THE INFLUENCE OF ART DECO
HISTORY THEORY III
What influences from the United States can be identified in South Australian architecture in the first half of the 20th century (ca.1890-1960)?
America’s Art Deco movement has had a direct influence on the built environment across the globe and in specifically, some aspects of Adelaide. The 1920s and 30s brought many movements through the United States, such as the Great Depression and the time between the two world-wars. It was a period of newness, prosperity and rapid growth in industry, electronics and a new century spirit. Similarly, Adelaide plays host to a multitude of Art Deco designs, with some key structures influenced by the United States specifically through the first half of the 20th century.
Through analysing local and American case studies, this paper seeks to discuss three core factors affecting American Art Deco, which is then translated into Adelaide’s history. These topics include Art Deco in commercial buildings through the Public Works Administration. The prosperity and glamour of Art Deco as seen in cinema through the popularity of Hollywood. Art Deco through the machine age, including influences outside of Architecture such as new transport design and technology. These factors produced a streamline diversion of Art Deco, providing accessibility and mass-production design to factories, local manufacturing plants and transport hubs.
Contributing factors of innovation pioneered America to be the forerunner of technology overtaking Britain in this regard. Art Deco became the face of financial power, prosperity and glamour that the average American wouldn’t otherwise associate with; Originally the style derived its title from the International Exhibition of Industrial and Decorate Arts held in Paris in 1925. By the end of the 1930s it was a language that transformed into something purely American. The world took notice, and thus life began to be influenced in Australia.
Financial power was a symbolic indication and contributing factor for the high engagement of Art Deco in the commercial and public building sector. This was seen soon after in Adelaide, through the refurbishment of local town halls and public spaces. Art Deco came with an expensive price tag, due to this it was more common in the field of commercial over private residential buildings. Art Deco was symbolic to financial power especially after the stock market crash in America in 1929. Hence it was established more in industrial and big business markets also in the time of skyscapes in the 1920s. When the elevator was invented, skyscrapers were built higher than ever before. Klein, McClelland and Halsam, (2005) states ‘Early 20th century skyscrapers were bedecked in ornament, symbolizing the dynamic of science and commerce rather than forces of the natural work which ornament had traditionally represented’. Explaining a shift in social identification among the American community, they were looking to new technologies and wanting to showcase this to not only those visiting but a greater statement to the world.
The Public Works Administration (PWA) formed the PWA Modern style during the Great Depression. They built courthouses, schools, post offices and libraries. Basic forms of deco were easily reproduced. Due to this, it became the official PWA style of building. As the economy secured its foundation through the 1930s, Australia witnessed a new evolution of town hall construction across rural towns and Australian cities. Van Danele and Lumby (1997) express, ‘There was an extension of works created during the depression in an effort to provide gainful work for the unemployed’. Hindmarsh Town Hall was originally constructed in 1860 designed by architect, Thomas Frost. However, the stone entrance was removed in 1936 to be replaced with an Art Deco style to the design of Christopher Smith, who also designed multiple cinemas around Adelaide. This is notable as a cinema was also included in the refurbishment of the Hindmarsh Town Hall. Smith studied theatre and public hall construction and adapted the ‘atmospheric style’ of American architect, John Eberson (Architect Data Base 2008). He sourced materials directly from the United States and was an avid reader of the American publication, ‘Architectural Forum’. Other key buildings around Adelaide include the Capri Theatre, Brighton Council Office Chambers, Semaphore Soldiers Memorial Hall and other theatres and offices. Because of this, Christopher Smith is now recognised as one of the leading figures of Art Deco design in Adelaide. Cinema, design and film played a huge role in influencing and inspiring local designers in not only architecture, but interiors, fashion, furniture and film.
There was a prosperity and sense of glamour that covered the screens of Hollywood, showcasing the style to worldwide audiences affecting not only what the public in Adelaide saw on the screen, but the glamorous cinemas created as a retreat. During the Great Depression, Art Deco became too excessive and expensive for the everyday American family to welcome into their homes. Even the extravagant nature of the style encouraged a rather slow uptake for the working-class community. However, it was the modern design gracing all portions of motion pictures that was introduced heavily in all aspects of the movie and theatre realm. ‘In the Deco Style’ by Klein, McClelland and Halsam, (2005) states that ‘This excitement and exotic interiors were drawn from fashion, interior design and architecture, glamourizing them passing onto huge audiences’ . Through the late 1920s and 30s mainstream professional designers worked in Hollywood. The flexibility of the style on every level with its simple language and flexibility to transition from scene to scene made it highly suitable and the ease of mass production never lost its identity.
Not only was Art Deco heavily introduced on screen, but it quickly took to the theatre spaces where the public would view these films too. Further insight into the style produces a symbolic reference as pointed out by Klein, McClelland and Halsam, (2005) ‘The best of American Deco has a symbolic function: creating a space for the public to escape from the reality of depression with all opulence available for anyone who could purchase a ticket’. In her book Art Deco Architecture (1992), Bayer similarly explains that Art Deco cinemas widespread through Northern America, was for the working-class men and women to find an escape and release in the comfortable and opulent surroundings. The Art Deco cinema was recognised as possibly the only truly international, pancultural building. America had a heavy influence on world at this time with major inventions such as electric lighting, airconditioning and other new technologies. American movies were dominating local screenings around the city and suburbs of Australia. There was a new infiltration of the American language, consumer goods became common and the expectations of the time heightened. Previously, the traditional source of entertainment was town squares, however cinema soon enriched suburbs and provided a fresh degree of focus for the community.
Designed in the late 1930s by Architects, Evans, Bruner and Hall in association with Guy Crick, The Piccadilly Theatre (North Adelaide) opened to the public on October 23rd, 1940. According to Van Danele and Lumby in ‘A Spirit of Progress’ (1997), Guy Crick was one of the most popular cinema architects in 1930 from New South Wales and was the leading figure of streamline cinema design. He characterised his designs, in particular with comfort, convenience and a touch of spectacle. He may have been seen as a competitor to Christopher Smith, who designed multiple town halls across Adelaide, coming from interstate to design and build in Adelaide. However. Crick engaged Adelaide with a new streamline style, different from Smith. The cinema displays a prominent curvature front façade and a fluted corner element. The chevron-shaped windows allowed a stream of natural light to enter the foyer lighting a sweeping staircase. The Piccadilly Theatre is just one of many Art Deco cinemas around Adelaide suburbs and provide a sense of nostalgia to the times when cinema was highly popular and a great source of entertainment.
Another key cinema directly influenced by America is the original Regent Theatre built by J Rein Taylor in 1928 for Hoyts, designed by Cedric H Ballentyne and Associates based in Melbourne. The theatre façade is now heritage listed as found in the Twentieth Century Heritage Survey, Stage Two 1928-1945. It was the most modern and luxurious cinema in Adelaide during the 1920’s directly relating to the optimism of the American movie industry. The Survey states ‘the building was considered a historical representative of the technological changes that occurred in the world of theatrical and cinematic entertainment from 1920’s through to 21st century’. It is a classically derived style, although not Art Deco, it has Renaissance forms and imagery throughout. Other similar examples can be seen in the Capri Theatre, Mitcham Cinemas and the Mercury Cinema. Hollywood proved a great inspiration to the audiences of Adelaide and proved popular among everyday citizens. Not only was cinema and theatre growing rapidly through new technological advances, but the late 30s and 40s bought a fresh wave of transport and whitegoods design.
The Machine Age was influencing both America and Australia transforming the original Art Deco style into a new wave of industrial, factory and mechanical design with a rise in local manufacturing and prosperity. After the industrial revolution, streamlining was hugely popular through household classic designs such as the refrigerator and the twentieth century limited passenger train in 1938. There was a clear transition to streamline styles from the 1930s to the 1940’s in America. Architecture was seen to be single or double storey with an emphasis on horizontality. This allowed the style to best suit drive throughs, roadside gas stations and cinema complexes. Architect, Milton J. Black designed several streamlined apartments in LA featuring straight and curved edge components. This style was directly linked to the new mechanical age of America with speed and versatility playing a huge influence.
The style was pursued with lines of resistance, speed and movement. The newly found automobile industry influenced a now fast paced society for America. Smooth and stylish car design was now being translated into architecture and design. Streamlining was essentially a product of industrial designers rather than high-class and well-educated architects. This style was also seen in many roadside buildings and linked directly to transportation with busses, ships and trains. Key streamline characteristics consisted of horizontal emphasis, rounded edges and corners, ribbon band windows, asymmetrical facades and functional metals such as aluminium, chrome or stainless steel for doors, window and balustrade trimmings.
A key figure in streamline architecture at the time was San Francisco’s National Maritime Museum designed by William Mooser Sen and William Mooser Jr. in 1939. This building represents horizontal planes and steel-clad strip windows enhancing the curvature of the façade. It was done by the Works Progress Administration Group during the Great Depression. Klein, McClelland and Halsam, (2005) brings to attention the idea that Streamlining is the perfect language for commerce. Different from the lavish style of Art Deco, streamlining allowed it to work for economic businesses such as factories, gas stations and transport terminals. This became hugely popular in the 1940s throughout America. Montana as quoted from his article, Spirits of Progress: Exhibiting Art Deco and Modernism in Australia, agrees, stating ‘Denoted as the ‘streamline styling’ of mass-produced designs made in low-cost synthetic materials to express democratic progress at the end of the depression’. Similarly, to the United States, local manufacturing was one of the most important contributing factors of the economy during the 1930s in Australia. This reflected the construction of new plants, factories and local manufacturing facilities (Van Danele and Lumby, 1997). This new outlook, as already seen in the United States brought an excitement that was taken through design, in furniture and architecture.
Although opened in 1960, a few decades after the rise of streamline, a firsthand example of the factory and manufacturing boom in Adelaide can be seen in the Coca Cola Amatil Factory, located in Thebarton. Not only for the architecture but also because this was a time when the United States displaced Britain as the ‘prevailing cultural and economic influence’, as stated by Stropin in the Twentieth Century Australian Heritage Information Network (2001). Obvious American influence was seen through products and pop culture. These influences were also strengthened by direct contact with serviceman during the war and the expansion of American investment, according to Marsden, Twentieth Century Heritage Survey (2003). This factory showcases long horizontal planes, with a simple geometric pattern along the street façade. It features individual rectilinear windows stripped along a gentle curved façade. At a time of innovation and new factory plants, this building was a bright outlook for Adelaide and brought new hope and excitement to the future of the residents, similar to the theatres and new town halls previously discussed.
The 1920s and 30s was an important era in the social and political movements around the world and in Australia. There was a new post-war perspective which brought along optimism, excitement, a new outlook towards a machine-age, production lines and new possibilities for the economy. Art Deco saw to hold financial power and optimism through a struggling economy, providing a face to large co-operate companies and neighbourhood town halls, and financial institutions. Similarly, through Adelaide, the style is reproduced through suburbs with the local councils holding ground, showcasing a stable and positive future. While Entertainment and a newfound love for cinema became a fresh source of activity among residents, providing different insights and opening inspiration to new styles not yet seen in their local built environment. These were translated into many spaces around Adelaide. Streamlining was translated from the machine age of America into the new local production and generation in Adelaide.
Through analysis and case studies there has shown to be a strong and direct correlation between the movements of the Art Deco style from America translated into the Adelaide life. Materials and form show a direct correlation and Australian social movements formed at similar times to the United States. These similarities have been illustrated through cinema, commercial and public buildings and influences from design and technology in both America and Australia.
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