SIDE NOTES

1920’s to 1950s

coined in 1968 by bevis hiller ( art deco- the style of 1920’s and the 1930s)

“juxtapose style against art nouveau”

“Abbreviated exposition des arts decoratifs et industrials”

Art nouveau( floral and elaborative, expensive to maintain) vs art deco( bold, stark, crisp, clean and uncluttered buildings, yet refined and elegant)

Apparently the movement emerged in 1925 from the paris expositon.

First part of twentieth centuary was marked by great changes in the society- after shock of the WorldWar I and the visions that it spawned about the future of western civilization. Economy went from boom to bust. World peace was destroyed and then restored. Advances in numerous technologies led to both a depction of a wonderful future world and apocalyptic visions of a world gone awry. This dichotomy of future visions was expressed through architecture, especially in Europe (the then centre of world cultural influence).

Traditional architects sought to avert disaster by sticking to the classical designs of the ancient architecture, while ultra-modernists embraced a minimal philosophy reflected in bauhaus and international style of architecture. Art deco in contrast to these sought to locate a modern vision that embraced technology, yet symbolically referenced ancient civilizations of the past.

A highly stylized design movement after world war 1, art deco architecture was most noticible in paris . in 1922 a young European architect introduced American architects to the possibility of art deco.