Handel Apartments

 

1/23/24 Handel Apartments, Roosevelt neighborhood

Roosevelt Way Northeast is a one-way arterial in the southbound direction, so the only time I see it in the northbound direction is when I’m on foot. That’s to explain how I could have lived only blocks from the Handel Apartments these past several decades yet only learned its name a few days ago: The sign can only be seen from the northbound direction (which seems like a poor choice in terms of function).

The first thing that attracted my eye to this otherwise non-descript, mid-century box were the three palms, but like a good composition, the palms led my eye up toward the fantastic ‘60s typeface in the name sign. It has probably been repainted many times, but I’m glad the vintage look was retained.

If it had been a warm, sunny day, I might have taken my time to sketch more of the building in color, some of which is orange, yellow and pink. Although the day had been a well-earned reprieve from the many consecutive days of cold followed by many consecutive days of rain, it wasn’t quite warm enough for that. But someday when I’m in the mood for colorful architecture, I’ll be back.

Great typeface and a glimpse of the colorful building.