Sunday, July 5, 2009

Ironworks in the French Quarter of New Orleans

DSC06386 French Quarter fern galleries

The elaborate use of ironwork permeates throughout the architecture within the French Quarter of New Orleans. Some of them were wrought one by one, requiring great skill and strength with a hammer:

DSC02435 Maison Dupuy Hotel sign

DSC02620 wrought iron curlicue


…other iron features were cast into a mold allowing exact duplicates to be made:

DSC06346 French Quarter cast iron

DSC06337 French Quarter cast iron grapes

DSC06339 French Quarter railing

…and still others are a combination of wrought iron and cast iron:

DSC06391 French Quarter door 728

Most famously, ironwork is used in the railings for the balconies and galleries that are so prominent in the New Orleans architecture. Balconies project out and are extensions of an upper floor:

DSC06405 French Quarter colors

Galleries are supported by columns or posts reaching to the ground and therefore usually the width of the sidewalk.:

DSC06336 French Quarter Galleries


DSC06348 New Orleans 501 Rue Royale

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans during a heat wave or been caught in a rainstorm there, I don’t have to tell you what a great benefit the galleries are.

DSC00158 French Quarter cat and iron gate

15 comments:

A Cuban In London said...

I loved that first photo top to bottom so much. Maybe because it reminded me of some of the buildings in Havana. What a lovely tour. I am enjoying New Orleans through your eyes a lot.

Greetings from London.

CC said...

Wonderful shots, especially iron work details.
You have given me an idea to photograph some
iron work (completely different influence) here.

I also love the white cat against the dark wall.
Some one said,"When you have a cat, you don't need sculpture."

OXO, CC

Meri said...

Thanks for the tour. Haven't been to the French Quarter for years, but between your ironwork shots and some cemetery shots I've seen recently, maybe it's time for a jaunt.

Relyn Lawson said...

Oh, so lovely. All that yummy black lace on a building. Love it!

Sherri said...

Your pictures are all amazing. How fun to have relatives in New Orleans. It's such a fun place to visit. I love the culture of the Southern states!

Ruth said...

Wonderful. The wrought iron is definitely what comes to mind when I picture that city. My old friend did the iron work at Tiger Stadium, our baseball team in Detroit, and sadly they are just completing the demolition of the stadium. I haven't talked with Rudy in years, and I imagine he must feel sad that it is coming down. I wonder if he was able to save any of his craftsmanship. I'm glad New Orleans is on the upswing and the fastest growing city in the U.S.!

Emily said...

What a neat post. I LOVE iron work!

Red Shoes said...

Your gorgeous photos make me quite homesick!

Many's the day I felt like the cat in that last photo...

robin bird said...

This is a place i would love to see first hand! these photographs offer up a great sample of what my camera could find. Looking at these i have to say you did a good job of getting me to start longing for another adventure :)

Xo soon

paris parfait said...

Lovely images, Diana! xo

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Cuban,
You wish to go to New Orleans; I wish to go to Havana. I hope we each can fulfill our dreams.

Dear CC,
And maybe you can illustrate them in your next book!

Great quote; so true!

Dear Meri,
My pleasure! It's a great time to visit New Orleans. Most everything is restored after the hurricane and it's not as crowded as it used to be.

Dear Relyn,
Isn't it amazing how they can make iron look so frilly?

Dear Postcards,
I feel very fortunate to have married a Southerner. I've learned so much!

Dear Ruth,
I hope Rudy can obtain some of his historic work. Perhaps Olde Good Things harvested them. I did a post on them a while back: http://godutchbaby.blogspot.com/2008/12/olde-good-things-antiques-in-new-york.html (sorry too lazy to use the href html code)

Dear Jemm,
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Dear Red Shoes,
I can see why fell in love with New Orleans. It has definitely stolen my heart.

Dear robin bird,
I hope you go there and take some of your wondrous photographs for us!

Dear paris parfait,
You are too kind! xox

Jeannette StG said...

The iron work gives the French quarter a specific atmosphere. I love it! Was there in the 70ties, but somehow I didn't think as much of it, as I do right now (of course, back then, blogging was not something many did!)/
Thanks for alerting me to this post!! T thoroughly enjoyed it:)

Dutchbaby said...

Dear jeannette,
I highly recommend you return to NOLA soon. It is one of my favorite cities in the world and their economy surely could use some tourist dollars coming in.

lorilaire said...

J'adore cette architecture, j'espère un jour venir visiter La Nouvelle Orléans !
bizz lori

Dutchbaby said...

Chers lorilaire,

J'espère qu'un jour, votre rêve devient réalité!

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