In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.

Art Deco lives (although I’d argue that it was more a case of Art Moderne. Sandy Bay, April 2011.

Sunday and no church to visit AGAIN. Oh well, I’ll have to console myself with another Sunday Top Five.

This time I’m venturing back to the heady world of architecture, more specifically, (In No Particular Order And Off The Top Of My Head) My Top Five Favourite Architectural Movements Since The Beginning Of The Twentieth Century!

• Googie: yeah, yeah… I know. Forgive me, but The Jetsens was very influential to an impressionable lad. A very American form, features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and daring use of glass, steel and neon. Think Googie, think Space Age.
  



• Art Moderne: a common feature of Burnie, Art Moderne is a late type of the Art Deco design style that emphasised curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements.
  



• Brutalist: in what will be a controversial choice for many. Whatever. I happen to like much of the Brutalism that flourished from the ‘50s to the mid-70s. Brutalist buildings usually have bold and repetitive angular geometries, and are generally made of concrete. You’ll find no shortage of these around, although they’re starting to knock them over…
  



• Deconstructivism: a response to modern straight lines, deconstructivism embraces ideas of fragmentation and manipulates a structure's surface, using non-rectilinear shapes to distort and dislocate key elements of a building. This style brings unpredictability to buildings, and I like the notion of ‘controlled chaos’. I for one blame the French.
  



• Blobitecture: the new kid on the block. Who doesn’t like a blob? Blobitecture refers to buildings that have an organic, amoeba-shaped, bulging form. Liberated by computer software, architects now experiment with this "blobby" design to create forms. It’s not hit Tasmania yet, but we spotted a few of these beauties when we were in Melbourne.