^  Mitchell House, Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. ^

Harry Norris

Sometimes mistaken for art deco, buildings with a streamline modern style came into prevalence in Melbourne before the outbreak of World War 2. Although some elements of streamline Moderne do correlate with those of art deco, there are a number of distinguishing elements that will juxtapose it with those of art deco.
Streamlines beginnings were about simplifying forms and fitting them to maximize function. The look was unmistakable, it consists of machine made and a streamline aesthetic that looked to the future and celebrated the latest in production line items like cars, motorboats and trains.

These production line items can are referred to using smooth exterior wall surfaces, porthole windows and subdued colours that were typically light earth tones or variations of white.

When looking into streamline moderne design in Melbourne one name kept popping up, Harry Norris.

Harry Norris, an Australian designer from Melbourne was one of the most prolific commercial architects in the interwar period. Most of his works were inspired by his regular overseas trips to observe current architectural trends, mainly to the United States, which was exhibiting strongly streamlined designs at the time.

One of the most prominent of his commercial buildings is Mitchell house, Mitchell House is a six-story reinforced concrete commercial building on Lonsdale Street in Melbourne.

Mitchell House

Throughout the facade it’s easy to see the extremely streamlined and horizontal orientation of the building, the round smoothed concrete gives the illusion of a grand ocean liner.

The light cream Colour pallet with the dark highlights is also very reminiscent of the style.

Another important element in streamline moderne is that of flat rooves sometimes surrounded by metallic coping, like you can see at the top of mitchell house.

We see throughout the building the use of the smooth exterier wall surfaves which are used to portray the looks of ocean liners at the time which were sleek, stylish and fast.

As with the art deco buildings, though the refinement of techniques and materials, large steele framed windows are able to be constructed giving an immediate look of modernity from the outside while also allowing maximum natural light into the building.

Mitchell House Sign

Streamline Moderne overall intended to portray an impression of speed and efficiency and the importance of depicting the new ultra-fast technology.

Modernist designers in Australia throughout the interwar period were looking to build a better future for their country in the wake of the First World War and the depression. An international movement, modernism in Australia looked to capture the possibilities of the new 20^th century through modern materials, techniques and styles.