Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,000,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
Bring Back the Optimism of Art Deco and Art Moderne
Fluidity and a sense of going somewhere were hallmarks of 1920s and '30s architecture and design. Can it propel homes in 2012?
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey & Wisconsin and I am a certificate holder from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Since 1996 I have worked from my home office and provide full architectural services exclusively to the single family residential market. My passion is to transform my clients' houses into their homes. I strive to have the "new" home accommodate my clients' lives without fighting them at every junction. I look to add curb appeal to encourage a beautiful streetscape. And I design any addition to look and feel like it has always been there.
Our projects have won numerous design awards as well as having...
Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located... More »
In the decades after the "war to end all wars," the world enjoyed an economic boom in the Roaring Twenties, followed by the Great Depression. Not surprisingly, these decades of boom and bust took physical form in the two great design trends of those decades: art deco and art moderne.
Today we associate these enduring styles with the iconic Chrysler Building, Hollywood's golden age, transatlantic steamship travel aboard liners such as the SS Normandie and high-speed intercontinental travel on trains like the 20th Century Limited.
From the elegance and monumental symmetry of art deco to the fluidity and optimism of art moderne, we can learn much from these styles — lessons that may be apropos, as we too have just gone through our own decade of economic boom and bust.
Today we associate these enduring styles with the iconic Chrysler Building, Hollywood's golden age, transatlantic steamship travel aboard liners such as the SS Normandie and high-speed intercontinental travel on trains like the 20th Century Limited.
From the elegance and monumental symmetry of art deco to the fluidity and optimism of art moderne, we can learn much from these styles — lessons that may be apropos, as we too have just gone through our own decade of economic boom and bust.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Deco or Moderne — What's the Difference?
From industrial objects to household accessories to architecture, the art deco and art moderne styles became all encompassing in the '20s and '30s.
This home has all the distinctive elements of art deco style as it transitioned to art moderne. Rigid, rectilinear geometry gives way to soft, flowing curves, while cantilevered, pipe-railed balconies combine with porthole doors to evoke the aura of transatlantic voyages on the great ocean liners of the period.
Generous use of luminous and decorative glass block — a classic material of the art deco and art moderne styles — brings abundant light into the interior by day and creates drama at night when the effect is reversed.
From industrial objects to household accessories to architecture, the art deco and art moderne styles became all encompassing in the '20s and '30s.
This home has all the distinctive elements of art deco style as it transitioned to art moderne. Rigid, rectilinear geometry gives way to soft, flowing curves, while cantilevered, pipe-railed balconies combine with porthole doors to evoke the aura of transatlantic voyages on the great ocean liners of the period.
Generous use of luminous and decorative glass block — a classic material of the art deco and art moderne styles — brings abundant light into the interior by day and creates drama at night when the effect is reversed.
by artyfactory.com
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Industrial and graphic design were heavily influenced by the art deco and art moderne aesthetics. While these styles share similar ideas of symmetry and boldness, objects from the '20s are more severe in their geometry, while the art moderne of the '30s is more curvilinear.
Radically different from their Victorian and Edwardian predecessors, new ship, train and auto designs of the 1930s exemplified speed, grace, power and elegance with their streamlined hulls, swept-back superstructures and softly curving forms. Nothing exhibits this style better than the iconic poster for the SS Normandie from the mid-'30s.
Radically different from their Victorian and Edwardian predecessors, new ship, train and auto designs of the 1930s exemplified speed, grace, power and elegance with their streamlined hulls, swept-back superstructures and softly curving forms. Nothing exhibits this style better than the iconic poster for the SS Normandie from the mid-'30s.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Pure Art Deco
With an emphasis on abstract geometry as well as bold shapes and colors, art deco at its core is a highly stylized and decorative aesthetic ideal for two-dimensional surfaces. The style's painterly effect is appropriate for dressing up doors ...
With an emphasis on abstract geometry as well as bold shapes and colors, art deco at its core is a highly stylized and decorative aesthetic ideal for two-dimensional surfaces. The style's painterly effect is appropriate for dressing up doors ...
... as well as walls and floors to form richly decorated surfaces. The style waned in popularity in the 1930s as the Great Depression deepened.
by Tongue & Groove
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
When they weren't patterned and decorative, art deco interiors were richly colored. A metallic sheen and darker colors created cozy and intimate interiors. While trim still was used, it was more rectilinear and severe than previous versions. The cove and ogee moldings of the past were replaced with stepped and square profiles.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| From Deco to Moderne I can't stress enough that these styles epitomize the zeitgeist of the '20s and '30s. While both art deco and art moderne relied on bold shapes and symmetry, the severity of the geometric shapes and richly decorated surfaces of art deco gave way to the less gilded, more fluid and gentler qualities of art moderne as the Great Depression continued, making ostentatious displays of wealth unwelcome. And while art deco furniture could be too large and plush, like marshmallows on steroids, comfort and elegance didn't disappear in art moderne — they simply became a bit thinner and more linear. |
by TEA2 Architects
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
A Blend for Today
The principles of art deco and art moderne are as relevant in contemporary designs as they were in the '20s and '30s. The simple, clean, white cubic forms and ziggurat roof of art deco, combined with cantilevered, pipe-railed balconies of art moderne, hark back to that era, while an asymmetrical massing and articulation of forms updates and freshens the whole.
The principles of art deco and art moderne are as relevant in contemporary designs as they were in the '20s and '30s. The simple, clean, white cubic forms and ziggurat roof of art deco, combined with cantilevered, pipe-railed balconies of art moderne, hark back to that era, while an asymmetrical massing and articulation of forms updates and freshens the whole.
| We could use some of that forward-looking, optimistic style today. Whether it's through a blend of old wood, modern laminates and vintage appliances and accessories that pulls us forward ... |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
... or the exuberance of stainless steel and highly reflective surfaces, our homes can give us the sense that we're going somewhere.
Like passengers on the 20th Century Limited making our way from New York to Chicago in the era of streamlined design, we're hurtling forward into the future. It could be a future in which our homes express the same kinds of can-do spirit and limitless possibilities as the homes of the art deco and, especially, the art moderne styles did. What will the homes we find there be like?
More:
A Guide to Art Deco Style
More Architectural Styles
Like passengers on the 20th Century Limited making our way from New York to Chicago in the era of streamlined design, we're hurtling forward into the future. It could be a future in which our homes express the same kinds of can-do spirit and limitless possibilities as the homes of the art deco and, especially, the art moderne styles did. What will the homes we find there be like?
More:
A Guide to Art Deco Style
More Architectural Styles
Ideabook published on May 29, 2012.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
Very cool kitchen Mal Corboy Design. The thermo formed Corian is terrific!
www.galerieseru.com