DDD10001: 20th Century Design

Week 5 Modernity, modernism, art deco and the ‘moderne’

This week’s tutorial looks at modernism, Art Deco and the moderne between the two world wars, from 1918 to 1939.Throughout the inter-war period there were a wide range of design movements and design practices that reflected the experience of modernity, and the everyday experiences of people in the modern world.

Some of the modernist design movements such as De Stijl in the Netherlands and the Bauhaus in Germany were little known by ordinary people at the time but were highly intellectual responses to modern times that influenced

Left Above: Northfield’s The Garden Capital of Victoria (1936) <http://bit.ly/1azayJ6> and Right Avbove: Oscar Schlemmer triadic ballet costumes (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/196N1UN>

designers around the world. Art Deco on the other hand was fashionable, popular and widely understood by the public almost everywhere. ‘Moderne’ refers to design that had some modern qualities, modern materials, a lack of ornament, but was either too luxurious and expensive to fit with Modernist theories or modern in materials and function, but retaining elements of expressiveness that didn’t conform to modernist ideas.

Norma Shearer by George Hurrell (1934) <http://bit.ly/KuuLKr> and Saarinen House dining room 1928-30 (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1i8SwTt>

There were various cultural responses to the machine age and the changing pace of life in big cities in the inter-war period. Some artists, writers, architects, designers and filmmakers were enthusiastic about the changes and celebrated them in their work. These modernists embraced the idea of a Utopian future and design as instrumental in its construction. They sought new materials, new technology

and new approaches to designing all kinds of commodities, spaces and communications. They thought that design should be socially instrumental, that it should improve people’s lives, particularly the working classes.

More socially conservative designers and architects looked back to earlier times and reproduced the design of the past; their approach is described as historicism. A third group of designers and architects attempted to bring the past into the present while exploring elements of contemporary technology, materials, or experience.

Right: Utopian - New industrial materials, decorative, eclectic-historical. New York

Now we turn our attention to the emergence Art Deco in Paris, which began as a luxury craft-based style and how it intersected with modernist design in Europe. We’ll look at some of Art Deco’s influences and how it spread to the US and across the world as a popular mass-market taste. Next we’ll talk about De Stijl, originally the name of a publication that we use for an avant garde modernist design and art movement in the Netherlands. Then we’ll look at some Australian designers and architects of the inter war period and how they used range of ideas from the Modernist movements in Europe and Art Deco style.

The Chrysler Building NYC (2011) <http://bit.ly/19LkDbu>

Art Deco = Modern, decorative arts, conspicuous consumption, detail, style, display and wealth, craft and art.

Designers of Art Deco occupied this last category. They used elements of past styles (historicism), imagery and decorative traditions combined with new technology, manufacturing and materials, an approach we can describe as eclecticism. They also used

Designers of Art Deco occupied this last category. They used elements of past styles (historicism), imagery and decorative traditions combined with new technology, manufacturing and materials, an approach we can describe as eclecticism. They also used techniques borrowed from art, design and the material culture of a range of non-western sources for novelty and fashionability.

Mitchell House (2012) <http://bit.ly/19WCiKZ> and Alkira House (n.d.)

<http://bit.ly/1hpWDNk>

techniques borrowed from art, design and the material culture of a range of non-western sources for novelty and fashionability.

Hotel Tassel in Brussels (1893) (2012) <http://bit.ly/1cEfBYy> and Kings Cinema foyer (2008) <http://bit.ly/1i8ZVSKfigcaption>

Art Deco is a term we use for a style in decorative arts, architecture and graphic design that is quite different to modernist design for social reform. Before World War I numerous designers of the decorative arts and interior design were beginning to move from the Art Nouveau style with its sinuous lines, motifs from nature and influences of French Symbolist art to a more geometric style, reviving elements of classicism. It took some time

La Tour Eiffel en 1925, lors de l’Exposition des Arts Décoratifs à Paris (1925) <http://bit.ly/1eARptq> and Pavilion Lalique (1925) <http://www.sekaimon.com/i400414262615>

for the style to develop because of the impact of World War I. In 1925 the French government was able to stage a much delayed exhibition of decorative arts in Paris with the aim of reasserting the country’s leadership in producing luxury goods and in style and taste.

Above: 1925 Exposition modern decorative arts, Paris.

It showed some French modernist design, particularly the architect Le Corbusier’s Pavilion de L’Esprit Nouveau, and modernist design from other countries including Russia and the Netherlands that subsequently influenced architects and designers the world over.

Le Corbusier: Pavilion de l’Esprit Nouveau – Modernist

Le Corbusier: Pavilion de l’Esprit Nouveau (1925) <http://bit.ly/19Lx5bk>

But this was a side-show at the time compared to the emergence of the mainstream Art Deco style which was brought to the attention of the world through this exhibition.

Art deco - classical, simple, decorative and commercial.British historian of architecture

Pavilion de Collectionneur, by Pierre Patout (1925) <http://bit.ly/1ibxP9k>

Art Deco designers introduced flat bold shapes, modern typefaces and stylised glamorous images into graphic design. The Ukranian-French artist and designer Cassandre was a leading graphic design in Paris whose work exemplifies the Art Deco style. He produced advertising products featuring railways and luxury cruise lines to alcohol and cigarettes, including packaging, print ads and posters. Another French graphic designer Jean Carlu was brought to America to illustrate magazines including Vanity Fair. In turn American production designers in the film industry used Art Deco style to create a sense of modern luxury that in turn spread out across

the world to influence consumer goods and communications of all kinds.

Art Deco influenced American architects of skyscraper buildings in Chicago and New York. Two of the most famous are the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. While the skyscraper was a modern building with its steel frame technology, and required modern lifts to make it work, Art Deco style created a popular acceptance of such a radical new approach. As design theorist Adrian Forty argues, the purpose of design was often to make modern technology and modern types of goods and services acceptable to the public (1986).

The Empire State Building NYC (2010) <http://bit.ly/1bM27tO> and Tikal Temple (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1cx46Wn>

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) <http://bit.ly/1lys9Jo> and poster for the Bal Negre (1927) <http://bit.ly/1drGhgm>

Eileen Gray, Rue de Lota Apartment (1919) <http://bit.ly/1gaN6WD>

Art Deco became the language of cosmopolitan modernity during the inter war period. Cosmopolitan metropolises developed lively consumer cultures, a vibrant nightlife and a sophisticated film industry with the assistance of advertising and magazines. Art Deco introduced a language of modern progress and consumption. It promoted ideas of leisure – the cinema and fashion and the modern woman.

Right: Eclectic, exotic, modern luxury - Eileen Gray Rue de Lota apartment

Art Deco’s eclectic influences included Vienna Secession design, Cubist art, African tribal culture, jazz music, the Russian ballet, ancient Egyptian arts and the Mayan culture of Mexico and central America.

Modernism in advertising, despite the brutish reality of the Depression.

American Way (1937) <http://bit.ly/1dLPvHE> and Normandie by Adolf Mouron Cassandre

(1935) <http://bit.ly/18jsRnU>

Bally Shoes by Bernard Villemot (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1ic7TdP> and PiVolo Apertif (1925) <http://bit.

ly/1aCGUTx><http://bit.ly/1gaN6WD>

A number of Australian architects admired Art Deco style and developed designs in the style.

Above: Art Deco/Moderne - consumer commercial recovery: Myer, Bourke Street, 1931 and Alkira House, 1937 (Streamline Moderne/Art Deco).

Marcus Barlow: Century Building 1939 (2014) <http://bit.ly/1hOzMbp>

Art Deco in Melbourne

Painting of the Myer Building (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1cJVA30>

Melbourne still has a much-admired stock of Art Deco buildings, many by architect Marcus Barlow, such as his Manchester Unity Building (board room, above right) finished in 1932 in a gothic-revival Art Deco style.

Manchester Unity Building (2011) <http://bit.ly/1cUxW8m> and Manchester Unity Building colour (2013) <http://bit.ly/1cJU7d0>

Barlow’s Century Building just along Collins Street (the basement of which today houses the Hi Fi Bar) that once held an Art Deco café and ballroom, shows the influence of classicism rather than gothic with its white rather than mottled stone-coloured faïence tiles like the Manchester Unity Building.

Century Building (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1egTlXw> and Open House - Century Building (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1cJVA30>

Australian design of the inter-war period was affected by the see-sawing economy that lurched from booms to busts. Because Australia had a small population (only 6 million in 1936), a huge foreign debt from World War II and few exports apart from farm products, our economy became destabilised. After the Wall Street crash of 1929, Australia followed the United States and much of the developed world into the Depression. In the boom times of the 1920s confidence led to extravagance and the adoption of Art Deco. On the other hand, hard times led to the acceptance of modernism and sober moderne design. In Australia in the 1930s

we see more austere design.The Australian economy was badly hit by the Depression. The government was slow to act and put off devaluing the Australian pound. Workers were laid off and unemployment dropped in 1930 and continued falling until 1932-33 when it reached 30%. Since there were no unemployment benefits, people relied on charity and then small government hand-outs. There was widespread poverty, homelessness, and malnutrition.

Above: Australian modernism, the Great Depression and social reform: Housing Investigation and Slum Abolition Board photographs.

A Carlton slum (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1QK778g> and Baby healthcare centre (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1f9L6BE>

Australian design of the inter-war period was affected by the see-sawing economy that lurched from booms to busts. Because Australia had a small population (only 6 million in 1936), a huge foreign debt from World War II and few exports apart from farm products, our economy became destabilised. After the Wall Street crash of 1929, Australia followed the United States and much of the developed world into the Depression.

Australian Design during Inter-war Period

In the boom times of the 1920s confidence led to extravagance and the adoption of Art Deco. On the other hand, hard times led to the acceptance of modernism and sober moderne design. In Australia in the 1930s we see more austere design.

The Australian economy was badly hit by the Depression. The government was slow to act and put off devaluing the Australian pound. Workers were laid off and

unemployment dropped in 1930 and continued falling until 1932-33 when it reached 30%. Since there were no unemployment benefits, people relied on charity and then small government hand-outs. There was widespread poverty, homelessness, and malnutrition.

Above: Australian modernism, the Great Depression and social reform: Housing Investigation and Slum Abolition Board photographs.

Mies van der Rohe: Seagram Building, New York, 1958 (2014) http://bit.ly/1dO5nLL; Lake Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago, 1951 (2014) http://bit.ly/19MNKLb

Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow (1930) <http://bit.ly/1bMeoyi>

Many young Australian architects travelled to Britain and Europe and after graduating in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of them worked for a while in England and some went to the United States for industry experience. After Hitler rose to power in 1932, many avoided Germany and explored Czechoslovakia, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Of those who went to Europe many visited the Netherlands to see the work of Willem Dudok, in particular his town hall complex at Hilversum. Dudok wasn’t closely associated with Mondrian, van Doesburg, Vantongerloo and Rietveldt (the artists and designers associated with De Stijl), but he explored Modernist ideas and usefully for Melbourne architects, was accomplished in designing for brick – the common material of this city.

DESIGN IS SIMPLY A WAY OF DOING THINGS. ITS SCOPE COVERS EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE. IT MEANS DOING THINGS BETTER THAN BEFORE. IT INVOLVES CREATION. IT MEANS FULFILMENT.

Grant Featherston

European modernism spread to Australia through visiting international architects, and also through the arrival of immigrants like Sellheim and Romberg from Germany, and Fritz Janeba and Ernest Fuchs from Austria. Publications like the English art and design journal The Studio, the French journal Art and Decoration and a range of German journals, particularly Interior Decoration. Local journals including the Woman’s World and Australian Home Beautiful and the literary magazine Manuscripts often used illustrations from German magazines and reported the latest developments in design and architecture.

One local designer who appears to have been inspired by European modernism was Melbourne furniture and interior designer Fred Ward. He had begun designing simple modernist furniture using Australian native timbers in the early 1930s, which he sold in his own shop and interior design consultancy in Collins Street from 1932. He was able to sell a range of modernist and moderne designs to the Myer Emporium, which at that time, was a more upmarket department store selling moderately-priced goods and used glamorous imports and cutting-edge designs to create a sense of value and allure for middle-class shoppers.

Hilverson Town Hall (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/19Y5cKx> and Dudok Benzinestation (n.d.) <http://bit.ly/1gBsMhY>An important contributor to

Australian design culture in the interwar period was the Sydney magazine The Home. It employed a range of talented artists and designers including Douglas Annand, Dahl and Geoffrey Collings and Grace Cossington Smith to illustrate its covers and design its advertisements. Annand’s use of collage and photography showed an awareness of European Modernism and America consumer modern. Max Dupain’s modernist photography was used lavishly throughout many issues.