THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

ART DECO ARCHITECTUREArt Deco  or Deco, is an 

influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France after World 

War I, flourishing internationally in the 1925s and 1940s before its popularity 

waned after World War II

The style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation.

Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.

Art deco, also called style moderne. Art Deco design represented modernism turned

into fashion. Art Deco was first applied to public and commercial buildings in the 1920s. Although individual homes were rarely designed in the Art Deco style, architects and developers, especially in Greater Washington, DC, found that the style adapted quite well to apartment buildings. Most of these buildings are still in use, a testament to the city’s richly varied architectural history.

• Art Deco had an extensive influence on architecture in the 1930s and 1940s. Many buildings on the coast of Florida have an Art Deco exterior, tending to be symmetrical with distinctive windows and colours.

ART DECO MOVEMENT• The Art Deco movement even influenced the

design and layout of posters, cars, trains, etc. The poster shown opposite has typical Art Deco colours and displays the fashion and architecture of the 1930s.

Art Deco's Identifying

Characteristics

• Rounded Corners:Technology Allowed For Construction To Be Built With Rounded Corners. In The 1930' s And 1940's, The Design Of Airplanes, Ships, Trains, And Automobiles Influenced Architecture. Rounded Corners Made Buildings Appear Aerodynamic, Fast And Sleek.

• Threes:In Art Deco, Everything Seems To Come In Threes. Three Windows, Or Three Bandings Or Three Steps Up. Etc

• Banding Or Racing Stripes:Horizontal Banding On The Facades Of Buildings, Which Can Be Incised Or Applied In Decorative Materials Such As Tile. Banding Usually Comes In Groups Of "threes". This Simplified Ornamentation Reinforces Aerodynamic Concepts Of Streamline Moderne. A Great Way To Accent The Architectural Elements Of An Art Deco Building 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.

• Glass Block:Cool, Translucent Squares Of Glass Used Instead Of Brick. Allows For Light Penetration. Glass Block Easily Creates A Ziggurat "Step" Design. Glass Block Has Made A Tremendous Come-Back In Contemporary Design.

• Ziggurat or Stepped Pediment:Profiled Like A Staircase - Up Down, Up Down. Also Known As "Zig-Zag" Or "Lightning Bolt." Ziggurats Are Seen On The Roofline Of Buildings Recreating Egyptian Motifs.

• MaterialsArt Deco materials included stucco, concrete,

smooth-faced stone, and Terracotta. Steel and aluminum were often used along with glass blocks and decorative opaque plate glass (vitrolite).

• WindowsWindows usually 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 openings are sometimes filled with decorative glass or with 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. The Kennedy-Warren Apartments is an example.

Art Deco buildings have many of these features:• Cubic forms• Ziggurat shapes: Terraced pyramid with each story

smaller than the one below it• Complex groupings of rectangles or trapezoids• Bands of color• Zigzag designs• Strong sense of line• Illusion of pillars

Chrysler building

Empire state building

Golden gate bridge

Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center

Penn theater

Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building

Greyhound Bus Terminal

Edificio El Moro

New India Assurance building

Radio city music hall, NY

ART DECO - INTERIOR

LARGEST ART DECO STATUE IN THE WORLD

LARGEST ART DECO STATUE IN THE WORLD

ARCHITECTS- ART DECO

William Van Alen

Chrysler Building

Raymond Hood

New York daily news buildingTribune tower Chicago