Art Deco architecture

Art Deco architecture applies the geometry and luxury of the style named at Paris's 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs to buildings. Its language is machine-age: setback skyscraper profiles, strong verticals, chevrons, sunbursts, and stylized floral or figural relief, executed in chrome, marble, glass block, and colored terra cotta. New York's towers made the style an icon of the modern city, while streamlined late variants carried it through the 1930s into cinemas, stations, and diners worldwide. Unlike the handcraft ideal of Art Nouveau, Deco embraced industry and speed, fusing Cubist geometry, the color of the Ballets Russes, and exotic motifs into an architecture of glamour that still defines the popular image of the interwar city.

Defining characteristics

• Stepped, setback tower profiles crowned with spires or geometric tops
• Chevrons, zigzags, sunbursts, and stylized fountain or wing motifs in relief
• Rich materials: chrome, stainless steel, marble, colored glass, and polychrome terra cotta
• Strong vertical lines and fluting that exaggerate height
• Figural and floral ornament abstracted into rigid, symmetrical patterns

Key figures

• William Van Alen (1883-1954) — Architect of the Chrysler Building, the style's supreme skyscraper
• Raymond Hood (1881-1934) — Skyscraper architect (American Radiator Building) who fused Deco ornament with urban scale
• A. M. Cassandre (1901-1968) — Poster artist whose streamlined graphics shaped Deco's visual language

Example works

• Chrysler Building — William Van Alen (1930)
• American Radiator Building — Raymond Hood & John Mead Howells (1924)

Sources

• Art Deco architecture - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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