PWA Moderne as an Architectural Style

The PWA Moderne architecture of Engine House No. 2 is an architectural style that took current and trending designs and propagated them through across the nation through the Public Works Administration, a New Deal-era program. Engine House No. 2 exemplifies many of the Moderne principles that have since become known as “PWA Moderne” for their extensive use in the program’s projects. Other projects throughout Iowa that took on this form were county courthouses. The style was touted as being modern in many ways: first in appearance and secondly in efficiency and function. As C.W. Short and Stanley Brown reported to President Roosevelt in 1939, “the best designs of public buildings that have been produced in the past six years indicate definite efforts to provide structures to fit our present civilization rather than to make our civilization fit into buildings that were designed for other ages” (Svendsen 2003a:26; Short and Stanley-Brown 1939:III). Despite these goals, the style generally garnered mixed reviews during the period of the New Deal, with critics citing the blockiness as a negative, calling it a “scraped” interpretation of classical styles. However, reviews have become more favorable to the style over time, and the program created a style and movement of its own that would later become one of historical significance (Svendsen 2003a:26). Despite these general reviews on the national scale, local newspaper reports always seemed favorable of Engine House No. 2’s plans.

Many of these PWA Moderne buildings, most notably county courthouses, demonstrate minor influences from the closely-related styles of the era: of Art Deco, Art Moderne, or Streamline Moderne.

Engine House No. 2 is an excellent local example of this PWA Modern style and the process that gave rise to it. Not only for its situation within it as a historical movement, but as a physical, visual part of history. It has many details that are common to the style, including: the use of vertical lines and reticulation; inset, recessed, and tiered portions of the building; stylized font used on the façade; fenestration, hardware, and fixtures that were considered modern for the time; and others. The site selection, an important part of this development process, was in direct response to the needs and perceived future needs for the community of Mason City that was expanding to the south with residential, commercial, and industrial zoning. Though the site was selected for those reasons, the growth there ultimately did not happen as much as predicted. The extant buildings, especially the houses, are also indicative of their early and middle 20th-century construction dates.

Furthermore, Engine House No. 2 is unique within the City of Mason City, which is well known for its abundance of buildings in the Prairie Style and related styles. The PWA Moderne style is uncommon in the city of Mason City, as are the closely-related styles such as Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and especially Art Moderne styles.

Engine House No. 2 PWA Moderne Features

Similar Styles from Buildings Across the Country