Art Deco

I’m a fan of architecture and structural design which is kind of odd for some one who can’t draw and not qualified to be an engineer due to mathematical deficiency. I’m a numerically challenged person, maths was my weakest subject; C5 in Modern Maths for SPM isn’t exactly the mark of a genius huh?

Anyway, back to architecture and structural design, my favourite is Art Deco. The term Art Deco was coined from the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs held in Paris in 1925. However, the term Art Deco was not widely used until it was popularised by art historian Bevis Hillier's 1968 book, Art Deco of the 20s and 30s. Art Deco architects often lavished their buildings with symbolic images such as stylized flowers, sunbursts, birds, machine gears and other abstract motives. The Chyrsler Building in New York City is a famous architectural example of Art Deco.

Randy Juster of decopix.com defines Art Deco as a label we now apply to a group of buildings and objects which, in their day, were simply "modern". The Depression saw the emergence of a new architecture that really was modern, the Streamline Moderne which was both a reaction to Art Deco and a reflection of austere economic times of the day.

Wikipedia describes Art Deco as a mixture of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. The structure of Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources. Among them were the so-called "primitive" arts of Africa, Ancient Egypt and Aztec Mexico. It also drew on Machine Age or streamline technology such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, the ocean liner and the skyscraper for inspiration.

Famous Art Deco buildings in KL are the Central Market, the Oriental Building on Jalan Melaka/Tun Perak, MMC/Mahkota College/Ekran building on Jalan Tangsi, The ODEON Cinema on Jalan Dang Wangi, the OCBC Bank branch in Jalan Hang Kasturi and if I’m not mistaken, the JB hospital. The Coronade Hotel is a new building based on Art Deco architecture.

The popularity of Art Deco sadly declined in the late 1930’s.

References:
Hauffe, Thomas (1998). Design: A Concise History (1 ed.). London: Laurence King.
Wood, Ghislaine. "Traditional Motifs". Essential Art Deco. London: VA&A Publications. p. 21.
http://www.decopix.com/New%20Site/Pages/Directory%20Pages/Intro.html
http://www.vam.ac.uk/nal/guides/art_deco/index.html
http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/decart/artdeco/artdeco.htm
http://www.vintagemalaya.com/index.html