Tulsa is proud of its architectural heritage and for good reason. Oklahoma City’s in-state neighbor and longtime sparring partner has been blessed with a number of notable structures throughout the years, and a number of great buildings built during Tulsa’s heyday as the Oil Capitol of the World continue to enrich the City. Of course Tulsa is best known for one architectural style in particular – Art Deco.  And Jack Frank’s newest DVD – Tulsa Deco – is a great way to get acquainted with some of the City’s Art Deco and Streamline Moderne gems.

The DVD is an impressive production, with Jack providing an informative narrative that is supported by interviews with architects, historians, owners, and even some random passers-by. While the narration is informative, I have to say that the perspective is slanted in such a way that it would lead you to believe that Tulsa is the epicenter of the entire Art Deco movement. While Tulsa was featured on the cover of last year’s Preservation Magazine with an article entitled, “Tulsa’s Deco Gems: How an Oklahoma City Fell in Love with Art Deco and Never Really Got Over It,” the city still significantly trails other major Art Deco and Streamline Moderne hubs in the number of significant buildings and status in the Art Deco world.  According to the National Trust Guide to Art Deco in America the principal centers for both styles were the “major urban centers: New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, [and] San Francisco.” South Beach Miami is also often cited for its collection of Art Deco hotels.  So while Tulsa’s significance in the Art Deco world may be overstated to a degree, I can appreciate Jack’s intentions and know myself what it is to be a optimistic booster of your hometown.  Plus it should be mentioned that what Tulsa may lack in numbers and historic role, it in some ways makes up for with the quality of its contributions.

For instance, my favorite building featured in the DVD, and what appears to be the favorite of many, is the Boston Avenue Methodist Church (pictured above).  Designed by Bruce Goff, native son and architect extraordinaire, and Adah M. Robinson, his art teach, the church is said to be one of the finest examples of Art Deco in the world. Here is what the National Trust Guide has to say:

That building type so favored by Art Deco architects – the skyscraper – was here adapted for a 255-foot-high church tower.  Like Barry Byrne’s nearby Christ the King Church, Goff’s design transmutes Gothic verticality into Expressionist Art Deco verticality.  The church itself, which has a semicircular auditorium, is a low-lying, horizontally oriented structure.  Yet Goff has manipulated his composition to read as a narrow and soaring building … [Goff] managed to produce one of the most brilliant examples of Art Deco in the country.

The DVD not only introduced me to this building, but a number of others that I had never had the pleasure of seeing. Also, it gives you just enough information and detail to make you feel like you learned something without getting bogged down in architectural jargon.  In the end, I congratulate Jack on a job well done and encourage anyone interested in Oklahoma’s architectural history to buy a copy, borrow a friends, or catch it on local television in Tulsa!

Hungry for more, check out the trailer below before heading over to Bateslines for a more extensive (i.e. better) review with details on which buildings are covered in the DVD and information on the extras.