DECO ENTERS THE ORDINARY LANDSCAPE

By the mid 1930s, Art Deco architecture shifted from an elite style to a more broadly accepted form of architecture. It began to appear in far more prosaic structures, such as diners and gas stations. The common stainless steel diners, found across the American cultural landscape reflect the horizontal expression and the look of motion attributed to Streamline Moderne Deco. Society had become enamored with speed and motion, and the Streamline Moderne diners, with their rakish appearance, had the look of "built in motion." The Art Deco styled diner, sheathed in stainless steel, looked like a dining car speeding down the railroad track, and became a permanent fixture of the ordinary cultural landscape. Diners became an American icon. The classic "diner look" conjured up an image of a certain menu, the availability of comfort food, and fast efficient service; attributes which are still associated with diners to the present day. Businesses utilized the Streamline Moderne Art Deco as a way of advertising a business establishment. In this manner, many Art Deco gas stations were built with a consistent appearance according to standards adopted by oil companies. Texaco service stations, for example, created a corporate image based on designs by Walter Teague in 1937. Teague utilized the clean lines of Streamline Moderne to create an image of cleanliness and service efficiency. More importantly, due to the universal appearance of Texaco's White "Oasis" service stations, with their distinctive three green "Speed Stripes" encasing the station, motorists were able to recognize a Texaco station from a distance and before a competitor's. This consistent appearance would be associated to consistent service in the minds of customers. Thus, Art Deco helped foster the "iconization" of American business. Through icons, businesses were able to build a competitive advantage over competitors that lacked an established image or a recognizable corporate symbol.

Just as the Chrysler Building is the epitome of the earlier era, the Coca-Cola bottling plant of Los Angeles is a wonderful example of the horizontal motion associated with Streamline Moderne Deco structures. With its portholes as windows, and a ship's bridge for navigating, the bottling plant gives the appearance of an ocean liner. Although the building is firmly rooted in a sea of concrete and blacktop, it looks as though it could navigate the sprawling urban landscape of Los Angeles.

CRAFT VS MANUFACTURING (the CHICAGO WORLD FAIR 1933)

Although Art Deco had European origins, it was America that modified it and embraced its wide appeal. By the late 1920s, American architects had great success incorporating Art Deco architecture into the cultural landscape of major urban centers. American architectural influence continued into the 1930s, increasingly becoming a world center of creative design. U.S. Designers forged new paths, even with the onset of the Great Depression -- achieving ultimate pre-eminence with the Chicago World's Fair of 1933. Its theme was, "The Century of Progress". Nowhere was this progress more evident than in the United States. In Europe, the wide distribution of Art Deco products was hampered by being tied to the handwork of craftsmen and artisans, who essentially created the "look" of Art Deco through meticulous skill, as shown by a silver tea service set. Made of fine silver and ebony handles, it exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1925. Its production was limited, however, due to the fact that it was essentially hand made. In America, Art Deco designs were being integrally linked to the industrial complex. Taking inspiration from the auto and aircraft industries, products and buildings were designed in the new elegant style, yet made available to the masses through the efficiencies of machine production. This contrast between crafts from Europe and manufacturing from America was highlighted at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933.

The streamlining of America

With the articulation of the new concept of streamlining by Norman Bel Geddes, in 1932, the look and functionality of every consumer product changed, allowing the manufacturer to produce goods as efficiently as possible and with a clean uncluttered appearance.

The U. S. automobile industry took the streamline trend to heart, both as an outward appearance and an enhancement to performance that the style afforded. Although often perceived by the buying public as simply a visual effect, this new style was built for speed and motion. The epitome of this expression was found in aviation's DC-3, an airplane design conceptualized to be "Streamlined.”

The DC-3, manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation, exhibited a new shape--aerodynamic and aesthetically beautiful .It gave credence to the expression "Form follows Function." Rid of any unnecessary detailing and features that would adversely affect its performance, the DC-3 set new standards for aviation efficiency and flight. Unlike planes that preceded it, the DC-3's single wing, void of external supports, produced considerably less aerodynamic drag. Compared to the Ford Tri-Motor, the DC-3's wing surfaces were of smooth, rolled aluminum, while rippled metal encased the Tri-Motor. This allowed the DC-3 to use only two engines while achieving still better operating performance than the Tri-Motor. Clearly, "streamlining" the design was not just for appearance.

The Streamlining trend in American design was quickly embraced by architects and led ultimately to the United States becoming more of an innovator of style rather than the imitator. No longer was Europe viewed as the premier center of design and architecture. As America in the 1930s churned out new mass-produced products, impressively scaled structures and new fashion trends, the world took notice. Art Deco had reached its most sublime form of expression. "Simple lines are beautiful," wrote Paul T. Frankl, a noted industrial designer of the Art Deco era.

"Streamline Deco" tended to be utilized by structures that were an integral part of an efficient way of life, whether at work or at home. Many factories constructed in the Art Deco era were shrouded in Streamline Deco. Similar to the Jazz-age bank buildings, factories designed in Streamline Deco conveyed to the public more than just a factory that provided employment. Such styling announced that here was an efficient manufacturing center, a place where" products would be produced in the most modem and productive manner possible.

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.

JAZZ DECO

Jazz deco was also the preferred style when built by the corporate America to impress. These structures exuded prestige and stability, yet also progressiveness. Numerous banks were designed in Art deco. Although being conservative in regards to style, in 1920s banks were trying to lure customers by creating a new look for their traditional bank buildings. No bank or business house that claimed progressiveness would stay in quarters that were cluttered and unattractive.

A large part of the appeal to patronage is based on the building that it occupies (Auger, Sept. 1931: 266)." Jazz-age Deco fit perfectly. Through this style, a bank could give the impression of being stylistic in an understated way. The facades of many of the Jazz-age Deco bank buildings are impressive in their geometric styles and the rich, subtle detailing that evokes a restrained elegance befitting a financial institution. Other structures that tended to apply the Jazz-age Deco style included many corporate headquarters buildings; especially those involved with new burgeoning industries such as automotive, electric utilities, and communication companies.

With the Jazz-age Deco, these promising new industries were able to convey the message that they were enterprises that would be a stable part of the economy and were destined to play prominent roles well into the future of modem society.

NEW YORY CITY ZONING LAW

It forbades any building over a certain height to occupy the same amount of area at the top of the structure as the base. Thus all the sky-scrapers have to taper as they attained ever increasing heights. This law prevents New york’s street from plunging into darkness.

Thus this distinctive Art deco Scraper received its characteristic stepped back pattern through a combination of the mayan influences seen in Paris and the modified height ordinance of the New york city.

With major efforts to incorporate this style into new skyscrapers this started to be referred to as the skyscraper style.

THE HOLLYWOOD STORY

The diffusion of the image of art deco into America was highly triggered by the Hollywood industry. In the Paris exposition a set designer from Hollywood, Cedric gibbons was present. Gibbons thought his sets helped created this new Hollywood image which promoted glamour and futuristic design centered on Art deco. In 1928 the movie “ Our Dancing Daughters” made a big impact on the audiences to use Art deco for its complete set and created enthusiasm for the new style. By the late 1920s numerous films promoted this new Hollywood image and thus the presence of this world created on the screen was wished for in the cities. (logos of studios)