Art Deco is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France post World War I. Art Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners. It took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris in 1925. It combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.
Economic Factors
The Roaring Twenties was a period in history of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society.” People from coast to coast bought the same goods (thanks to nationwide advertising and the spread of chain stores), listened to the same music, did the same dances and even used the same slang.
The American economy's phenomenal growth rate during the '20s was led by the automobile industry. The number of cars on the road almost tripled between 1920 and 1929, stimulating the production of steel, rubber, plate glass, and other materials that went into making an automobile
The automobile's dominance led to a new psychology celebrating mobility. Cars and trucks needed road construction, new bridges, and regular highway maintenance, largely funded by local and state government through taxes on gasoline. Farmers were early adopters as they used their pickups to haul people, supplies and animals. New industries were spun off to make tires and glass and refine fuel, and to service and repair cars and trucks by the millions. New car dealers were franchised by the car makers and became prime movers in the local business community. Tourism gained an enormous boost, with hotels, restaurants and curio shops proliferating.
American industry produced thousands of consumer goods in the 1920s, everything from the automobile to washing machines to electric razors. Mass consumption was encouraged through a combination of advertising, which created a demand for a particular product, and instalment buying, which enabled people to actually purchase the product
Social Factors
Many Americans were uncomfortable with this new, urban, sometimes racy “mass culture;” in fact, for many–even most–people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. However, for a small handful of young people in the nation’s big cities, the 1920s were roaring indeed. Some unprecedented freedoms, woman could vote at last: The 19th Amendment to the Constitution had guaranteed that right in 1920. Millions of women worked in white-collar jobs and could afford to participate in the rapidly developing consumer economy, the advancement of birth-control made it possible for women to have fewer children and new machines and technologies like the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner eliminated some of the drudgery of household work. This new found freedom manifested in new fashion, theatres, cinemas and restaurants.
Motion pictures became a major entertainment industry during the '20s, and the leading stars of the time — Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, and Rudolph Valentino — became popular icons. Studios built theatres that resembled palaces, featuring mirrors, lush carpeting, and grand names such as the Rialto and the Ritz. “Going to the movies” became a social occasion and one of the main activities for young people and turned into an even greater phenomenon with the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, the first “talking” motion picture.
Harlem, New York, became a magnet for African‐American artists, writers, scholars and musicians. The creative exploration of the black experience by men and women such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen and Nella Larsen became known as the Harlem Renaissance.
One of the most enduring images of the 1920s is that of the flapper, a young woman with short hair, wearing a knee‐length dress, rolled‐up stockings, and unbuttoned rain boots that flapped (hence the name) when she walked. With a new look came new viewpoints and values, including a more open attitude toward premarital sex.
Technological Factors
New materials and technologies, especially reinforced concrete, were key to the development and appearance of Art Deco, which gave greater freedom of form and less need for reinforcing pillars and columns. Architect Augusta Perret pioneered the covering of concrete with ceramic tiles, both for protection and decoration. Other new technologies that were important to Art Deco were new methods in producing plate glass, which was less expensive and allowed much larger and stronger windows, and for mass-producing aluminium, which was used for building and window frames and later, by Corbusier and others, for lightweight furniture.
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, by Auguste Perret, 15 avenue Montaigne, Paris, France (1910–13). Reinforced concrete gave architects the ability to create new forms and bigger spaces.
The Eastern Colombia Building is a perfect example of Art Deco architecture. It was designed by Claud Beelman and opened in 1930 as a beacon of cutting-edge, modern style and life. The glimmering turquoise terracotta tile exteriors adds a touch of decadence and style to the sleek, geometric shape.
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