Art Deco

Remember this, art deco started out to be purely decorative!

Now with that being said, art deco didn't have any sort of philosophical or politcal roots. It was just eye candy, it was basically a combination of various styles such as Constructivism , Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. It reached it's peak around the 1920's - 1930's when it was seen as elegant, modern and functional.

It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources. Among them were the "primitive" arts of Africa, Egypt, or Aztec Mexico, as well as Machine Age or streamline technology such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, and the skyscraper. These design influences were expressed in fractionated, crystalline, faceted forms of decorative Cubism and Futurism, in Fauvism's palette. Other popular themes in art deco were trapezoidal, zigzagged, geometric, and jumbled shapes, which can be seen in many early pieces.

Corresponding to these influences, Art Deco is characterized by use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin (shagreen), and zebraskin. The bold use of stepped forms, and sweeping curves (unlike the sinuous, natural curves of the Art Nouveau), chevron patterns, and the sunburst motif are typical of Art Deco. Some of these motifs were ubiquitous — for example, sunburst motifs were used in such varied contexts as ladies' shoes, radiator grilles, the auditorium of the Radio City Music Hall, and the spire of the Chrysler Building.

Art Deco started slowly declining and losing it's popularity when it was mass produced, people started seeing it as a false image of luxury. It has made short come back every so ofter, but for the most part this style has died out. Just a fun fact, South Beach in Miami, Florida has the
largest collection of Art Deco architecture remaining in North America, i will try to post up some picutures i took of the buildings while i'm down here.

Great examples of art deco in modern times...i use to watch Batman: The Animated Series when i was younger and i was always fasinated by the buildings of gotham city. Now i know where their inspiration came from...