A creative but short-lived movement, Art Deco not only
influenced the architecture of most American cities but had an impact on
fashion, art, and furniture, too. From 1925 to 1940, Americans embraced Art
Deco as a refreshing change from the eclectic and revivalist sensibilities that
preceded it. The style takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des
Arts Decoratifs held in Paris
in 1925 as a showcase for new inspiration. The style was essentially one of
applied decoration. Buildings were richly embellished with hard-edged,
low-relief designs: geometric shapes, including chevrons and ziggurats; and
stylized floral and sunrise patterns. Shapes and decorations inspired by Native
American artwork were among the archetypes of the Art Deco lexicon.
Although some buildings utilized expensive hand-crafted
decoration, others made do with machine-made repetitive decorations. To keep
costs down, ornamental treatment was often limited to the most visible parts of
the building. Art Deco projects produced dynamic collaborations between
architects, painters, sculptors, and designers—sometimes resulting in complete
Art Deco environments like Old Miami Beach, Florida. In its day, some of what
we now refer to as Art Deco wasoften called Moderne, or Art Moderne, a term
used to describe the most advanced design ideas of the 1930s through to the end
of World War II. Being close cousins, Art Deco and Art Moderne shared
stripped-down forms. But Art Moderne had a horizontal rather than vertical
emphasis, rounded rather than angular corners, and little surface
ornamentation. Art Deco was first applied to public and commercial buildings in
the 1920s. Although individual homes were rarely designed in the Art Deco
style, architects and developers, especially in Greater Washington, DC, found
that the style adapted quite well to apartment buildings. Most of these
buildings are still in use, a testament to the city’s richly varied
architectural history.
For all its panache, Art Deco was immensely practical in
execution. For projects on a tight budget, the simple box could be decorated
with motifs and embellished with appendages that made a conceptually
rudimentary structure appear fashionable and up to date. Visual interest could
be further enhanced by stretching linear forms horizontally and vertically
throughout the building. This was frequently done with bands of brick,
canopies, or copings. A 1984 book, Washington Deco by Hans Wirz and Richard
Striner, catalogs over 400 Art Deco buildings in the Washington area. Two examples are on Capitol
Hill: the former Kresge Store at 666 Pennsylvania Avenue S.E., built in 1936
and recently expanded (the Art Deco-style frieze on the building’s facade was
part of the 1980s renovation of the building; the pattern for the frieze was
taken from a 1930s fabric); and the Penn Theater at 650 Pennsylvania Avenue
S.E., built in 1935. Although the Penn Theater itself was demolished, the
marquee and a portion of the faccade have been incorporated into the new
building. Additional examples of Washington Art Deco are the Kennedy-Warren
Apartments at 3133 Connecticut
Avenue N.W. , the Hecht Company warehouse on New York Avenue N.E. ,
and the sign of the former Greyhound Bus Terminal on New York Avenue N.W.
Characteristics
In classic Art Deco, rectangular blocky forms were often
arranged in geometric fashion, then broken up by curved ornamental elements.
But always the aim was a monolithic appearance with applied decorative motifs.
Materials
Art Deco materials included stucco, concrete, smooth-faced
stone, and Terracotta. Steel and aluminum were often used along with glass
blocks and decorative opaque plate glass (vitrolite).
Roof
Art Deco designers adorned flat roofs with parapets, spires,
or tower-like constructs to accentuate a corner or entrance. Decorative
curiosities such as chimneys were added to further enhance the design.
Windows
Windows usually appear as punctured openings, either square
or round. To maintain a streamlined appearance for the building, they were
often arranged in continuous horizontal bands of glass. Wall openings are
sometimes filled with decorative glass or with glass blocks, creating a
contrast of solid and void forms while admitting daylight. Many large apartment
buildings found aesthetic success with decorative embossed spandrel panels
placed below windows. The Kennedy-Warren Apartments is an example.
Entrance
Doorways are sometimes surrounded with elaborate pilasters
and pediments, and door surrounds are often embellished with either reeding (a
convex decoration) or fluting (a concave decoration). The quality and extent of
the decorative motifs vary by project and designer.
Learn more architecture terminology in our architecture
glossary of definitions and vocabulary.
