THE STREAMLINE MODERNA PHASE OF ART DECO ARCHITECTURE

The second later phase of Art Deco styling coincides with the economic pressure that plunged the world into crisis in the 1930s. The economic depression forced designers to build their products in the new "cleaner" lines of the "Depression Deco" phase of the Art Deco movement. Other synonymous names for this Art Deco period are the "Streamline Moderne," and "Art Moderne." Buildings created after the onset of the Great Depression were called "Streamline" because of an emphasis on the horizontal, uncluttered stream of the exterior. The look of Streamline Moderne was increasingly austere, and aerodynamic. The demand for cost savings made "Depression Deco" almost void of ornamentation, other than details incorporated into the actual structure. Where "Zig-zag Deco" emphasized verticality, "Streamline Deco" emphasized the horizontal. While "Jazz-age Deco" was rectilinear, "Depression Deco" was more curvilinear with graceful, smooth exterior lines.