Paramount Theater

Temple Buell
1929



An Art Deco theater

Like many theaters during this time period, the Paramount is Art Deco in style, a style perceived as modern and glamorous--thoroughly befitting the new medium of film. Designed by a Denver architect, it is clad in white terra cotta ornament, the work of the Denver Terra Cotta Company. "The main design element derives from the stepped pyramid, or ziggurat, here with Rococo and geometric terra-cotta castings" (Paglia et al 23). See a much more sober version of Art Deco architecture in Eberson's theater in Washington, D. C. and in Lamb's theater in Miami. The most exuberant reprise is seen in Pelli's Googie Cinema in Celebration Florida.
 
 


See Denver Index.

Work Consulted:
Michael Paglia, Rodd L. Wheaton, and Diane Wray. Denver: the Modern City. (Historic Denver Guide.) Denver: Historic Denver, 1999

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© 2009 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.