In the United States, Art Deco was a product of new ideas and movements and found its inspirations in many distinct early 20th Century European design styles such as Cubism, French Art Deco, German Bauhaus and Expressionism, Dutch de Stijl and Amsterdam School, Vienna Secession and others.
The term Art Deco came into common usage in the 1980s as public interest in the style was renewed and is generally used to cover several distinct periods. Art Deco became known as the Skyscraper Style for the buildings that sprang up in every big city in the mid to late 1920s. This was classical Art Deco, as first popularized at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925, featuring expensive materials, angular yet voluptuous with elaborate motifs of fountains, nudes and flora.
Miami Beach’s building boom came during the second phase of Art Deco known as Streamline Moderne, which began with the stock market crash and ended in most cases with the outbreak of World War II. It was less decorative—a more sober reflection of the Great Depression. It relied more on machine-inspired forms, and American ideas in industrial design. It was buttressed by the belief that times would get better and was infused with the optimistic futurism extolled at America’s Worlds Fairs of the 1930s. Stripped Classic or Depression Moderne was a sub-style often used for governmental buildings, the U.S. Post Office being the best example in Miami Beach. Miami Beach architects used local imagery to create what we now call Tropical Deco. These buildings feature relief ornamentation featuring whimsical flora, fauna and ocean-liner motifs to reinforce the image of Miami Beach as a seaside resort.
What to look for:
Over-all symmetry, ziggurat (stepped) rooflines, glass block, decorative sculptural panels, eyebrows, round porthole windows, terrazzo floors, curved edges and corners, elements in groups of three, neon lighting (used in both exteriors as well as interior spaces).
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Metalwork:
Circle Tower
Indianapolis, IN
C/O Randy Juster
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Machinery:
Chevrolet Showroom
Chicago, IL
C/O Randy Juster
Iconography:
"Pioneers"
Louisiana State Capitol
C/O Carla Breeze
Geometry:
Integrity Trust Building
Philadelphia, PA
Current Application
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They all start with “art,” but each of these three styles has its own distinct look. Here you’ll learn how to decipher the differences between art deco, art nouveau and Arts and Crafts style once and for all. We will start with the newest to appear, art deco, and work our way back through history, tracing the roots of each style.
Art Deco
Becoming popular in the 1920s, art deco style celebrated the changes happening in the modern world — the excitement of jazz music, electricity, the radio, skyscrapers and cubist art.
Zigzags and sharp angles dominated the style in the 1920s. Mirrors and black lacquered finishes were popular too, as well as glass and highly polished metals. Think The Great Gatsby.
By the 1930s art deco style began taking on a softer look, with curved lines (as in the chair shown here) taking the place of sharp angles. Stepped forms reminiscent of architecture — notably the Chrysler Building, built in New York in 1930 — became popular.
Art Nouveau
Working our way backward in time to the late 19th century, art nouveau was the style of the day, although it wasn’t called that at the time. Art nouveau is immediately distinguishable from art deco, thanks to the “whiplash” curves and ornate, nature-inspired designs featuring insect wings, flowers, feathers and vines.
Art nouveau was heavily influenced by the fine arts and included stained glass, painting, bas relief and finely crafted wood and metal, both in architecture and interior design.
A helpful video link about the difference between Art Deco & Art Nouveau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5689WBY13A
Peer review
Becca: She found one of the greatest designer, Jean Michel Frank. His coffee table was impressive.
Alexandra: She researched Art Deco Architecture in Chicago. It was really good to know those aesthetic work are near by me.
