ART DECO

ARCHITECTURE
Prepared by Urja Shrestha

To Krishan Sir

2018009116
ART DECO

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. 
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.
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.
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.

CHRYSLER BUILDING
 ART DECO

CHARACTERISTICS

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

American Radiator Building

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ART DECO BUILDING
ART DECO : ARCHITECTS

1. Erich Mendelsohn (1887-1953)

- Mossehaus
- De La Warr Pavilion

2.Wirt C. Rowand (1878 - 1946)

- Guardian Building
- Penobscot Building

TIMELINE OF ART DECO

 WIRT C. ROWLAND

(1878 - 1946)

One of Detroit’s most prolific architects, Wirt C. Rowland’s hands touched

the blueprints for many of the city’s most show-stopping early 20th century
buildings.

During his 50-year career, he worked with four of the city’s most prominent
architectural firms, drafting or designing an impressive range of building
types and architectural styles.

As an avid modernist and supporter of the Arts and Crafts movement, he is

best known for contributing Art Deco-style skyscrapers to Detroit’s skyline.

In 1922, another prominent Detroit firm, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls,

recruited Rowland as its head designer.

Is best known for the Buhl Building (1925), the Penobscot Building (1928)

and his most celebrated work, the Union Trust (Guardian) Building (1929).

Wirt C. Rowland
GUARDIAN BUILDING

It is known as Detroit's Cathedral of Finance.

Built in 1928 and finished in 1929, the building was originally called the
Union Trust Building and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture,
including art moderne designs.

The building has undergone recent award-winning renovations.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 29, 1989, and the

associated Detroit Financial District is on the National Register of Historic
Places.

The Guardian building includes retail and a tourist gift shop.

GUARDIAN BUILDING
 GUARDIAN BUILDING: ARCHITECTURE

The exterior of the building has a granite base with carvings with multistory windows surrounded by tile.
Rising beyond the base is the orange brick facade, with portions setback to reveal a north and south tower
connected to create an I shape.
Elegant detail is seen throughout the facade and large amounts visible on the north tower crown.
The interior, however, was as elaborate.
Upon stepping through the doors, clients of the bank would enter the 150-foot-long main lobby, with a three-
story vaulted ceiling above them, that consisted of an Aztec design with multicolor, interlocking hexagons of
Rookwood pottery and Pewabic Tile.
The ceiling is entirely acoustical, absorbing sound. A 3/4-inch mat of horsehair covered the cement-plaster
ceiling.
A perforated canvas was placed over that layer and painted.
There also are several large simulated skylights in the center of the ceiling, giving the effect of natural lighting.
They are composed of 4-inch square, glass tiles connected with lead channels and a center made of prisms and
crinkled glass.
Upon entering the hall, to the left and right were Art Deco styled teller windows, which flanked a mural of
Michigan and its industries.
Separating the lobby and banking hall was a large screen of Monel metal with Art Deco styling, complete with a
Tiffany glass clock in the center, of which only four clocks of the same style exist.
Tiffany glass clock Art Deco styled teller carvings with multistory Aztec design with
window with a mural windows surrounded by multicolor, interlocking
tile hexagons of Rookwood
pottery and Pewabic Tile
PENOBSCOT BUILDING

The Greater Penobscot Building, commonly known as the Penobscot

Building, is a class-A office tower in Downtown Detroit, Michigan.

The 1928 Art Deco building is located in the heart of the Detroit Financial

District.

The Penobscot is a hub for the city's wireless Internet zone and fiber-

optic network.

Inside the Penobscot Building sits one of Detroit’s premier restaurants,

the Caucus Club.

The Penobscot was Detroit’s tallest structure until the Renaissance Center
took that title in 1977.

PENOBSCOT BUILDING
 PENBSCOT BUILDING: ARCHITECTURE

The architect Wirt C. Rowland, of the prominent Smith Hinchman & Grylls firm based in Detroit, designed the
Penobscot in an elaborate Art Deco style in 1928.
Clad in Indiana Limestone with a granite base, it rises like a sheer cliff for thirty stories, then has a series of
setbacks culminating in a red neon beacon tower.
Like many of the city's other Roaring Twenties buildings, it displays Art Deco influences, including its "H" shape
(designed to allow maximum sunlight into the building) and the sculptural setbacks that cause the upper floors
to progressively "erode".
The opulent Penobscot is one of many buildings in Detroit that features architectural sculpture by Corrado
Parducci.
The ornamentation includes American Indian motifs, particularly in the entrance archway and in metalwork
found in the lobby.
At night, the building's upper floors are lit in floodlight fashion, topped with a red sphere.
The tower is also connected to two older and smaller buildings, the 1905 Penobscot Building and the Penobscot
Building Annex (1916).
Together, the buildings comprise the Penobscot Block, located at Griswold Street and West Fort Street.
The Greater Penobscot was the last portion of the complex to be developed.
Terraced pyramid with each story Architectural sculpture by Corrado Parducci American Indian motifs
 ERICH MENDELSOHN

(1887-1953)

Erich Mendelsohn was a German architect, known for his expressionist

architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a
dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinemas.

Mendelsohn is a pioneer of the Art Deco and Streamline

Moderne architecture, notably with his 1921 Mossehaus design.

Mendelsohn’s blending of International Style, Art Deco and the Streamline

Moderne have influenced architects around the world, earning him a place
among the elite of modernist architects.

Erich Mendelsohn
MOSSEHAUS

Mossehaus is an office building in Berlin, renovated and with a corner

designed by Erich Mendelsohn between 1921 and 1923.

The use of strips and sculpted elements in the fenestration gave it a

dynamic, futuristic form, emphasised by the contrast with the Wilhelmine
style below.

It was one of the first examples of a streamlined building, and hence a

great influence on Streamline Moderne.

Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and

design that emerged in the 1930s.

It was inspired by aerodynamic design.

Streamline architecture emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines,

and sometimes nautical elements.

MOSSEHAUS
 MOSSEHAUS: ARCHITECTURE

The then-store building features a curved, streamlined corner, in contrast to the popular angled buildings of the
time.
The corner also includes custom curved windows, a staple of Mendelsohn.
Natural light is emphasized as compared to the older building, which contained arched windows spaced further
apart.

Model of the Building that shows the curved feature Shows the custom curved windows, a staple of Mendelohn
DE LA WARR PAVILION

The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the

seafront at Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England.

The Art Deco and International Style building was designed by the

architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff and constructed in
1935.

Although sometimes claimed to be the first major Modernist public

building in Britain, it was in fact preceded by some months by the Dutch-
influenced Hornsey Town Hall.

De La Warr Pavilion
 DE LA WARR PAVILION: ARCHITECTURE

With a streamlined, industrially-influenced exterior and large, metal-framed windows, the new pavilion was a
pioneer in both design and construction.
As well as being mostly built from concrete, it was the first public building in Britain to use a welded steel frame.
The pavilion’s structure was based on a welded steel frame designed by engineer Felix Samuely.
Steel frames were an idea from Germany.Other structural features included lattice steel beams – allowing a
traditional-looking roof to be used for the concert hall.
Engineers used natural light in the pavilion wherever possible - surfaces were designed to let in the maximum
light or reflect it.
The windows were tall, walls were white, and the floors were polished and reflective.The project team also gave
the building’s sweeping circular staircase a cylindrical glass enclosure to let in natural light.

Shape of the staircase was t

towards Art deco and
International Style design

Building features a curved,

streamlined corner, in
contrast to the popular
angled buildings of the
time