Tulsa: Architecture in a couple of hours

Tulsa architecture is quite amazing. I had no idea.

Several years ago I was in Tulsa, OK for a trade show. Once I had our booth set up, I had a couple of hours to wander around and explore.

Art Deco in Tulsa

In the early 1920s, Art Deco took over as Tulsa was turning into the Oil Capital of the World at that time. Art Deco is defined as a popular style of the 1920s and 30s that is characterized by sleek geometric or stylized forms. It also includes the use of man-made materials. These materials include plastics, reinforced concrete and are often combined with natural materials such as jade, silver or ivory.

The main characteristics of Art Deco architecture are simplicity, symmetry, and unvaried repetition of elements. You’ll see clean shapes, ornamental features that are representational of florals, animals and sunrays.

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More than just Art Deco

Besides the Art Deco work, there are also plenty of other architectural gems downtown. From Neoclassical architecture to the more modern styles.

The Bok Center architect was Cesar Pelli who also designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the World Financial Center in New York City.

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Tulsa definitely runs the gambit of architecture. It is definitely worth a good day of wandering with your camera. It just goes to show that you can cover a lot of ground when you don’t have a lot of time but have a pretty good idea of what you want to see.

This city is definitely still on my list of places to go back to and a possible destination for a photo tour. I have Tulsa Tours in my files to show me around next time.