HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

II
ART NOUVEAU AND ART DECO
SUBMITTED TO- SUBMITTED BY-
AR. RAJSHREE MATHUR PULKIT SAINI
RADHEY KAUSHIK
RIYA GUPTA
B.ARCH III YR ‘B’
BASIC INTRODUCTION
 Both the Art Nouveau and Art
Deco movements emerged as
reactions to major world
events; the Industrial
Revolution and World War I,
respectively. While both
embraced modernist
elements, they're easy to
distinguish if you know what
to look for. An Art Nouveau Jugendstil
building in
 Basic difference is that Art the historic center of Riga,
Latvia.
Nouveau is the decorative one
and Art Deco is sleeker.
A stainless steel Art Deco winged
sculpture
on the facade of an embellished
building.
ART NOUVEAU
 Art Nouveau, which means 'new art,' began in England and spread through
Europe in the late 1800s. Reaching its peak in the early 1900s, it fell out of
favor before World War I. Artists, interior designers, decorative artists,
illustrators and architects wanted to unify the arts and eliminate arbitrary
differences between fine and decorative arts. They also wanted to abandon the
past and create a new style for the turn of the century. Artists working in Art
Nouveau sought to celebrate good craftsmanship at a time when new mass-
produced objects of questionable quality were flooding society.

Identifiable features of Art Nouveau works-

 They're inspired by nature and include organic elements like flowing vines and
plant stems, flower buds and insects.
 You will find geometry in Art Nouveau, but usually in forms with curving rather
than hard edges.
 In this example of a wallpaper pattern by
English artist Walter Crane, you see several
elements considered central to Art Nouveau,
including an emphasis on curving natural
forms, echoes of things like leaves and birds
and flowing lines that connect everything.
 Art Nouveau emphasizes long lines
and whiplash curves, forms in which lines
bend and veer back on themselves. As you
might guess by this description, line is more
important than color, which was sometimes
be muted. In Art Nouveau, all elements seem
to connect organically together.
 There's an emphasis on natural materials like
wood and natural colors like muted greens,
browns and deep reds.

Swan, rush and iris wallpaper pattern, by English artist Walter

Crane, 1875
BUILDING FEATURES
 Asymmetrical shapes

 Extensive use of arches and curved forms

 Curved glass

 Curving, plant-like embellishments

The gates of the Talashkino Estate 
 Mosaics by Sergey Malyutin

 Stained glass

 Japanese motifs

The Great Hall of City Library

of Aarhus by Karl Hansen
Reistrup
ART DECO
 Art Deco developed in the 1920s and was used through the 1930s before declining
in popularity by World War II. Sometimes you see it called style moderne. This new
style became prominent after the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et
Industriels Modernes, a large art and design exhibit in Paris in 1925. The name is
important because it's where the term Art Deco came from.
 Art Deco is angular. It uses geometry to create a sleek, streamlined style that
doesn't reflect nature. It is also rectilinear, which means a particular emphasis on
the vertical. It uses design elements like zigzags and chevrons.
 Art Deco was inspired by machine-made elements and technology and used new
industrial materials like aluminum, chrome, stainless steel, plate glass
and Bakelite (a type of plastic).
 Art Deco could be bold and colorful, and buildings sometimes included brightly
painted terra cotta tiles.
 In this image of decoration at the
entrance to the Chrysler Building, a
famous Art Deco skyscraper in New
York, you can see the emphasis on
industrial materials and geometry.
 Everything is angles, and several areas
include repeated chevrons and zigzags.
Art Deco celebrates technology (think
radios, airplanes and automobiles) and
progress in developments like
electricity. It's the style used on
skyscrapers like the Empire State
Building and Rockefeller Center in New
York City.

Decoration to the entrance of the Chrysler Building in

New York
DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS
 The main characteristics of Art
Deco architecture are its sleek, linear, often
rectangular geometric forms, arranged and
broken up by curved ornamental elements. A
series of set-backs creating a stepped outline
help create the monolithic appearance of
Stoclet Palace, Brussels, by Josef
typical of Art Deco façades. Hoffmann (1905–1911)
Detail of the facade, made of reinforced
 Building materials included; concrete block, concrete covered with marble plaques
glazed brick, smooth-faced stone,
and Terracotta. Steel and aluminium were also
commonly used together with decorative
opaque glazing.
 While some buildings featured hand-
crafted elements, others made do with
repetitive machine-made decorations that
were less expensive. Such details could
incorporate artistic or exotic motifs according
to the function of the building or the Example of an Art Deco theater building.
preferences of the architect. Notice the opaque plate glass exterior
wall surfaces
and the glass blocks in the tower.
 Flat roofs were often adorned with parapets,
spires, or tower-like constructions to
accentuate a corner or entrance, and
decorative chimneys were also commonly
added.
 Windows were often arranged in continuous
horizontal bands of glass to maintain a
streamlined appearance and were frequently
square or round openings with
embossed spandrel panels placed below Dome of the Theater, with Art Deco
rose design
them. Decorative glass or glass blocks were by Maurice Denis
used for wall openings as a means of
maximising natural light and providing a
contrast between solid and void forms.
 Elaborate pilasters and pediments were used
to decorate doorways, and the surrounds
of doors were sometimes decorated with
convex reeding or concave fluting.
 Art Deco projects often produced
dynamic collaborations between architects,
painters, sculptors, and designers. Elevator of the Chrysler Building (1930)
ART DECO VS. ART NOUVEAU
Art Nouveau Art Deco
Time frame: 1890s to 1910 1920s to 1930s
Major Characteristics: Swirling "whiplash curves," Zig-zags, strong lines,
lines taking on the shape repeating geometric
of a whip; integrating Art patterns, symbolism
with craftsmanship

Influenced by: Arts and Crafts movement The opening of King Tut's
of William Morris, rejecting tomb launched great
mechanization and interest in Ancient Egypt
celebrating craftsmanship designs.
and nature.

Architecture: Colorful and detailed Stepped ziggurat

architectural decoration geometric styling, as in the
that ushered in the modern stepped pyramid of
era. the 1931 Empire State
Building.
EXAMPLES OF ART NOUVEAU
 The first image is of an entry to a French
pharmacy done in the Art Nouveau style.
Its graceful arch and glass windows are
surrounded by curving lines.
 The doorway and surrounding metalwork
feature rounded curving forms. A series of
whiplash lines emerge from the bottom of
the far gate edges like an octopus.
 The metal railing is a deep green, echoing
organic elements like leaves and trees.
 It's made of building materials like metal
and stone, but you can sense the echoes
of nature.

Example of Art Nouveau, pharmacy entrance in France

CASA BATTLÓ. BARCELONA, SPAIN.
 Also known as the House of Bones, Casa Battló was
remodeled in 1904 by famed architect Antoni Gaudí.
It’s defined as an example of Art Nouveau architecture
in a broad sense, with its curving facade and use of
glass and ironwork.
 You can see that Gaudí, like most Art Nouveau artists,
was inspired by nature: there are few straight lines, the
building seems to ‘move’ like sea waves. Mosaic
patterns remind viewers of fish scales, and the
structure of the building has a skeletal look.
OLD ENGLAND BUILDING. BRUSSELS,
BELGIUM.
 This former department store, built in 1899, now houses
Brussels’ Musical Instrument Museum. Made from girded
steel and glass, this prime example of Art Nouveau
architecture demonstrates how these new technologies,
made possible by the Industrial Revolution, helped
architects reach new creative heights.
 A characteristic element is the corner tower, made of
steel. For the entire building 250 tons of steel were used.
EXAMPLES OF ART DECO
CHRYSLER BUILDING, NEW YORK
 The Manhattan landmark was designed by architect
William van Alen and completed in 1930, when, at
1,046 feet, it was briefly the tallest building in the
world.
 The style is characterized by thin, long forms with
geometric patterning and curved surfaces.
 The top of the Chrysler Building is its crowning glory
and is comprised of seven radiating terraced arches
with triangular vaulted windows.
 One of the first uses of stainless steel over a large
exposed building surface. The decorative treatment of
the masonry walls below changes with every set-back
and includes story-high basket-weave designs and
radiator-cap gargoyles. The lobby is a modernistic
composition of African marble and chrome steel.
EDEN TEATRO, LISBON, PORTUGAL
 The 1931 “Eden” cinema/theatre building, has now been converted
into an apartment and hotel. 
 Designed by architects Cassiano Branco and Carlo Florencio Dias, the
building’s stone frieze facade is ornamented with a series of tableaus
depicting actors performing before a film crew and camera.
 There have also been some changes to the exterior as two enormous
film poster boards were removed to open up the front and to reveal an
atrium at the upper levels. The ground floor originally housed shops
with stairways leading to the first floor where the auditorium was
located but now appears to be empty. Despite this, the Eden still cuts
an impressive figure at the very heart of Lisbon.
NIAGARA MOHAWK BUILDING, SYRACUSE, NEW
YORK
 The Niagara Mohawk Power Company building is located
at 300 Erie Blvd. West in downtown Syracuse, New York. It
was built in 1932 and was designed by the architectural
firm of Bley & Lyman, from Buffalo, and the Syracuse
architect Melvin King.
 The façade is constructed of gray brick and stone in a
series of setbacks. It has additional cladding in stainless
steel, aluminum, and black glass.
 The ornamentation is truly over the top, as there are
parallel bands, zigzags, and chevrons.