Art Deco was the first widely popular style in U.S. to break with revivalist tradition represented by Beaux-Arts and period houses. Art Deco uses a style of decoration: applied to jewelry, clothing, furniture, handicrafts, and buildings. Industrial designers used art deco designs to decorate streamlined cars, trains, kitchen appliances. Art Deco takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs and Industriels Modernes, held in Paris 1925. A showcase for works of “new inspiration and real originality”. The style strove for a modern and artistic expression to complement the machine age. An emphasis on the future rather than the past was the style’s principal characteristic.”
Identifying Features
- “Smooth wall surface, often stucco
- smooth-faced stone and metal
- polychromy, often with vivid colors
- forms simplified and streamlined
- geometric designs including zigzags, chevrons; towers and other vertical projections presenting a vertical emphasis
- machined and often metallic construction materials for decorative features”
- Egyptian influences may also appear in the architectural details.
Variations Include
Art Deco Moderne
Art Deco PWA/WPA Moderne
Art Deco Streamlined Moderne
Sources:
- “Art Deco, Art Moderne (1925-1940),” Architectural Styles of America, Northern Arizona University, http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~twp/architecture/artdeco/ (Accessed March 6, 2010).
Images:
- Eric Pohlman, Miami, FL (2010)
- Eric Pohlman, Miami, FL (2010)
- Eric Pohlman, Miami, FL (2010)