The Art Deco

Art Deco - Art in motion since 1910

Arts déco is the French abbreviation for "decorative art".

This movement is the most important form of artistic expression between the two world wars at the beginning of the 20st century.

Named after an exhibition of modern decorative and industrial arts held in Paris in 1925, it was renamed in 1966. The Bauhaus influenced the architectural proposals of the period. The arts of the time had different names: Mouvement Moderne, Modern Style, Art Moderne, Jugendstil Zigzag, Arts and Crafts in England.

An International Art Movement

Vienna is the cradle of Art Deco and Paris is its centre, but the art form was a huge success from South Africa to India and China, via Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and was particularly popular in the United States.

Drawing on the Past to Build the Future

Art Deco drew on elements from other artistic movements: the geometry of Cubism, the bold colours of Fauvism and the technical forms of Constructivism and Futurism.

A universal art form

Artists paid more and more attention to wallpaper, carpets, graphics and illustrations. It was more a question of design than painting. Exotic materials from the colonies were used, such as wood, furs and ivory.

The architecture of this period is characterised by the search for the functionality of the home, the purity of lines with a return to straightness and orthogonality, the simplification of forms, maximum luminosity, decorative economy to the point of elimination and, if there is any decoration, it is stylised, simplified, geometric and based on contrasts.
→ Chromatic contrasts, between strong colours.
→ Contrast between rough areas, such as rough plaster, and very smooth areas.
→ And contrasts between light absorbing and reflecting materials like metal and polished marble.

Raw materials, stylized lines

Art Deco borrowed regional elements such as Native American and Ancient Egyptian motifs. These were stylised, simplified and geometric. The shapes had to be solid, simple and elegant. They had to have a certain abstraction.

From 1930 onwards, this movement advocated the development of modern architecture using the new materials of the time: reinforced concrete, glass and steel, and new construction methods: frame construction and glass facades. The aim is to promote architecture that is rational and functional, but also architecture that responds to the aspirations and needs of the people who live there – ‘humanist’ architecture, so to speak. This movement inspired French architects in particular, leading them to work on social housing with an economy of form and materials.

Art Deco and stained glass

Between 1920-1930/1935, this was the Art Deco period, with Art Deco stained glass. But this was a time when stained glass was once again pushed back. In those years, light was expected, light was sought. However, they are still found in areas where they are widely used, particularly in Lorraine.

Art Deco stained glass benefited from the extraordinary development of glass making techniques, which allowed the use of large rough or highly worked pieces. This was particularly true of textured glass, which gave stained glass a major boost during this period.

The stained glass windows of the Art Deco period represent a complete break with the plastic language of Art Nouveau. The trend is towards abstraction or, at the very least, towards the geometric and stylised.
→ The theme of nature is still there, but it’s re-examined through the filter of stylised, geometricised.
→ The theme of progress is present. Progress that is supposed to bring a better life.
→ Laminated glass is widely used.
→ And these glasses have bold colours, or they’re white combined with greys or blacks.
→ Little or no paint or glaze.

This artistic movement is still very much in demand today. With its pure and stylish lines, it is a style that is timeless and timeless.

Creation of the Énergie des Couleur for this artistic movement

To find out even more about Art Deco, click here!

It is Sunday night and I find myself sitting in my usual location preparing to write the next post on Life of an Architect

It is Sunday night and I find myself sitting in my usual location preparing to write the next post on Life of an Architect … except I am experiencing a problem that is making this particular post difficult to write. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, it’s that I have too much to write about, which I will confess is worse than having too little.

Living In The Now Use It To Enrich Your Life

It is Sunday night and I find myself sitting in my usual location preparing to write the next post on Life of an Architect … except I am experiencing a problem that is making this particular post difficult to write. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, it’s that I have too much to write about, which I will confess is worse than having too little.

I have been out of the office for almost two weeks – which rarely-to-never happens. I attended the American Institute of Architects National Convention in New York for a week and then immediately after I rolled into a week-long vacation in Maine. I’ve never been to Maine before and since it was geographically convenient, it seemed like the right time to go. Also, it has been hot as Hades in Dallas lately and I wanted needed a break from the heat.

Living In The Now Use It To Enrich Your Life

I have been out of the office for almost two weeks – which rarely-to-never happens. I attended the American Institute of Architects National Convention in New York for a week and then immediately after I rolled into a week-long vacation in Maine. I’ve never been to Maine before and since it was geographically convenient, it seemed like the right time to go. Also, it has been hot as Hades in Dallas lately and I wanted needed a break from the heat.

Motivation In Life

I have been out of the office for almost two weeks – which rarely-to-never happens. I attended the American Institute of Architects National Convention in New York.

Motivation In Life

I have been out of the office for almost two weeks – which rarely-to-never happens. I attended the American Institute of Architects National Convention in New York.

Living In The Now Use It To Enrich Your Life

It is Sunday night and I find myself sitting in my usual location preparing to write the next post on Life of an Architect … except I am experiencing a problem that is making this particular post difficult to write. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, it’s that I have too much to write about, which I will confess is worse than having too little.

I have been out of the office for almost two weeks – which rarely-to-never happens. I attended the American Institute of Architects National Convention in New York for a week and then immediately after I rolled into a week-long vacation in Maine. I’ve never been to Maine before and since it was geographically convenient, it seemed like the right time to go. Also, it has been hot as Hades in Dallas lately and I wanted needed a break from the heat.

Highlights

14 December 2023

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