Streamline Moderne
Encyclopedia
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 design style which emerged during the 1930s. Its architectural style emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements.

Background

As the depression decade of the 1930s progressed, Americans saw a new aspect of the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 style emerge in the marketplace: Streamlining. The Streamlining concept was first created by industrial designers who stripped Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 design of its ornament in favor of the aerodynamic pure-line concept of motion and speed developed from scientific thinking. Cylindrical forms and long horizontal windowing also may be influenced by constructivism
Constructivist architecture
Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced...

. As a result an array of designers quickly ultra-modernized and streamlined the designs of everyday objects. Manufacturers of clocks, radios, telephones, cars, furniture and numerous other household appliances embraced the concept with open arms.

The style was the first to incorporate electric light into architectural structure. In the First Class dining room of the SS Normandie
SS Normandie
SS Normandie was an ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat; she is still the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built.Her novel...

, fitted out 1933–35, twelve tall pillars of Lalique
René Lalique
René Jules Lalique was a French glass designer known for his creations of perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks and automobile hood ornaments. He was born in the French village of Ay on 6 April 1860 and died 5 May 1945...

 glass and 38 columns lit from within illuminated the room. The Strand Palace Hotel
Strand Palace Hotel
The Strand Palace Hotel is a large hotel on the north side of the Strand, London, England, positioned between Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and the River Thames. It was built after Exeter Hall was demolished in 1907...

 foyer (1930), preserved from demolition by the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...

 during 1969, was one of the first uses of internally-lit architectural glass, and coincidentally was the first Moderne interior preserved in a museum.

The Streamline Moderne was both a reaction to Art Deco and a reflection of austere economic times. Gone was unnecessary ornament. Sharp angles were replaced with simple, aerodynamic curves. Exotic woods and stone were replaced with cement and glass.

Art Deco and Streamline Moderne were not necessarily opposites. Streamline Moderne buildings with a few Deco elements were not uncommon but the prime movers behind streamline design (Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...

, Walter Dorwin Teague
Walter Dorwin Teague
Walter Dorwin Teague was an American architect, designer and one of the most prolific American industrial designers in terms of volume of completed work. Teague's name and vision lives on through the legacy of his company....

, Gilbert Rohde
Gilbert Rohde
Gilbert Rohde , whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller Inc...

, Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....

) all disliked Art Deco, seeing it as effete, falsely modern, essentially a fraud.

Characteristics

Common characteristics of Streamline Moderne and Art Moderne
  • Horizontal orientation
  • Rounded edges, corner windows, and glass brick
    Glass brick
    Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light...

     walls
  • Glass block
  • Porthole
    Porthole
    A porthole is a generally circular, window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Porthole is actually an abbreviated term for "port hole window"...

     windows
  • Chrome
    Chrome plating
    Chrome plating, often referred to simply as chrome, is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of chromium onto a metal object. The chromed layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, ease cleaning procedures, or increase surface hardness.-Process:A component to be chrome plated will...

     hardware
    Hardware
    Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....

  • Smooth exterior wall surfaces, usually stucco
    Stucco
    Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

     (smooth plaster finish)
  • Flat roof with coping
  • Horizontal grooves or lines in walls
  • Subdued colors: base colors were typically light earth tones, off-whites, or beiges; and trim colors were typically dark colors (or bright metals) to contrast from the light base.


The Normandie Hotel
Normandie Hotel
The Normandie Hotel is a hotel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The hotel originally opened on October 10, 1942. Its design was inspired by the ocean liner SS Normandie. It features the same art deco design as the ship that inspired it, and the hotel's roof sign is one of the two signs that...

, which opened during 1942, is built in the stylized shape of Normandie the ship, and it includes the ship's original sign. The Sterling Streamliner Diners were diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...

s designed like streamlined trains.

Although Streamline Moderne houses are less common than streamline commercial buildings, residences do exist. The Lydecker House
Lydecker House
The Lydecker Hilltop House is an art deco house and film location in Los Angeles, California designed by Howard and Theodore Lydecker. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles on May 14, 2008.-External links:**...

 in Los Angeles, built by Howard Lydecker
Lydecker brothers
-Partial filmography:*Darkest Africa *Women in War - Oscar nominated*Adventures of Captain Marvel *Flying Tigers - Oscar nominated*Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe...

, is an example of Streamline Moderne design in residential architecture. In tract development, elements of the style were frequently used as a variation in post-war row housing
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...

 in San Francisco's Sunset District.

Industrial design

The style was applied to appliances such as electric clocks, sewing machines, small radio receivers and vacuum cleaners. Their manufacturing processes exploited developments in materials science
Materials science
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates...

 including aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 and bakelite. Compared to Europe, the 1930s U.S. had a stronger focus on design as a means to increase sales of consumer products. Streamlining was associated with prosperity and an exciting future. This hope resonated with the American middle class, the major market for consumer products. A wide range of goods from refrigerators to pencil sharpeners was designed to resemble streamlined vehicles.

This can be contrasted with functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...

, which was a leading design style in Europe at the same time. One reason for the simple designs in functionalism was to lower the production costs of the items, making them affordable to the large European working class. Streamlining and functionalism represent two very different schools in modernistic industrial design, but both reflecting the intended consumer.

Notable examples in architecture

  • 1926: Long Beach Airport Main Terminal, Long Beach, California
    Long Beach, California
    Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

  • 1928: Lockheed Vega
    Lockheed Vega
    |-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Allen, Richard Sanders. Revolution in the Sky: Those Fabulous Lockheeds, The Pilots Who Flew Them. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1964....

    , designed by John Knudsen Northrop
    John Knudsen Northrop
    John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop was an American aircraft industrialist and designer, who founded the Northrop Corporation in 1939.-Entering aviation:...

    , a six-passenger single engine aircraft, made famous by the use of Amelia Earhart
    Amelia Earhart
    Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...

    .
  • 1930: Strand Palace Hotel
    Strand Palace Hotel
    The Strand Palace Hotel is a large hotel on the north side of the Strand, London, England, positioned between Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and the River Thames. It was built after Exeter Hall was demolished in 1907...

    , London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

    . Foyer designed by Oliver Percy Bernard
    Oliver Percy Bernard
    Oliver Percy Bernard OBE MC was an English architect, and scenic, graphic and industrial designer. He was instrumental in developing conservative Victorian British taste in a modernist European direction and much of his work is frequently characterised as art deco.-Early life:Born in Camberwell,...

  • 1930–1934: Broadway Mansions, Shanghai
    Shanghai
    Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

    , designed by B. Flazer of Palmer and Turner
  • 1931: The Eaton's Seventh Floor
    The Carlu (Toronto)
    The Carlu is an historic event space in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Known for many years as the "Eaton's Seventh Floor", the Carlu is one of Toronto's best examples of Art Moderne architecture.-History:...

     (including the Eaton Auditorium and the Round Room restaurant) in Toronto
    Toronto
    Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

    , Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

    , designed by Jacques Carlu
    Jacques Carlu
    Jacques Carlu was a French architect and designer, working mostly in Art Deco style, active in France, Canada, and in the United States....

    , located in the former Eaton's
    Eaton's
    The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

     department store.
  • 1931: Napier, New Zealand
    Napier, New Zealand
    Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...

    , rebuilt in Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles after a major earthquake.
  • 1933: Ty Kodak building in Quimper
    Quimper
    Quimper is a commune and capital of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Administration:Quimper is the prefecture of the Finistère department.-Geography:...

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

     designed by Olier Mordrel
    Olier Mordrel
    Olier Mordrel is the Breton language version of Olivier Mordrelle, a Breton nationalist and wartime collaborator with the Third Reich who founded the separatist Breton National Party. Before the war he worked as an architect. His architectural work was influenced by Art Deco and the International...

    .
  • 1933: Southgate tube station
    Southgate tube station
    Southgate is a London Underground Piccadilly Line station in Southgate. It is located between Arnos Grove and Oakwood stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4.-History:...

    , London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

  • 1933: Burnham Beeches
    Burnham Beeches (Australia)
    Burnham Beeches is a 1930s streamline-moderne mansion built for Aspro-brand sales magnate Alfred Nicholas on Sherbrooke Road, Sherbrooke, Victoria in the Dandenong Ranges, 40 kilometres from Melbourne, Australia.-History:...

     in Sherbrooke, Victoria
    Sherbrooke, Victoria
    Sherbrooke is a settlement in Victoria, Australia, 35 km east of Melbourne. Its local-government area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 census, Sherbrooke had a population of 196....

    , Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    . Harry Norris
    Harry Norris
    Harry Norris was an Australian architect whose works are spread across Melbourne. He was well known for his strong Art Deco Style combining American and Australian architecture. He was one of the most prolific commercial architects between 1920 and 1930...

     architect.
  • 1933: The Lawson "Zephyr" clock designed by Kem Weber
    Kem Weber
    Kem Weber was a furniture and industrial designer, architect, art director, and teacher who created several iconic designs of the 'Streamline' style.-Early career:...

     for Lawson Time of Alhambra, California
    Alhambra, California
    Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...

    .
  • 1933: Merle Norman Building, Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

     See also History of Santa Monica, California
    History of Santa Monica, California
    The history of Santa Monica, California, covers the significant events and movements in Santa Monica's past.-Population by decade:* 1880 - 417* 1890 - 1,580* 1900 - 3,057* 1910 - 7,847* 1920 - 15,252* 1930 - 37,146* 1940 - 53,500* 1950 - 71,595...

  • 1933: Midland Hotel, Morecambe, Morecambe
    Morecambe
    Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...

    , England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

    .
  • 1933–1940: The interior of Chicago
    Chicago
    Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

    's Museum of Science and Industry
    Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
    The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...

    , designed by Alfred Shaw
  • 1934: Chrysler Airflow
    Chrysler Airflow
    The Chrysler Airflow is an automobile produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1934-1937. The Airflow was the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for building a sleeker automobile, one less susceptible to air resistance...

    , the first mass-market streamline automotive design
  • 1934: Hotel Shangri-La (Santa Monica)
    Hotel Shangri-La (Santa Monica)
    Hotel Shangri-La is a full-service boutique hotel located at 1301 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California. It is an example of Streamline Moderne architecture and Art Deco design. The Hotel Shangri-La is family owned, and is currently run by Los Angeles businesswoman Tehmina Adaya, who took over...

    , California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 1935: Ford Building (San Diego, California), Balboa Park
  • 1935: The De La Warr Pavilion
    The De La Warr Pavilion
    The De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff; considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although in fact it was...

    , Bexhill-on-Sea
    Bexhill-on-Sea
    Bexhill-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England, within the District of Rother. It has a population of approximately 40,000...

    , England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

  • 1935: Pan Pacific Auditorium
    Pan-Pacific Auditorium
    The Pan-Pacific Auditorium was a landmark structure in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California which once stood at 7600 West Beverly Boulevard near the site of Gilmore Field, an early Los Angeles baseball venue predating Dodger Stadium...

    , Los Angeles
    Los Ángeles
    Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

  • 1935: Edificio Internacional de Capitalización
    Edificio Internacional de Capitalización
    Edificio Internacional de Capitalización was a 1935 Streamline Moderne skyscraper located in downtown Mexico City.At the time of its construction, it was the second tallest skyscraper in Latin America and the tallest in Mexico, with 26 stories and 107 meters tall...

    , Mexico City
    Mexico City
    Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

    , Mexico
    Mexico
    The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

  • 1935: The Hindenburg
    LZ 129 Hindenburg
    LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...

    , Zeppelin
    Zeppelin
    A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...

      passenger accommodations
  • 1935: The interior of Lansdowne House
    Lansdowne House
    Lansdowne House is a building to the southwest of Berkeley Square in central London, England. It was designed by Robert Adam as a private house and for most of its time as a residence it belonged to the Petty family, Marquesses of Lansdowne. Since 1935, it has been the home of the Lansdowne Club....

     on Berkeley Square
    Berkeley Square
    Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...

     in Mayfair
    Mayfair
    Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...

    , London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

     is redesigned and redecorated in the Art Moderne style and opens as the Lansdowne Club.
  • 1935: MV Kalakala, the world's first streamlined ferry.
  • 1936: Lasipalatsi
    Lasipalatsi
    Lasipalatsi is a functionalist office building designed in the 1930s, located on Mannerheimintie in the Kamppi district of Helsinki, Finland. Lasipalatsi is one of Helsinki's most notable functionalist buildings....

    , in Helsinki
    Helsinki
    Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

    , Finland
    Finland
    Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

    , houses a cinema, several restaurants and cafés along with shops and offices. It was first built as a temporary building and was scheduled for demolition about a decade after its construction. However, many prominent Helsinkians opposed the demolition and, in 1998, it was designated a protected culture and arts centre.
  • 1936: Florin Court
    Florin Court
    Florin Court is an Art Deco residential building, situated on the eastern side of Charterhouse Square in Smithfield, London, England EC1M 6EY . Built in 1936 by Guy Morgan and Partners, it features an impressive curved facade, a roof garden and a basement swimming pool...

    , on Charterhouse Square
    Charterhouse Square
    Charterhouse Square is a historic square in Smithfield, between Charterhouse Street and Clerkenwell Road. It lies in the extreme south of the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London....

     in London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

    , built by Guy Morgan and Partners. It became "Whitehaven Mansions", the fictional residence of Hercule Poirot
    Hercule Poirot
    Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...

    , in the 1980s filming of the TV series
    Agatha Christie's Poirot
    Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...

     based on Agatha Christie
    Agatha Christie
    Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

    's mystery stories.
  • 1937: B and B Chemical Company
    B and B Chemical Company
    B and B Chemical Company is an historic streamline moderne building at 780 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The building was constructed in 1937 by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982....

    , at 780 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

    , built by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott and added to the National Historic Register in 1982.
  • 1937: Belgium Pavilion, at the Exposition Internationale, Paris
    Paris
    Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

  • 1937: TAV Studios (Brenemen's Restaurant), Hollywood
  • 1937: Hecht Company Warehouse
    Hecht Company Warehouse
    The Hecht Company Warehouse in Washington, D.C. is a Streamline Moderne style building. Designed by engineer Gilbert V. Steel of the New York engineering firm Abbott and Merkt, and prominently located on New York Avenue, it served as the central warehouse for The Hecht Company from its...

    , Washington, DC
  • 1937: Minerva (or Metro) Theatre and the Minerva Building, Potts Point, New South Wales
    Potts Point, New South Wales
    Potts Point is a small, densely-populated suburb of inner-city Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney....

    , Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • 1937: Bather's Building in the Aquatic Park Historic District
    Aquatic Park Historic District
    Aquatic Park Historic District is a building complex on the San Francisco Bay waterfront in San Francisco, California, United States. It is located within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and is itself a National Historic Landmark....

    , now the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
    San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
    The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, USA. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility...

     Maritime Museum, with exhibits and social halls.
  • 1937: Barnum Hall (High School auditorium), Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

  • 1937: J.W. Knapp Company Building
    J.W. Knapp Company Building
    The J.W. Knapp Company Building is a historic five-story, Streamline Moderne building in Lansing, Michigan, United States. Designed by Orlie Munson of the Bowd–Munson Company, which also designed several other Art Deco landmarks in Lansing, including the Ottawa Street Power Station, it was...

     (department store) Lansing, Michigan
    Lansing, Michigan
    Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

  • 1937: Wan Chai Market
    Wan Chai Market
    The Wan Chai Market was constructed in 1937. It is located at 264 Queen's Road East and Stone Nullah Lane in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island. It is a Grade III Historic Building....

    , Wan Chai
    Wan Chai
    Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...

    , Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

  • 1937: River Oaks Shopping Center, Houston
  • 1938: Mark Keppel High School
    Mark Keppel High School
    Mark Keppel High School is a four-year California Distinguished School located in the city of Alhambra, California in the Alhambra Unified School District. The school is on the southern edge of Alhambra, adjacent to the City of Monterey Park, and borders the Interstate 10 Freeway...

    , Alhambra, California
  • 1938: Normandie building, Mar del Plata
    Mar del Plata
    Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...

  • 1939: Bartlesville High School
    Bartlesville High School
    Bartlesville High School is a public high school located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Built in 1939, it was originally called College High School, and until 1950 housed a junior college as well as the high school. Its Streamline Moderne building was designed by Tulsa architect John Duncan...

    , Bartlesville, Oklahoma
  • 1938: Danum House, Doncaster
    Doncaster
    Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

    , England
  • 1939: Coca-Cola Building (Los Angeles), California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 1939: First Church of Deliverance
    First Church of Deliverance
    First Church of Deliverance is a landmark church located at 4315 South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The church was built in 1939 by Walter T. Bailey, and two towers were added to it in 1946 by Kocher, Buss & DeKlerk. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 5, 1994....

    , Chicago, Illinois
  • 1939: Marine Air Terminal
    Marine Air Terminal
    -External links:*...

    , LaGuardia Airport
    LaGuardia Airport
    LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...

    , New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

  • 1939: Road Island Diner
    Road Island Diner
    The Road Island Diner is a rare classic Streamline Moderne 60' x 16' Art Deco diner car restaurant located in the remote mountain city of Oakley, Utah in the United States. It was prefabricated as diner # 1107 in 1939 at the Elizabeth, New Jersey factory of the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company.After...

    , Oakley, Utah
    Oakley, Utah
    Oakley is a city in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 948 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Oakley is located at ....

  • 1939: New York World's Fair
    1939 New York World's Fair
    The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...

  • 1939: Cardozo Hotel, Ocean Drive
    Ocean Drive (South Beach)
    Ocean Drive is a street in South Beach—the southern part of Miami Beach, Florida. It is known for its Art Deco hotels. Ocean Drive is also the location of the famed , one of the most photographed houses in North America. The street is the center of the city's Art Deco District, which is home to...

    , South Beach
    South Beach
    South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...

    , Miami Beach, Florida
    Miami Beach, Florida
    Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...

  • 1939 Royer Building Ephrata, PA
  • 1940: Gabel Kuro jukebox designed by Brooks Stevens
    Brooks Stevens
    Clifford Brooks Stevens was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles and motorcycles — as well as a graphic designer and stylist....

  • 1940: Greyhound Bus Station, Ann Arbor, Michigan
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

  • 1940: Jai Alai Building
    Manila Jai Alai Building
    The Manila Jai Alai Building was a building designed by American architect Welton Becket that functioned as a building for which jai alai games were held...

    , Taft Avenue Manila
    Manila
    Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

    , Philippines
    Philippines
    The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

     (demolished)
  • 1940: Hollywood Palladium
    Hollywood Palladium
    The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an 11,200 square foot dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people.-History:...

    , Los Angeles, California
  • 1940: Las Vegas Union Pacific Station, Las Vegas, Nevada
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

  • 1941: Avalon Hotel, Ocean Drive
    Ocean Drive (South Beach)
    Ocean Drive is a street in South Beach—the southern part of Miami Beach, Florida. It is known for its Art Deco hotels. Ocean Drive is also the location of the famed , one of the most photographed houses in North America. The street is the center of the city's Art Deco District, which is home to...

    , South Beach
    South Beach
    South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...

    , Miami Beach, Florida
    Miami Beach, Florida
    Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...

  • 1942: Normandie Hotel
    Normandie Hotel
    The Normandie Hotel is a hotel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The hotel originally opened on October 10, 1942. Its design was inspired by the ocean liner SS Normandie. It features the same art deco design as the ship that inspired it, and the hotel's roof sign is one of the two signs that...

     in San Juan, Puerto Rico
    San Juan, Puerto Rico
    San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

  • 1942: Mercantile National Bank Building
    Mercantile National Bank Building
    The Mercantile National Bank Building is the former home of the Mercantile National Bank, later MCorp Bank, located at 1700 Main Street in downtown Dallas, Texas . It is a contributing structure in the Main Street District. The design of the skyscraper features Moderne styling from the Art Deco...

    , Dallas
  • 1944: Huntridge Theater
    Huntridge Theater
    Huntridge Theater sometimes known as the Huntridge Performing Arts Theater is a Streamline Moderne building located in Las Vegas, Nevada that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. The building was designed by S...

    , Las Vegas
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

    , Nevada
    Nevada
    Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

  • 1946: Gerry Building
    Gerry Building
    Gerry Building is a high-rise building in the Fashion District of Los Angeles. Built in 1947, the Streamline Moderne style building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003....

    , Los Angeles, California
  • 1946: Broadway Theatre
    Broadway Theatre (Saskatoon)
    The Broadway Theatre is an art film and performance theatre located on Broadway Avenue in the Nutana neighborhood of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada...

    , Saskatoon
    Saskatoon
    Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....

    , Saskatchewan
    Saskatchewan
    Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

  • 1947: Sears Building, Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica, California
    Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

  • 1948: Greyhound Bus Station, Cleveland
  • 1949: Sault Memorial Gardens
    Sault Memorial Gardens
    The Sault Memorial Gardens was the focal point of ice hockey in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, for 57 years from 1949 to 2006. It was located in the heart of the downtown district at 169 Queen Street...

    , Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
    Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
    Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...

  • 1949: Varsity Theatre, Davis, California
    Davis, California
    Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

  • 1955: Iowa State Bank & Trust Building, Fairfield, Iowa
    Fairfield, Iowa
    Fairfield is a city and the county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,464 in the 2010 census, a decline from 9,509 in the 2000 census. - History :...

  • 1957–2006: Star Ferry Pier, Central, Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

     (demolished)
  • 1957: Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier
    Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier
    Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier is a pier located on reclaimed land at the southernmost tip of Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. It is commonly known as Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui. Star Ferry operates the pedestrian ferry service across Victoria Harbour to Wan Chai and to Central on...

    , Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

  • 1965: Hung Hom Ferry Pier
    Hung Hom Ferry Pier
    Hung Hom Ferry Pier is a ferry pier in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is at the reclaimed Hung Hom Bay at the south of Lily Mansion , Whampoa Garden. There is a large bus terminus outside the pier.- History :...

    , Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

  • 1960s: Kwun Tong Pier
    Kwun Tong Pier
    Kwun Tong Pier is a ferry pier situated on Hoi Yuen Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The pier was originally situated at Ngau Tau Kok called "Ngau Tau Kok Ferry Pier" , but during the 1960s, due to reclamation work, the pier was moved to Kwun Tong.The pier complex consists of three piers: a...

    , Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

  • Wan Chai Pier
    Wan Chai Pier
    The Wan Chai Pier , or Wan Chai Ferry Pier , is a pier at the coast of Wan Chai North on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. The pier is operated by Star Ferry, and provides ferry services to Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom. The pier is near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.-Transport...

    , Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...


Motion pictures

  • The buildings in Frank Capra
    Frank Capra
    Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...

    's 1937 movie Lost Horizon, designed by Stephen Goosson
    Stephen Goosson
    Stephen Goosson was an Academy Award-winning American film set designer.Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Goosson was an architect in Detroit before starting his film career as art director for producer Lewis J. Selznick, and films for Fox Film Corporation such as New Movietone Follies of 1930...

  • The design of the "Emerald City" in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz
    The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
    The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

  • The main character's helmet and rocket pack in the 1991 movie The Rocketeer
    The Rocketeer (film)
    The Rocketeer is a 1991 period superhero adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and based on the character of the same name created by comic book writer/artist Dave Stevens. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino...



See also

  • Moderne architecture
    Moderne architecture
    Moderne architecture, also sometimes referred to as "Style Moderne" or simply "Moderne", a general United States landmarks term for styles of architecture that were popular from 1925 through the 1940s. It has expression in styles traditionally classified as Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and WPA...

  • Art Deco
    Art Deco
    Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

  • Constructivist architecture
    Constructivist architecture
    Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced...

  • Raygun Gothic
    Raygun Gothic
    Raygun Gothic is a catchall term for a visual style that incorporates various aspects of the Googie, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architectural styles when applied to retro-futuristic science fiction environments. Academic Lance Olsen has characterised Raygun Gothic as "a tomorrow that never was"...

  • Googie architecture
    Googie architecture
    Googie architecture is a form of modern architecture, a subdivision of futurist architecture influenced by car culture and the Space and Atomic Ages....

  • Century of Progress
    Century of Progress
    A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...

     Chicago
    Chicago
    Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

    's 2nd World's Fair
    World's Fair
    World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...

     (1933–34)
  • Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)
    Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)
    The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937 in Paris, France...

    (1937 Paris Exposition)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK