Modern Philosophies and

Movements in Architectural Design

PRELIMINARY TERM
ARCH124 – Theory of Architecture 2
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• Art Deco, also called ‘style moderne’ ,
movement in the decorative arts and
architecture that originated in the
1920s and developed into a major style
in western Europe and the United
States during the 1930s.
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• A style of visual arts, architecture and design that first
appeared in France just before World War I (Texier, 2012)
• It took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs (Hillier, 1968)
• It combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and
rich materials.
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes
contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. From its
outset, Art Deco was influenced by the bold geometric forms
of Cubism; the bright colors of Fauvism and of the Ballets
Russes; and the updated craftsmanship of the furniture of the
eras of Louis Philippe and Louis XVI; by the exotic styles of
China and Japan, India, Persia, ancient Egypt and Maya art.
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• The Chrysler
Building and other
skyscrapers of
New York were the
most visible
monuments of the
new style.
Renaut, Christophe and Lazé, Christophe, Les Styles de l'architecture et du
mobilier, (2006)
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• In the 1930s, after the Great Depression, the style became more
subdued.
• New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel
and plastic.
• A more sleek form of the style, called Streamline Moderne,
appeared in the 1930s; it featured curving forms and smooth,
polished surfaces Renaut, Christophe and Lazé, Christophe, Les Styles de
l'architecture et du mobilier, (2006)
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• Art Deco became one of the first truly international architectural
styles, with examples found in European cities, the United States,
Russia, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
• The style came to an end with the beginning of World War II.
• Deco was replaced as the dominant global style by the strictly
functional and unadorned styles of modernism and the
International Style of architecture.
Benton, Benton and Wood & Art Déco (1910-1939)" 2010,
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• During the 1925 Exposition the architect Le Corbusier wrote a series
of articles about the exhibition for his magazine L'Esprit Nouveau
under the title, "1925 Expo: Arts Déco" which were combined into a
book, "L'art décoratif d'aujourd'hui" (Decorative Art Today).
• The book was a spirited attack on the excesses of the colorful and
lavish objects at the Exposition; and on the idea that practical objects
such as furniture should have any decoration at all; his conclusion was
that "Modern decoration has no decoration".
Le Corbusier, L'Art décoratif d'aujourd'hui, Éditions Crès, Collection de "L'Esprit Nouveau", Paris, 1925
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
• The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise
in status of decorative artists, who in the 19th century had been
considered simply as artisans.
• The term "arts décoratifs" had been invented in 1875, giving the
designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official
status.

Le Corbusier, L'Art décoratif d'aujourd'hui, Éditions Crès, Collection de "L'Esprit Nouveau", Paris, 1925
 ART DECO

• Théâtre des Champs-Élysées,

by Auguste Perret, 15 avenue
Montaigne, Paris, (1910–13).
• Reinforced concrete gave
architects the ability to create
new forms and bigger spaces.

Texier, 2012
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was built in reinforced concrete, and featuring
rectangular forms, straight lines, and decoration attached to the outside on plaques of
marble and stucco, it was a radical departure from the Art Nouveau style…
 ART DECO
1920s-1930s
The Cubist House (1912)

Le Salon Bourgeois, designed by André

Design for the facade of La Maison La Maison Cubiste
Mare inside La Maison Cubiste
Cubiste (Cubist House) by Raymond (Cubist House) detail
Duchamp-Villon (1912) of the entrance
 EXAMPLES OF EARLY ART DECO
Pavilion of the Galeries
Lafayette Department Store
at the 1925 Exposition

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF EARLY ART DECO

Crown of the General

Electric Building (also
known as 570 Lexington
Avenue) by Cross &
Cross (1933)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF EARLY ART DECO

The Hotel du Riche

Collectioneur, pavilion
of the furniture
manufacturer Emile-
Jacques Ruhlmann

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO
The Palais de Chaillot by
Louis-Hippolyte Boileau,
Jacques Carlu and Léon
Azéma from the 1937 Paris
International Exposition

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

High School in King

City, California, built
by Robert Stanton for
the Works Progress
Administration (1939)

Grand Rex movie

theater in Paris
(1932)
Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

National Diet Building

in Tokyo, Japan (1936)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

The Hoover Building

canteen in Perivale in
the London suburbs,
by Wallis, Gilber and
Partners (1938)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

The Ford Pavilion at

the 1939 New York
World's Fair

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

Pan-Pacific
Auditorium in Los
Angeles (1936)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

Paris Building in the

Pacquebot or ocean
liner style, 3 boulevard
Victor (1935)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF LATE ART DECO

The Marine Air

Terminal at La Guardia
Airport (1937) was the
New York terminal for
the flights of Pan Am
Clipper flying boats to
Europe

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF ART DECO INTERIORS

Lobby of 450 Sutter

Street in San Francisco
by Timothy Pflueger
(1929)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF ART DECO INTERIORS

Elevator of the Chrysler

Building (1930)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF ART DECO INTERIORS

The Fisher Building in Detroit

by Joseph Nathaniel French
(1928)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
 EXAMPLES OF ART DECO INTERIORS
Grauman's Four-story
high grand
Egyptian Theater lobby of the
in Hollywood Paramount
(1922) Theater,
Oakland
(1932)

Heindorf, Anne (24 July 2006). "Art Deco (1920s to 1930s)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.