Name: Single Domed – Raney
SKU: 3201
Price: 2600.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Description

Roughly 50 years ago, a new culture started to emerge. Interstate highways rolled out and the valley’s architecture began to reflect that freedom and optimism for the future. Space-age symbols appeared on businesses designed to attract people driving cars with rocket tail fins. Wing-shaped roofs and starburst-laden signs became common themes. This is a rendering of Vincent Raney’s single dome theater for the Syufy theater chain in the ’70s. Medium is watercolor on artist board.

Vincent Raney built the domes on his family’s own land, and that granddaughter stands to profit from the transaction. Faced with the closure of a beloved institution, some San Jose residents are trying to save the domes, arguing that they have a place in history. They’re attempting to have the theaters declared historic landmarks, which would make demolishing them far more difficult. And even though the oldest theater hasn’t quite reached its 50th birthday — a milestone for landmark status — there may be some merit to the idea.

You can scroll through this article by The Verge to get an idea of what these dome theaters were all about and how they became a part of so many people’s lives. The shots of the teardown are pretty cool as well.

About the Artist

Vincent G. Raney

Raney was born in 1905 in Loogootee, Indiana. He attended the University of Indiana, then received a degree in architectural engineering from the University of Illinois in 1929. He also attended the University of Arizona, in 1930.

Raney worked for H.G. Atherton in Anderson, Indiana; and for Frederick H. Reimers, Masten & Hurd, and William I. Garren in San Francisco, 1930-36. In 1937, Raney started his own company, under his own name. He specialized in building and design of multiplex theaters for Syufy Enterprises.

In 1939, he designed a house for the Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island. Notable for its high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and access to a garden from almost every room, it was named the Sunshine House. It was sold in a raffle, with tickets costing one dollar. The home was built to encourage home building and buying after years after the ten years of the Great Depression. The winners sold the house immediately, for $7,000. It sold for $845,000 in 2004.