Art Deco is one of the most popular decorative arts and architecture movements in the world. Originating in the 1920s, this distinctive style found its way to Western Europe and the United states during the 1930s. But the style first exhibited in Paris in 1925 and derived its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. However, the eclectic characteristics of Art Deco had already begun to gain momentum in Brussels before World War I.
With the rise of the monotonous work on the assembly after WWI, Americans were fueled by a desire of escapism. They began to focus their attention on new advances in technology that included automobiles radio and, movies, which all helped connect people to a fusion of style—Art Deco. This style began to influence trends, music and many other forms of art, but especially architecture.
Art Deco served to embody the ideas of the modern age. Many architectural historians refer to the Art Deco style as “Modernistic” and define it as being a part of the Modern Movement in architecture in the early 20th century. This style of architecture first gained public attention in 1922 in a design competition for the Chicago Tribune Headquarters. Architect Eliel Saarinen submitted an Art Deco design that was not chosen, but was widely publicized and embraced as an exciting new architectural style.
Art Deco buildings are characterized by their sleek, linear appearance with stylized, often geometric ornamentation. The primary façade of Art Deco buildings often features a series of setbacks that create a stepped outline. Low-relief decorative panels can be found at entrances, around windows, along roof edges, or as string courses. The buildings also feature distinctive smooth finish building materials such as stucco, concrete block, glazed brick or mosaic tile. Additionally, decorative details can incorporate various artistic or exotic motifs to suit the building’s function or the architect’s whim. Chevrons, zigzags, and other geometrical motifs are common forms of ornament on Art Deco style buildings. Since the Art Deco style was seen as a rejection of historic precedents in its use of new construction technology, it was particularly suitable for the design of the 20th century’s newly emerging building form, the skyscraper.
Art Deco style buildings may be found in a variety of forms such as the tall urban skyscrapers to smaller scale buildings, like post offices, theaters, schools, armories, and apartment buildings. 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.
Art Deco design was extremely practical when it came to execution. For projects on a tight budget, a simple box could be decorated with motifs and embellished with appendages that made a conceptually rudimentary structure appear fashionable and up-to-date. Visual interest could be further enhanced by stretching linear forms horizontally and vertically throughout the building. This was frequently done with bands of brick, canopies, or copings. Although a short-lived movement, Art Deco design and architecture made a large impact and is visible around almost every American city today.
