ART DECO MOVEMENT

SUBMITTED BY :
VIKESH
ROHAN
KULMANI
SARTHAK
HISTORY OF ART-DECO (1910s - 1940s)

• we have to go back to France in the late 19th century.

• we have the then-growing influence of so-called decorative artists and officially turn into
Art Deco.
• Decorative artists were those who worked as designers of textiles, furniture, and other
ornamentation; until 1875, they were just regarded as ordinary artisans. “arts decoratifs”
• France’s Society of Decorative Arts was established in 1901.
• French brands you’re no doubt familiar with today—like Louis Vuitton and Cartier—
started to design their products in a more modern fashion.
• By this time, luxurious and wealthy materials like silk, ivory, and ebony—along with very
vibrant, stylized and colorful motifs—started to mold the trademark Art Deco style.
• By the 1910s, Art Deco was leaving its mark on buildings in France.
• influence of Cubism, which left a mark in France by 1912, on Art Deco.
( emphasis on minimalist forms.) The Cubist House.
• it was the famous Swiss-French designer and architect Le Corbusier who saw
the Cubist House and later on, in 1925, designed the Esprit Nouveau pavilion for
the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts.
• It was at this 1925 exhibition that Art Deco also got its name.
• By 1925, the curious design idiosyncrasy within Art Deco was its obsession with
everything machine-related, such as planes, cars, and ocean liners, owing to the
ability of this movement to adapt to what was happening around it, as
technology was undergoing a rapid evolution in the 1920s and 30s.
• That’s why we also think of Art Deco as a modern approach to design.
• the Great Depression of the early 1930s, and the years leading up to the Second
World War. It suffered a decline in popularity during the late 30s and early 40s,
when it began to be seen as too gaudy and ostentatious for wartime austerity,
after which it quickly fell out of fashion.
 INTRODUCTION
• Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared
in France just before World War I. (mid-to-late 1910s)
• It took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and
Industrial Arts held in Paris in 1925. (officilally)
• It was applied to decorative art like interior design,
furniture, jewellery, textiles, fashion and industrial design,
as well as to the applied art of architecture and the visual
arts of painting, and graphics.
• The art deco style, which above all reflected modern
technology, was characterized by smooth lines, geometric
shapes, streamlined forms and bright, sometimes garish
colours.
• Art Deco practitioners embraced technological innovation,
modern materials, and mechanization and attempted to
emphasize them in the overall aesthetic of the style itself.
• during its heyday, art deco represented luxury, glamour,
exuberance and faith in social and technological progress.
• This artistic movement was created in Paris in 1910 by the
fashion designer Paul Poiret and gradually spread all over
other European countries with different names such as:
"Modern style" in Great Britain, "Jugendstil" in Germany,
"Secession" in Austria, "Liberty” or “stile floreale" in Italy
and "Modernismo" in Spain.
• the Art Deco was created in 1910, the style gained most of
its popularity between year 1925 and 1939. In fact this
style is also known as Style 1925.
• INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATION :
• Art Nouveau - curvilinear style,
inspiration from nature
• cubism - basic geometric forms and
shapes.
• constructivism - overlapping figures
• futurism - machine style forms Art nouveau
• de stilij - concept of lines
• Fauvism- highly intense colours Egyptian motif
• Rich selection of cultural motifs, from
ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to Asia,
Mesoamerica and Africa most of all.
• persian or moorish details.
• african sculpture
• egyptian elements - stylize blossoms
scarabs and papyrus leaves and motifs.
Cubism De stilij
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ART DECO:
ROUNDED CORNERS:
technology allowed for construction to be built with
rounded corners. in 1930's and 1940's, the design of
airplanes, ships, trains, and automobiles influenced
architecture. rounded corners made buildings appear
aerodynamics, fast and sleek.
THREES
in art deco, everything seems to come in threes.
three windows, or three bradings or three steps up.
etc
BANDING OR RACING STRIPS:
horizontal banding on the facdes of building, which
can be incised or applied in decorative materials such
as tile. banding usually come in groups of “threes”.
this simplified ornamentation reinforces
aerodynamics concepts of stramline moderne. a
great way to accent the architectural elements of an
art deco builing is to paint the banding in a
contrasting color.
 COLUMNS:
• many art deco buildings feature either whole columns, which stand away from the
building or sliced columns attached to the front doorway facade acting as an
archway.

ZIGGURAT AND STEPPED PEDIMENT

• profiled like a staircase - up down,up down.also known as “zig-zig” or “lighting
bolt”. ziggurat are seen on the roofline of building recreatig egyptian motifs.

WINDOWS
• windows usualy appear as punctured
openings, either square or round.
• to maintain a streamlined appearance for
the building, they were often arranged in
continuous horizontal bands of glass.
• wall opening area sometimes are filled with
decorative glass or glass blocks, creating a
contrast of solid and void forms while
admitting daylight.
• many large apartment buildings found
aesthetic success with decorative embossed
spandrel panels placed below windows.
Art deco buildings have many of these
features:
• cubic forms
• ziggurat shapes
• complex grouping of rectangles or trapezoids
• band of color
• zig zag designs
• strong sense of line
residence
• illusion of pillar
• Machine Age streamline designs ( aviation,
the radio, and the skyscraper) chrysler building,new york
• chevron patterns,
• sweeping curves
• sunburst motifs
• different use of material- stone metals (steel
aluminkum bronze etc) tiles opaque glass
terracoytta
• geometry- circle, diamond, chevrons, zig zag, The New Yorker, A Wyndham Hotel
traingles, pyramid, spirals, octagonns etc the womens museum, texas
• FEATURE- STREAM LINE MODERNE
• horizontal orientation
• rounded edges, corner windows, and glass
brick walls
• glass block
• porthole windows
• chrome hardware
• smooth exterior wall surfaces, usually
stucco
• flat roof with coping
• horizontal grooves or lines in walls
• subdued colors: base colors were typically
light Earth tones, off- whales, and trim
colors were typically dark color to contrast
from the light base.
• MATERIALS:
• Initially a luxury style (a reaction
against the austerity imposed by
World War I) employing costly
materials like silver, crystal, ivory,
jade and lacquer.
• Art Deco also introduced exotic
items like shark-skin, and zebra-
skin.
• after the great Depression(1930s)
it also used cheaper and mass-
produced materials like chrome,
plastics, aluminum, stainless steel,
and other industrial items catering
to the growing middle class taste
for a design style that was elegant,
glamorous and functional.
ART-DECO IN ARCHITECTURE:
CHRYSLER BUILDING, NEW YORK
• Architects: William Van Alen
• Year: 1930
• The Chrysler Building is a classic example of the Art Deco
style. from the street to its terraced crown. Interior and
exterior alike, it is admired for its distinctive
ornamentation.
• All the bricks were manually laid by hand, creating non-
loadbearing walls.
• The white and dark gray brickwork of the facade
emphasizes the horizontality of the rows of windows.
• The stepping spires are made of stainless steel with a
stylized sunburst motif, and sit just above a series of
gargoyles that depict American eagles which stare out
over the city.
• Standing 319.5 meters (1048 feet) high, the Chrysler
Building houses 77 floors, including a lobby three stories
high with entrances from three sides of the building,
Lexington Avenue, 42nd and 43rd Streets.
• One of the first uses of stainless steel over a large exposed
building surface.
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING:
• designed by William F. Lamb from the architectural firm
Shreve, Lamb and Harmon.
• The tallest building in the world from 1932 - 1971, its
stepped design became one of the motifs of Art Deco
design.
• derive from Egyptian and Aztec architectural elements.
• It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (381 meters), and with
its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft
(443.2 m) high.
• The Empire State Building was constructed using a frame
of steel, a very modern material, The exterior is covered
in limestone and granite, accented with aluminum for
extra luster.
• Empire State Building belongs to a style of late Art Deco
called Art Moderne, or Streamline Moderne. Art
Moderne was a take on Art Deco that was less about the
ornamentation and more about the building as a symbol
of progress.
• designs also rely heavily on vertical elements that
emphasize height, creating the impression that this
modern building is racing towards the sky.
EASTERN COLUMBIA BUILDING:
• Location - Los Angeles
• Built- 1930
• Architect - Claud Beelman
• is a thirteen story Art Deco building.
• The Eastern Columbia Building is built of steel-reinforced
concrete and clad in glossy turquoise terra cotta trimmed
with deep blue and gold trim
• The building's vertical emphasis is accentuated by deeply
recessed bands of paired windows and spandrels with copper
panels separated by vertical columns
• The façade is decorated with a wealth of motifs—sunburst
patterns, geometric shapes, zigzags, chevrons and stylized
animal and plant forms.
• The building is capped with a four-sided clock tower
emblazoned with the name "Eastern" in neon and crowned
with a central smokestack surrounded by four stylized flying
buttresses.
• The central main entrance has a spectacular recessed two-
story vestibule adorned with a blue and gold terra cotta
sunburst. The vestibule originally led to a pedestrian retail
arcade running through the center of the building.
 GENERAL ELECTRIC BUILDING:
• ARCHITECT: CROSS & CROSSELIOT CROSSJOHN
WALTER CROSS
• YEAR: 1929 - 1931
• LOCATION: NEW YORK, USA
• The most striking feature of this building is 196m tall
extravagant coronation.
• a curious mixture of Gothic spiers of limestone with
brick undulations and filigree ornaments in the shape
of rays that represent the power of radio transmission
waves sent by the Radio Corporation of America.
• The project design combines the high vertical with
decorative complexity of the Art Deco style
• this Art Deco skyscraper is decorated with diagonal
and zigzag designs that evoke associations with
electricity.
• It is a skyscraper steel structure covered with brick
and terra cotta.
• The crown of the building is unique.An intricate and
elaborate sculpture that is an interweaving of
limestone and brick, representing radio waves and
surrounds all four sides of the tower.
 THE HOOVER BUILDING
• The heritage-listed building was designed by Wallis, Gilbert &
Partners in 1931.
• the introduction of extra levels between the existing floor slabs,
which required the construction of a new timber-framed
mezzanine within the original double-height ground floor.
• Prefabricated timber trusses hidden in walls help to support the
new floors and roof, creating space for 14 maisonettes that look
out through the restored triple-height Crittall windows.
• The original sweeping staircase leads to 21 flats on the first
floor, with the remaining 31 properties accessed from the
second floor.
• These include 12 apartments inserted into a new loft that
replaces the old fibre-cement and steel roof.
• Each of the loft apartments has its own spiral stair entrance and
features large roof lights that fill the interiors with natural light.
• The construction of the new roof involved designing
prefabricated timber trusses, A-frames and roof cassettes that
slot in on top of the existing slender concrete columns and floor
slabs to avoid the need to strengthen the original structure.
 • OTHER BUILDINGS

Jhonson Wax Company

rockfeller plaza los angeles city hall

cincinati art museum american radiator building

buffalos city hall maritime museum golden gate bridge

ART WORK OF ART-DECO:

Jean dupas (1882-1964)

tamara de lampica (1898-1980)

ERTE (1892 – 1990) PABLO PICASSO (1881 – 1973)

 FURNITURE OF ART-DECO:

• Some furniture used rich hard woods

like ebony or macassar, and also
featured veneers, or very thin layers of
wood used as a surface covering, of
exotic woods like zebrawood and
mahogany.
• Other Art Deco furniture incorporated
modern materials like aluminum and
chrome.
• Chairs, dressers and cabinets featured
smooth, highly polished surfaces that
reflected light, emphasizing their
newness and modernity.
• Intricate wood inlays.
• Symmetrical or angular lines.
• Long, smooth, and sweeping curves.
• Lavishness – bold colours, patterns,
and prints.
• Themes e.g.: animals, V-shapes, stars,
sunbursts.
ART DECO JEWELLERY

• The Art Deco period is one of the most

popular design periods in jewelry’s
history.

• The style reflected the gaudy and playful

attitudes of the era and gave birth to
forms and motifs that continue to live
on today.

• While the Art Deco period covers the

early 1920s until 1960s. Art Deco
jewelry design is defined by geometric
forms and bold colors.

• Diamonds were extremely popular in

the period and were often accompanied
by the bright colors of rubies(red),
sapphires(blue) and emeralds(green).
Some of the great jewelry houses,
including Cartier, Tiffany and Van Cleef
 POSTERS

• Only means of communication

between tradesman and public.
• Inspiration from-
• Cubism : abstraction,
composition, over lapping.
• Futurism: speed and power
• De stilj: concept of lines.
• Favism: bright colors were used.
• Simply wanted his poster to be
the means of communication
• Poster in dramatic impact
• Elimination of small detail can
sharpen the message.
• Designed poster for national
railway and for the ocean-liners
IRON WORKS OF ART DECO

Edgar Brandt (1880-1960)

 ART DECO SCULPTURES
• CHRIST REDEEMER Was
designed by Heitor da Silva
Costa and carved by French
sculptor Paul
• Landowski.
• The statue is 125 feet (38
m) tall, including the
pedestal
• New Seven Wonders of the
World
Demetri chiparus (1886-1947)

Christ Redeemer Ferdinand Priess (1882-1943)

THE END OF ART DECO MOVEMENT
The Art Deco style, adopted by architects and designers around the
world, spanned the "Roaring Twenties", the Great Depression of the
early 1930s, and the years leading up to the Second World War.
It suffered a decline in popularity during the late 30s and early 40s,
when it began to be seen as too gaudy and ostentatious for wartime
austerity, after which it quickly fell out of fashion.
 Art Deco was a direct response aesthetically and philosophically to the Art Nouveau style and to the broader
cultural phenomenon of modernism.
ART DECO:
ART NOUVEAU:
Art Deco, as a design movement inspired by
• Art Nouveau primarily focused on the natural industrialization and technical progress.
environment and designers and artists working in
this style were trying to harmonize modern items incorporated bold geometrical patterns in
with more natural-like forms. symmetrical arrangements, vibrant,
contrasting colors and it employed a variety
• they used wooden materials frequently and the
of modern materials from aluminum to
shaping of metal and glass was curvier, inspired stainless glass and steel to plastic.
by designs featuring organic forms like flowers,
vines, leafs, insect wings or feathers. Art Deco fell out of fashion during the years
• Art Nouveau began to fall out of fashion during of the Second World War in Europe and
North America, with the austerity of wartime
WWI as many critics felt the elaborate detail,
causing the style to seem ever gaudy and
delicate designs, often expensive materials and
decadent.
production methods of the style were ill-suited
to a challenging, unsettled, and increasingly
more mechanized modern world.