Digital art
Part of a series of Orlando’s great buildings from the past and present.
The Winter Park Post Office was built in either 1963 or 1965 (I’ve found conflicting dates). I’ve been fascinated by this post office for years now. Architect Joseph Shifalo designed it to be very geometric and minimalist, probably skewing closest to the International style of architecture. We now refer to a lot of these buildings as the catch-all Mid-Century Modern. Anyway, this boasts a few unique details that make it stand out to me. Two walls feature modern abstract murals by Tampa artist Joe Testa-Secca, made up of tiny painted stones (one of them is seen here on the right side). A third wall features a brise-soleil (sun screen) made of smashed aluminum cans painted black, created by Walt Dittmer, Jr. The funky vehicle in the front there is a Westcoaster Mailster, a three-wheeled mail scooter used during the 1950s and ‘60s.
I also wanted to highlight this because the Winter Park city government has wanted to buy and develop this land for years now, but has not committed to preserving the building. That means this unique, historical building is in real danger of being torn down. I love Orlando but I can’t stand how the city and surrounding communities have bulldozed so many of our historic buildings. We’re constantly fighting against the perception that Orlando has no culture or history, and every time our local governments allow the demolition of these physical representations of who we are, it makes it THAT much harder to change that opinion.
(I learned a lot of this from the Studio Hourglass and Friends of Casa Feliz blogs.)
