample shown here is of the Omaha Public Library, downtown branch. The ‘moat’ and long narrow windows of the library give it a fortress or prison like feel.

 Omaha even used Brutalism in parking garage construction such as the Douglas Park. The curving walls, pylon tower, empty flag pole and even limestone panels between floors are just a few of the design elements used on this structure.

 Editors note; I think this form or architecture is least understood and generally disliked by the public which includes myself.

 Appearing in the order they were mentioned, YES we had or have them all right here in Omaha! We call the design on the top picture ‘tsunami’ and interestingly enough the building is still know as the ‘Tsunami Building’ even though the tsunami roof has been removed. The two folded roofs are both photographed in south Omaha. However, in just the last year the drive through ‘annex’ to the old Commercial Federal was torn down. The other commercial structure on 24th Street is still there. There is also another outstanding example of the folded roof right at 51 and Underwood Ave in the Dundee business district. Not to forget the hyperbolic parabaloid roofs covering the old Commercial Federal bank drive through in both South Omaha and at Saddlecreek and Dodge Street.