Art Deco
Deco design of 1930 by Oliver Bernard
[Above] The foyer of the Strand Palace Hotel in London, deco design of 1930 by Oliver Bernard. From the book Decorative Thirties by Martin Battersby, published by Walker and Company, New York, 1971, page 46.
Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Art Deco Style by Bevis Hillier and Stephen Escritt,
[Above] Boutique in the deco style from the book Art Deco Style by Bevis Hillier and Stephen Escritt, Phaidon Books 1997.
[Above] A bathroom at the Claridge Hotel, London around 1930. From the book Art Deco Style by Bevis Hillier and Stephen Escritt, Phaidon Books 1997.
The stylization of deco is still with us, as it has influenced so many art and fashion design trends since the original heyday of the 1920s and 30s. The best deco combines function with the deco emphasis on line. The worst aspects of deco - - while still pretty to the eye in many cases - - is where the deco linework or shape contradicts the function of the object. In the two photos above, certainly the boutique is jammed so tightly with the main point (advertising the store physcially, and physically advertising a certain design sense of what probably lay within) that it is a complete success. The bathroom is less so, though it still functions quite well as a place for human rest and an opportunity to admire the surroundings, and hopefully relax as needed.
DATE: Wednesday, May 23, 2007