PWA Moderne

Hoover Dam, Arizona/Nevada

Long Beach, California Main Post Office

San Diego County Administration Center

Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.

Library of Congress Annex (John Adams Building), Washington, D.C.

Minneapolis Armory

PWA Moderne (or "P.W.A. Moderne", PWA/WPA Moderne,^[1] Federal Moderne,^[2] Depression Moderne,^[1] Classical Moderne,^[1] Stripped Classicism) is an architectural style of many buildings in the United States completed between 1933 and 1944,^[2] during and shortly after the Great Depression as part of relief projects sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The style draws from traditional styles such as Beaux-Arts classicism and Art Deco and is similar to Streamline Moderne^[2]^[3] but with zigzag ornamentation added. The structures reflect a greater use of conservative and classical elements and have a monumental feel. They include post offices, train stations, public schools, libraries, civic centers, courthouses,^[2] museums, bridges, and dams across the country. Banks were also built in the style because such buildings radiated authority.^[1]

Elements of the style

Typical elements of PWA Moderne buildings include:^[1]

Classical balanced and symmetrical form
Windows arranged as vertical recessed panels
Surfaces sheathed in smooth, flat stone or stucco

Examples of PWA buildings

Examples of PWA buildings include:

Arizona/Nevada

Hoover Dam
Phoenix: Arizona State Fairgrounds, Grandstand and WPA Administration Building

Florida

Ed Austin Building (Former Federal Courthouse, current Florida State Attoney's Office), Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville
- Ed Austin Building (former Federal Courthouse, current State Attorney's Office), 1933, Marsh & Saxelbye

California

Venice Police Station, Los Angeles

Bakersfield: Kern County Hall of Records, 1939 remodel, Chris Brewer
Burbank: Burbank City Hall, Allen Lutzi^[4]
Culver City:
- Helms Bakery, 1930, E. L. Bruner
- MGM Studios, 1938-9, Claude Beelman, Beaux-Arts in the guise of PWA Moderne
El Segundo: El Segundo Elementary School, 1936
Hermosa Beach: Pier Avenue School, 1939, March, Smith and Powell
INglewood: Inglewood Memorial Park, buildings 1933 and 1940, Walter E. Erkes
Lancaster: Post Office (1940, Louis A. Simon and former School Building (c. 1937)
Lawndale: Leuzinger High School, T.C. Kistener & Cómo.; Kistner & Curtis; Eugene D. Birnbaum and Associates^[4]
Long Beach
- Jefferson Junior High School Building, 1936
- Long Beach Main Post Office, 1934, Louis A. Simon and James A. Wetmore
- Municipal Utilities Building, 1932, Dedrick and Bobbe
- Robert Louis Stevenson school, c. 1936
- Veteran's Memorial Building 1936-7, George Kahrs
Los Angeles:
- Abraham Lincoln High School (Lincoln Heights), 1937-8, Albert C. Martin
- Carpenter Community Charter School
- Distribution Station #28, Department of Water and Power (West L.A.), 1945-6, G. E. Benker, engineer
- Federal Building and Post Office (now U.S. Federal Courthouse), 1938–40, Louis A. Simon
- Hall of Administration, 1956-61: A continuation of the PWA Moderne style in the 1950s
- Hollywood Branch Post Office, 1937, Claude Beellman, Allison and Allison
- Pacific Stock Exchange, 1929–30, Samuel E. Lunden
- Police and Fire Station of Venice, c. 1930
- San Pedro High School, 1935–37, Gordon B. Kaufman
- Sepulveda Flood Control Dam in the Los Angeles River, 1939–41, War Department
- U.S. Customs House and Post Office (San Pedro), 1935
- U.S. Naval and Marine Corps Armory, 1939–40, Stiles Clements
- University of Southern California campus: Alan Hancock Foundation and Memorial Museum, 1940, Cram and Ferguson
Pasadena:
- Armory Gallery (former California State Armory), 1932, Bennett and Haskell
- Grover Cleveland Elementary School, 1934
San Diego: San Diego County Administration Center, 1938, Samuel Wood Hamill, William Templeton Johnson, Richard Requa, Louis John Gill
San Francisco: San Francisco Mint, 1937
San Gabriel: San Gabriel Union Church and School, 1936
Santa Monica:
- Santa Monica City Hall, 1938-9, Donald B. Parkinson and J. M. Estep
- Post Office, Robert Dennis Murray, Louis A. Simon^[4]
Torrance:
- Auditorium (Torrance High School)
- Torrance Public Library, 1936, Walker and Eisen
Whittier:^[5]
- National Trust and Savings, c. 1935, William H. Harrison
- Whittier Post Office, 1935, Louis A. Simon
- Whittier-Union High School, 1939–40, William H. Harrison

Washington, D.C.

Folger Shakespeare Library, 1932, Paul Philippe Cret^[2]
Library of Congress Annex (John Adams Building), 1939, Pierson & Wilson^[2]

Iowa

Sioux City Municipal Auditorium. The smooth brick walls, rounded corners, and deeply incised openings typify the Moderne style.

Animosa: Jones County Courthouse, 1937, Dougher, Rich and Woodburn
Audubon: Audubon County Court House, 1940, Keffer and Jones
Atlantic: Cass County Courthouse, 1934, Dougher, Rich and Woodburn
Burlington: Des Moines County Court House, 1940, Keffer and Jones
Charles City: Floyd County Court House, 1940, Hansen & Waggoner
Dakota City: Humboldt County Courthouse, 1939
Independence: Buchanan County Court House, 1940, Dougher, Rich and Woodburn
Indianola: Warren County Court House, 1939, Keffer and Jones
Sioux City: Sioux City Municipal Auditorium, 1938–50, Knute E. Westerlind
Waukon: Allamakee County Court House, 1940, Charles Altfillisch
Waverly: Bremer County Court House, 1937, Mortimer Cleveland

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Minneapolis Armory, 1935–36, P.C. Bettenburg; Walter H. Wheeler

Nevada

Pioche: Lincoln County Courthouse, 1938, A. Lacy Worswick; L.F. Dow

Tennessee

Nashville: Martin Luther King Magnet at Pearl High School

Utah

Orderville: Valley School
Provo: Superintendent's Residence at the Utah State Hospital, 1934 (Colonial Revival/PWA Moderne)
Santaquin: Santaquin Junior High School

References

Genres of modern architecture

Alphabetically	Art Deco Art Nouveau Bauhaus Blobitecture Brutalism Constructivism Contemporary Critical regionalism De Stijl Deconstructivism Expressionism Functionalism Futurism Googie High-tech International style Mid-Century modern Modernisme Neo-Futurism Neomodern New Classical New Objectivity Organicism Postconstructivism Postmodernism PWA Moderne Prairie School Rationalist-Fascist Stalinist Streamline Moderne Stripped Classicism Structuralism

By start year / decade	Modernisme (1888–1911) Art Nouveau (1890–1905) Prairie School (1890s–1920s) Expressionism (1910–) De Stijl (1917–1931) Bauhaus (1919–1933) Constructivism (1920–1932) New Objectivity (1922–1933) Streamline Moderne (1926–1950s) Rationalist-Fascist (1920s–1930s) International style (1920s–1960s) Functionalism (1920s–1970s) Futurism (1920s–) Organicism (1920s–) Art Deco (1925–1939) Postconstructivism (1930s) PWA Moderne (1933-1944) Stalinist (1930s–1950s) Googie (1940s–1960s) Mid-Century modern (1940s–1960s) Brutalism (1950s–1980s) Structuralism (1959–) Postmodernism (1960s–) Blobitecture (1960s–) Contemporary (1970s–) High-tech (1970s–) Critical regionalism (1980s–) Deconstructivism (1980s–) Neomodern (1990s–) New Classical (1990s–) Neo-Futurism (2000s–)

Related articles

Architecture of the United States

Colonial	American colonial architecture Colonial Georgian Dutch Colonial French Colonial German Colonial Spanish Colonial

Early Republic	Adam Federal Jeffersonian

Mid-19th century	Greek Revival Italianate Gothic Revival

Victorian	Richardsonian Romanesque Second Empire American Renaissance Stick style Queen Anne Shingle Territorial

Late-19th to mid-20th century	Beaux-Arts Chicago School Colonial Revival Dutch Colonial Revival Mediterranean Revival Mission Revival Spanish Colonial Revival Tudor Revival Pueblo Revival Territorial Revival American Craftsman Prairie School American Foursquare California bungalow Art Deco Streamline Moderne PWA Moderne

Post-World War II to current	International style Usonian American ranch Modern Postmodern Neo-eclectic New Classical Architecture

Vernacular	Hall and parlor house Central-passage house Log cabin Cape Cod Saltbox Creole cottage Dogtrot house I-house Shotgun house Sod house Carpenter Gothic First Period