Pediments

Adorning many older buildings are elaborate and decorative features which Modernist architecture attempted to eradicate. 

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The amount of this decorative detail was often a measure of the wealth of the building’s owner, but can also reflect the proclivities of the architect or builder. 

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Mullions, balusters, columns, architraves, corbels and brackets; oak leaves, cherubs and urns; Flemish bond, pin-wheel bond, Tudor bond or herring-bone bond brickwork - all can add to the interest and architectural importance of a building. 

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When viewed from street level, many older buildings visually meet the sky with a pediment.  Often decorative, sometimes symbolic, these pediments can be pointers to the history of the building.  And over time, as the use of the buildings change, interesting additions and juxtapositions can add further to a place’s heritage.

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While the majority of the photographs here are of pediments, this is not a rule that is strictly adhered to.  There are too many other wonderful architectural eccentricities for that.