"'Art Deco' is a relatively new term, coined in 1968 by British historian Bevis Hillier to describe a style of design and architecture prevalent in Europe and America from the late 20's through the 1930's. In the years following WWI, designers in Western Europe began to create a new style with a consciously "modern" look. They took their inspiration from many different sources, among them the works of designers and architects such as Bertram Goodhue, Eliel Saarinen, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Viennese Secessionists. Other major influences included the art works fo exotic cultures (chiefly Mayan, Egyptian, Assyrian and African primitivism), and, the technology of the new Machine Age. As the hard-edged Industrial Age succeeded the elegant Victorian era, so Art Deco's emphasis on industrial and man-made forms evolved from the earlier Art Nouveau's natural imagery.
The Shell Building, George Kelham, architect, 1929
European designers applied this "new look" to object d'art, furniture, jewelry, and interior design, using it primarily as a style of decoration and ornamentation. Eventually, this new angular style was showcased at the famous 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The exposition was intended to display works of new inspiration and real originality," and promotional literature stated that "reproductions, imitations and counterfeits of ancient styles will be strictly prohibited." The emphasis was on the future rather than the past.
Apartment building, The Marina
It is characterized by streamlined motifs in architecture. The French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886-1945) was its chief European exponent in architecture. Here in the US, major cities produced beautifully balanced, often set-back at the top responding to new skyscraper building codes that required building of a certain height to "set back" as it grew in elevation to maintain a more open feeling to the sky.
Pacific Stock Exchange Goddess, Ralph Stockpole
National Maritime Museum, William Mooser Sr. & Jr., father and son architects, Beach Street at the foot of Polk, 1939
Apartments and retail space, H. C. Baumann, architect, Market Street at Laguna, 1931