While there are many design movements that occurred through the early 20th century, Art Deco is certainly one to be remembered. With its stylized sun rays and use of man made materials, Art Deco innovated in a way that had never been seen before in design and architecture. Let’s take a look at how to identity Art Deco features in any building.
Art Deco, as a movement, emerged out of the changes occurring in society around the beginning of the 20th century. By the end of the 19th century in France, many of the notable artists, architects, and designers who had played important roles in the development of the Art Nouveau style recognized that it was becoming increasingly passé. At the close of a century that saw the Industrial Revolution take hold, contemporary life became very different from a few decades earlier. It was time for something new, something that would shout “20th Century” from tasteful, modernist rooftops. Art Deco made its first official appearance in 1925 at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. A group of French artistic innovators formed an organization called the Societé des Artistes Décorateurs (The Society of Decorative Artists). The group was comprised of both well-known figures such as the Art Nouveau-style designer and printmaker Eugene Grasset, and the Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard, along with emerging decorative artists and designers such as Pierre Chareau and Francis Jourdain. The French state supported and fostered this direction of artistic activity. Art Deco became huge in the United States, but at first did experience some hiccups in its adoption by leaders in the country.
One of the major goals of the new French group was to challenge the hierarchical structure of the visual arts that relegated decorative artists to a lesser status than the more classical painting and sculpting media. Art Deco was a direct response aesthetically and philosophically to the Art Nouveau style and to the broader cultural phenomenon of modernism. Art Nouveau began to fall out of fashion during WWI as many critics felt the elaborate detail, delicate designs, often expensive materials and production methods of the style were ill-suited to a challenging, unsettled, and increasingly more mechanized modern world. While the Art Nouveau movement derived its intricate, stylized forms from nature and extolled the virtues of the hand-crafted, the Art Deco aesthetic emphasized machine-age streamlining and sleek geometry.
This short-lived movement influenced fashion, art, homewares, and building styles throughout the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. As such, the aesthetic was careful to balance opulence and practicality. Austerity, in fact, might be the core aesthetic for both pragmatic and conceptual reasons for this second development of Art Deco.
Art Deco in the United States
In the original movement, which took off in the United States in the beginning of the 1930’s, skyscrapers represented the most lavish and impressive examples of the style. The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, and the Chrysler building are all examples of Art Deco architecture in NYC. Art Deco architecture had been vertically oriented with skyscrapers climbing to lofty heights, while after the Great Depression(starting in 1929) Art Deco buildings had mostly un-ornamented exteriors, graceful curves, and horizontal emphases that symbolized sturdiness, quiet dignity, and resilience. During the worst years of economic disaster, from 1929 to 1931, American Art Deco transitioned from following trends to setting them.
By 1926 a smaller version of the French fair called “A Selected Collection of Objects from the International Exposition Modern, Industrial and Decorative Arts” traveled through many U.S. cities such as New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Boston, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia. The American World Fairs in Chicago (1933) and New York City (1939) prominently featured Art Deco designs while Hollywood embraced the aesthetic and made it glamorous across the country. Even American corporations such as General Motors and Ford built pavilions in the New York World Fair.
Streamline Moderne became the American continuation of the European Art Deco movement. Beyond the serious economic and philosophical influences, the aesthetic inspiration for the first Streamline Moderne structures were buildings designed by proponents of the New Objectivity movement in Germany, which arose from an informal association of German architects, designers, and artists that had formed in the early-20th century. New Objectivity artists and architects were inspired by the same kind of sober pragmatism that compelled the proponents of Streamline Moderne to eliminate excess, including the emotionality of expressionist art. New Objectivity architects concentrated on producing structures that could be regarded as practical, as reflective of the demands of real life. They preferred their designs to adapt to the real world rather than making others adjust to an aesthetic that was impractical. To that end, New Objectivity architects even pioneered prefabrication technology (helping quickly and efficiently house Germany’s poor).
Ten Features of Art Deco Design
1. Mix of Modern and Traditional Building Materials
Art Deco buildings utilized materials like stucco, terracotta, decorative glass, chrome, steel, and aluminum. It was the first American architectural style to look forward rather than back, as the case with the preceding revival styles. In a break from traditions like Arts and Crafts, it began to use modern building materials like chrome and aluminum, embracing the new possibilities that industrialization brought, while remaining steadfastly interested in ornate detailing and design. The mixed use of modern and traditional materials represents beautifully this tension that existed in the movement, between craftsmanship and attention to detail, and a desire to streamline and respond to austerity and the need for economizing. Employing new building materials that were manipulated into stepped, radiating styles that contrasted sharply with the fluid motifs of Art Nouveau, Art Deco architecture represented scientific progress, and the consequent rise of commerce, technology, and speed. And while continuing the use of high quality Art Nouveau materials, such as moulded glass, horn, and ivory, Art Deco also introduced exotic items like shark-skin, and zebra-skin.
2. Ornate Geometric Detailing
Art Deco style is recognizable for its geometric ornamentation because the movement’s artists were influenced by the geometry of Cubist paintings, repeating geometric shapes like squares, triangles, chevrons, and zig-zags in their art. Various motifs and ornamental details were applied to a building. Some common Art Deco motifs include chevrons, pyramids, stylized sunbursts or florals, zig-zags, and other geometric shapes. Whereas the geometric shapes of the Arts and Crafts movement were usually complimented by earth tones and natural materials, Art Deco’s ornate geometry was created in sleek new materials with vibrant, sometimes pastel colour schemes. In response to Art Nouveau’s soft curving lines, Art Deco moved towards sharp ones that represented their commitment to innovation and forward progress.
3. Decorative, Geometric Windows
Windows and doors were decorated with geometric designs. The windows could be glass block or a series of opaque glass inserts and were often positioned in a long, horizontal row. One of the most noteworthy aspects of art deco could be found in the windows; in fact, one good way to spot an art deco design is to look at the windows of a building. Just how did one single component define an architectural movement? Panels of windows were often arranged repeatedly throughout one side of a building, generating a grille pattern that would still often be used in today’s modern architecture, especially in commercial construction. Often, geometric motifs were integrated into the design of the windows: think stain glass, but modernized. There was often a mix of circular of curving lines and hard geometric ones.
4. Brightly Coloured Terra Cotta
Besides using sleek and shiny materials, architects of the era also wanted to grab the attention of passersby with colorful elements. You might notice a few art deco building make use of turquoise terra cotta, like the Eastern Building in Los Angeles. Bright, opulent colors are synonymous with the Art Deco period. Buildings incorporated stark colors like black and white or gold and silver to create contrast. The earliest use of terra cotta in American architecture—in the early nineteenth century—was to embellish the design of façades and rooflines of predominantly brick buildings. The resurgence of terra cotta ornament on brick buildings during the 1920s and 1930s illustrates how the material’s use came full circle.The sweeping changes that occurred in American architecture during the Art Deco era—especially in New York—were greatly amplified by the versatile qualities of terra cotta, a material that brought a new expressiveness to the buildings and skylines of cities across America. Terra cotta, literally “burnt earth,” is a term that has been used loosely since Roman times to refer to ceramic ware intended primarily for architectural elements and large-scale statuary. Due principally to the plasticity of clay, which allows any decorative motif to retain its fine details when being translated from a two-dimensional drawing into three-dimensional form, terra cotta can be modeled easily into nearly any form or size.By the mid-1920s, architectural terra cotta came to be used frequently by forward-looking architects for a number of different reasons: it is fireproof, lightweight, readily available, and economical; it could also be used to create striking aesthetic effects. The use of colored glazes increased dramatically by the mid-1920s, when fashionable new shades such as peach, lime-green, lavender, and ebony were introduced.
Indeed, the Art Deco era’s demand for a flatter look—rather than the more dynamically sculptural works of earlier decades—led to the introduction of machine-extruded terra cotta units. Such pieces could be produced economically, as they required little hand labor, and they also were easy to install, a factor in considering a building’s construction costs. The very versatility of terra cotta helped make it an important element as the emerging, growing skyscraper style evolved and gained popularity during the interwar years.
5. A lot of Gleaming Chrome
The steel framework and metal accents of the Chrysler Building in New York give it a shiny, glam look that epitomizes the art deco style. In Art Deco, Eric Knowles writes that the building included “visual metaphors for the Chrysler motor car company.” For example, “the windows suggesting the spokes of a car wheel.” The gleaming exterior of the structure became a symbol for art deco glamour. It even features chrome gargoyles, that gleam in the sunlight and take on a very different quality than any other gargoyle you’ve ever seen. To add to the use of iridescent materials, mirrors and brass were also prominent features of buildings, especially in their interiors. Many smaller interior design pieces were also made in chrome, including candle sticks, lamps, clocks, and even serving dishes. The effect is quite striking, with pieces that resemble a futuristic and almost alien form in comparison to traditional styles for dish-wares and home-wares.
6. Intricate Stone Carvings
Low-relief decorative panels can be found at entrances, around windows, along roof edges or as string courses. In the United States, the most prominent Art Deco sculptor for public art was Paul Manship, who updated classical and mythological subjects and themes in an Art Deco style. His most famous work was the statue of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center in New York City, a 20th-century adaptation of a classical subject. Other important works for Rockefeller Center were made by Lee Lawrie, including the sculptural façade and the Atlas statue. Stone carvings were a common feature in buildings, often positions above prominent doorways that led into skyscrapers, or as panels on the inside entryways. They often represented scenes, but could also just be in geometric forms.
7. Sleek Lines
Many facades were created using vertical lines that were angular and pointed in an upward and outward direction. These triangular shapes were capped off with a series of steps that eventually come to a point. The primary façade of Art Deco buildings often feature a series of set backs that create a stepped outline. Movie theaters of the 1920s and 30s often incorporated Art Deco design throughout the buildings from the curving lines of the exterior to the stylized décor of the interior curtains, murals and light fixtures. With its image as a modern, opulent style, Art Deco designs were especially suitable for the interiors of cinemas, ocean liners such as the Queen Mary, and the architecture of train stations across the United States. It endured throughout the Depression due to the practicality and simplicity of its design, and its suggestion of better times ahead.
8. Ancient or non-Western Inspiration
Art Deco artists often incorporate stylized motifs inspired by ancient Greece or Egypt, as well as aspects of Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and African art. Decorative details can incorporate various artistic or exotic motifs to suit the building’s function or the architect’s whim. The structure of Art Deco is founded on mathematical geometric shapes which drew equally on Greco-Roman Classicism, the faceted architectural forms of Babylon, Assyria, Ancient Egypt, and Aztec Mexico – notably their ziggurats, pyramids and other monumental structures – and Machine Age streamline designs from aviation, the radio, and the skyscraper. In particular, Art Deco designs are characterized by trapezoidal, zigzagged, and triangular shapes, chevron patterns, stepped forms, sweeping curves and sunburst motifs – the latter being visible in a number of separate applications, including: shoes, car radiator grilles, the Radio City Music Hall auditorium, and the spire of the William van Alen Chrysler Building (1928-30) in New York.
9. Craftsmanship
Decorative arts objects—especially furniture, textiles, and jewelry—were often made by hand, displaying the tremendous skill of the craftsman. With the rise of industrialization, beautifully designed, well-made objects could be mass-produced. Although some buildings utilized expensive hand-crafted decoration, others made do with machine-made repetitive decorations. To keep costs down, ornamental treatment was often limited to the most visible parts of the building. Art Deco projects produced dynamic collaborations between architects, painters, sculptors, and designers—sometimes resulting in complete Art Deco environments like the Old Miami Beach Historic District in Florida. Much of the more recognizable and ornate versions of Art Deco are from the roaring twenties, which were characterized by a strong party scene, flapper dresses, and a lot of glitz and glam: think The Great Gatsby! This period, while it symbolized forward progress through changes in style, like shorter hemlines and sharper geometric angles, was still using the detailed craftsmanship of earlier days. Art Deco is, therefore, such an interesting movement and aesthetic as a result of its commingling of style and ornamentation with modernization and increasing efficiency.
10. Use of Stylized Figures
Painters and sculptors working in the Art Deco style often created elongated or stylized images of the human form. The Art Deco style appeared early in the graphic arts, in the years just before World War I. It appeared in Paris in the posters and the costume designs of Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes, and in the catalogues of the fashion designers Paul Poiret. The friezes of Palais de la Porte Dorée at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition showed the faces of the different nationalities of French colonies. The Streamline style made it appear that the building itself was in motion. The WPA murals of the 1930s featured ordinary people; factory workers, postal workers, families and farmers, in place of classical heroes. While there was an emphasis on streamlining and using modern materials, there was clearly also a use of more ancient techniques, that required skilled craftsmanship and more time and money to create. The Great Depression certainly changed this, but many of the remaining historical Art Deco buildings we see today are grand in scale and ornate in their detailing.
Originally, the term “Art Deco” was used pejoratively by a famous detractor, the modernist architect Le Corbusier, in articles in which he criticized the style for its ornamentation, a characteristic that he regarded as unnecessary in modern architecture. While proponents of the style hailed it as a stripped-down, modernist response to the excessive ornamentation, especially in comparison to its immediate predecessor, Art Nouveau, as any decoration was superfluous for Le Corbusier. It wasn’t until the late 1960s, when interest in the style was reinvigorated, that the term “Art Deco” was used in a positive manner by British art historian and critic Bevis Hillier.
Other famous Art Deco buildings in New York include the Radio City Music Hall, and the Midland Grand Hotel. In Texas, Art Deco is exemplified in Houston by such buildings as the Houston City Hall, the JP Morgan Chase Building and the 1940 Air Terminal Museum, while in Beaumont, the Jefferson County Courthouse (completed 1931), is one of the few Art Deco buildings still standing. Many of the finest surviving examples of Art Deco architecture can be seen in Havana, Cuba. Perhaps the best is the Bacardi Building. In Brazil, Art Deco designs are prevalent in Goiania and cities like Cipo (Bahia), Irai (Rio Grande do Sul) and Rio de Janeiro, while Montevideo, Uruguay, is home to the iconic Palacio Salvo (completed 1929), formerly South America’s tallest building. The famous statue of Jesus in Rio is the largest Art Deco of its kind in the world.
The fact that Art Deco architectural designs were so enthusiastically adopted by architects in countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Spain, Cuba, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, Romania, Australia, New Zealand, India and Brazil, says much for the style’s novel monumentality. The fine line between the search for simplicity, especially when compared to previous movements, and the extravagance of its forms, was considered by many experts as a paradox. However, Art Deco architecture assumed an important role in history by representing the process of modernization of the urban landscape, balancing the elements of the past with new geometric configurations and ornamental references. Some of the major buildings that are iconic in America, including the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Centre, are from the Art Deco movement. These days, it is less talked about than say, Mid-century Modern architecture and design, but it had a massive influence on the buildings that surround us to this day. Like many other movements at the turn of the century, it had a short life due to economic changes that rapidly shifted the needs and resources of construction, thereby shifting the aesthetic production. If you ever get a chance to go to somewhere like Miami, you will be completely immersed in Art Deco, and if not, don’t worry: It is all around you, if you just look up, you will be bound to see it.
