Art Deco

Style Moderne, popular as the “Art Deco” movement was based on visual arts, architecture and design, first appeared in France just before World War I. This movement influenced the buildings, furniture, jewellery, fashion, cars, movies theatres, trains and everyday objects.

Art Deco was a blend of modern styles, fine craftsmanship and rich materials which represented luxury, glamour and exuberant faith in social and technological progress. Rich colours, bold geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation marked the style. The rise of new materials and technologies gave way for this style, especially reinforced concrete. With the discovery of the use of a mesh of iron rods in concrete to strengthen it and use it to build various buildings, Art Deco started to flourish as it was easier to make different forms with concrete.

ART DECO TIMELINE

·       1920s- The style was first applied to public and commercial buildings. It was rarely used to designed individual homes but the style adapted well to apartment buildings.

·       1930s- Art Deco became more famous in public work projects, railway stations, architecture, interior design and amusement parks. The style took over Miami, Florida, producing an area known as the Art Deco historic district.

·       World War II- The war became the fall of the Art Deco movement and led to lesser  use of the style.

CHARACTERISTICS

·       Round Corners- Rounded corners were added to the buildings to give   them an aerodynamic, fast and sleek appearance.

·       Rule of Threes- In this style everything came in threes; three windows,  three bands or three steps, etc.

·       Banding or Racing Stripes- Horizontal bandings on the façade which were incised or applied in a decorative materials such as tiles. To emphasize the elements, the bands were painted in a contrasting colour.

·       Columns- Either whole columns were present standing away from the building or sliced columns were attached to the front doorway façade which acted as an archway.

·       Glass Block- Translucent squares of glass were used instead of brick to  allow light penetration and create “ziggurat step” design.

·       Ziggurat or Stepped Pediment- Outlined as a staircase on the roofline of the buildings were formed to recreate Egyptian motifs.

·       Materials- Stucco, concrete, smooth-faced stone and terracotta were the   most famous materials used. Steel and aluminium were used along with glass blocks and decorative opaque plate glass.

·       Windows- Usually punctured openings (square or round) were arranged in continuous horizontal bands filled with decorative glass or glass blocks.

 

Art Deco usually combined different styles like Cubism, Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism and Art Nouveau itself. The articulation was inspired by designs used by American Indian, Egyptians, early classical sources as well as nature. The objects were rarely mass-produced but clearly represented the admiration for the modernity of machines and their inherent quality of accuracy in designing (symmetry, unvaried repetition of patterns, simplicity, etc.).

Every style is formed as a result of dissatisfaction from its predecessor and ends up giving birth to a new style. Same was the scenario with Art Deco, born as the reaction against Art Nouveau to end the old conflict between art and industry, and later gave rise to the Modernist movement.