Good evening, I’m back from my first work trip from London. I didn’t have a lot of time for checking out my old home town, but I had one evening to visit a new place with an old friend. The place that I visited was an Art Deco inspired French restaurant called Brsserie Zedel at Piccadilly Circus. The visit got me curious to learn more about Art Deco.
Art Deco, sometimes also reffered to as “style moderne”, is a decorative art and arcitecture that has it’s roots from the 1920s and evolved into becoming a major style in the 1930s. The intention to the Art Deco style was to create an antitraditional elegance that represented wealth and sophisication.
Black and White floor, geometric ceiling, painted machines
The design had infuences to prior styles like Art Noveau, Bauhaus and Cubism. Ideas was taken from Amaerican Indian, Egyptian as well as from nature. The style of the design is simple and clean shapes. The look is often geometric and the material was unusally combined with man-made substances like plastics, vita-glass and ferroconcrete, and natual substances like jade, silver, ivory, obsidian, chrome and rock crystal. The style reflected an admiration for made made itemsm like the machine and played a lot with symmetry and unvaried reputation of elements.
Geometric Lamps in Art Deco style and block colours
Bold colours and brass lamps
Most Art Deco items are individually created or produced in a limited edition. The style went out of fashion during World War 2, but had some renewed interrest in the late 1960s. Famous architecture in Art Deco today is the Rockefeller Center in New York, the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. Also South Beach in Miami is a great example of Art Deco fromt he 1930s.
Interior Design and Art Deco
Colours. Colours in Art Deco are normally striking and bold with a lot of contrast. It can be bright and deep colour blocks mixed with silver, black or chrome.
Machinery and block colours
Furniture. Furniture was normally in streamlined shapes with no frills. The material was normally made of exotic wood, chrome and mirror pieces. The furniture tended to be large, bold and oversized.
Fabrics. The fabrics in Art Deco are lighter, typically solid colours and often with geometric designs. You will not find florals or plaid fabrics in a Art Deco home. The fabrics should be bold block of colour and contrasting each other.
Floors. Abstract designs and black and white design is typical when it comes to floor design. Polished wooden floors are also heavily used. The floors often had rugs in geometric patterns.
Black and White floor and geometric lamp
Lighting glass and chrome was often used as materials for Art Deco lighting. The glass could be etched or enameled. The lamps were also normally of geometric design or symmetric.
Would you consider styling in Art Deco design?
