Art Deco was an influential design style that emerged after World War I, characterized by geometric shapes, bold colors, and lavish ornamentation. It represented luxury, modernism, and faith in social and technological progress. Many buildings from the 1930s-1940s have an Art Deco exterior with symmetrical designs, distinctive windows and colors. Identifying characteristics of Art Deco architecture include rounded corners, horizontal banding, columns, glass blocks, and zigzag or stepped designs. Materials often included stucco, concrete, stone, and terra cotta. Windows were usually arranged in continuous horizontal bands. Prominent Art Deco buildings included the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and Radio City Music Hall.

1. THEORY OF
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURAL
STYLES

4. ART DECO ARCHITECTURE
Art Deco or Deco, is an
influential visual arts design style which
first appeared in France after World
War I, flourishing internationally in the
1925s and 1940s before its popularity
waned after World War II

5. The style is often characterized by rich
colors, bold geometric shapes, and
lavish ornamentation.
Art Deco represented luxury, glamour,
exuberance, and faith in social and
technological progress.

6. Art deco, also called style moderne.
Art Deco design represented modernism turned
into fashion. 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.

7. • Art Deco had an extensive influence on
architecture in the 1930s and 1940s. Many
buildings on the coast of Florida have an Art
Deco exterior, tending to be symmetrical with
distinctive windows and colours.

8. ART DECO MOVEMENT
• The Art Deco movement even influenced the
design and layout of posters, cars, trains, etc.
The poster shown opposite has typical Art
Deco colours and displays the fashion and
architecture of the 1930s.

9. Art Deco's
Identifying
Characteristics

11. • Rounded Corners:
Technology Allowed For Construction To Be
Built With Rounded Corners. In The 1930' s
And 1940's, The Design Of Airplanes, Ships,
Trains, And Automobiles Influenced
Architecture. Rounded Corners Made
Buildings Appear Aerodynamic, Fast And
Sleek.

12. • Threes:
In Art Deco, Everything Seems To Come In
Threes. Three Windows, Or Three Bandings Or
Three Steps Up. Etc

14. • Banding Or Racing Stripes:
Horizontal Banding On The Facades Of
Buildings, Which Can Be Incised Or Applied In
Decorative Materials Such As Tile. Banding
Usually Comes In Groups Of "threes". This
Simplified Ornamentation Reinforces
Aerodynamic Concepts Of Streamline
Moderne. A Great Way To Accent The
Architectural Elements Of An Art Deco
Building Is To Paint The Banding In A
Contrasting Color.

15. • Columns:
Many Art Deco Buildings Feature Either Whole
Columns, Which Stand Away From The
Building Or Sliced Columns Attached To The
Front Doorway Facade Acting As An Archway.

16. • Glass Block:
Cool, Translucent Squares Of Glass Used
Instead Of Brick. Allows For Light Penetration.
Glass Block Easily Creates A Ziggurat "Step"
Design. Glass Block Has Made A Tremendous
Come-Back In Contemporary Design.

17. • Ziggurat or Stepped Pediment:
Profiled Like A Staircase - Up Down, Up Down.
Also Known As "Zig-Zag" Or "Lightning Bolt."
Ziggurats Are Seen On The Roofline Of
Buildings Recreating Egyptian Motifs.

18. • 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).

19. • 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.

20. Art Deco buildings have many of these features:
• Cubic forms
• Ziggurat shapes: Terraced pyramid with each
story smaller than the one below it
• Complex groupings of rectangles or trapezoids
• Bands of color
• Zigzag designs
• Strong sense of line
• Illusion of pillars

21. Chrysler building

22. Empire state building

23. Golden gate bridge

24. Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center

25. Penn theater

26. Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building

27. Greyhound Bus Terminal

28. Edificio El Moro

29. New India Assurance building

30. Radio city music hall, NY

31. ART DECO -
INTERIOR

35. LARGEST ART DECO STATUE IN THE
WORLD

36. LARGEST ART DECO STATUE IN THE
WORLD

37. ARCHITECTS- ART DECO
William Van
Alen
Chrysler Building

38. Raymond Hood
New York daily news buildingTribune tower Chicago