# Art Deco is weird **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257 "2021-06-14T17:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/1 "2021-06-14T17:43:55Z")
I absolutely LOVE art deco architecture. You’d be hard pressed to find an art deco building interior or exterior I don’t like. Yet the furniture, knick nacks etc., associated with art deco I find almost universally hideous. Anybody else feel the same way? Anyway, that’s my MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/2 "2021-06-14T18:01:30Z")
I’m with you on the furniture and most jewelry but I like a lot of art deco things, like cars, tea/coffee services, clothes, graphic design/ fonts, and statuary. I like Arts and Crafts furniture, which is similar to AD. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/3 "2021-06-14T18:25:07Z")
You should visit the Oregon state capitol building, which was built in the Art Deco style in the 1930s. The traditional capitol dome is replaced with a fluted cylindrical structure. > **[Oregon State Capitol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_State_Capitol)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capitol, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 and expanded in 1977, the current building is the third to house the Oregon state government in Salem. The first two capitols in Salem were destroyed by fire, one in 1855 and the other in 1935. > New York arch... ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/4 "2021-06-14T18:31:32Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > You should visit the Oregon state capitol building, Cool looking building. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/5 "2021-06-14T18:52:56Z")
Yeah, art deco architecture, classic and brilliant. Art deco furniture OTOH is not that far off from super-campy “atomic age” and “space age” furniture of the 50s and 60s to me. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/6 "2021-06-14T20:34:02Z")
Yep, agreed in all parts. Art Deco was around at the time that air transport was becoming a thing, so you get some wonderful airport buildings. Here are a couple from the UK: [this is Shoreham Airport](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/1a/3b/16/cb/the-stunning-art-deco.jpg); and here we have [The Beehive](https://www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/beehive-gatwick-airport) (you might have to open that in a new tab; click on gallery), which was the original Gatwick Airport terminal building (now offices). j ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/7 "2021-06-14T20:37:38Z")
There was a movie theater we sometimes went to as a kid that opened in 1928. There were statues in the lobby and the ceilings were painted and, I think, sculpted. Really cool place, looks go still be open. I’d forgotten it was used in the opening credits of At the Movies until I read the wiki page below: [Pickwick Theatre - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickwick_Theatre) > [@DCnDC](#): > > … “atomic age” and “space age” furniture of the 50s and 60s to me … Often referred to as _midcentury modern_ to include all, though I like the atomic and space age terms, too. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/8 "2021-06-14T20:56:25Z")
No, I love me some art deco furniture. The geometric and minimalist kind, anyway. And also the object design. Everything [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco#Design), for instance, is awesome. And the two grills [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco#Metal_art). ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/9 "2021-06-14T21:19:37Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Art Deco was around at the time that air transport was becoming a thing… I just realised - so I’ll say it before anyone else does - not a bad avatar/post combination. j ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/10 "2021-06-14T21:28:52Z")
I love everything Art Deco. I collect Art Deco fashion pochoirs, and I’d love to be able to afford some Cartier jewelry! I don’t hate Art Deco furniture, but I’ve found that it doesn’t “work well with others.” An entire room/home done in Art Deco style is fine, but specific Art Deco pieces don’t always fit into more eclectic interiors. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/11 "2021-06-14T21:51:13Z")
I used to drive past The Hoover Building (yes the vacuum cleaner people) every day. [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Hoover\_Building\_in\_Perivale.jpg/480px-Hoover\_Building\_in\_Perivale.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Hoover_Building_in_Perivale.jpg/480px-Hoover_Building_in_Perivale.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/12 "2021-06-14T22:44:29Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I love everything Art Deco. I collect Art Deco fashion pochoirs, Now that’s cool! I had to look up that technique, very eclectic! I agree art deco for me ⚜ ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/13 "2021-06-14T23:19:58Z")
I fixed the spelling of the title. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/14 "2021-06-15T01:51:08Z")
Aw darn. I thought it added a certain _je ne sais quoi_ to the wonderful quaint weirdness that is Art Deco. 😉 Please Mom can we have it back? I promise we’ll feed it and keep its cage clean! Really this time!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/15 "2021-06-15T02:12:23Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, I love me some art deco furniture. The geometric and minimalist kind, anyway. And also the object design. Everything [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco#Design), for instance, is awesome. And the two grills [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco#Metal_art). Me, too. Except I don’t think I was ever aware of art deco architecture before this thread. And looking at the linked examples, I’m not a huge fan. So I guess I’m the opposite of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/16 "2021-06-15T06:21:15Z")
In New Zealand, there was an earthquake in 1931 in a place called Hawke’s Bay, so when the replacement buildings were built in the towns of Napier and Hastings they were all in Art Deco style, which has since become part of their tourist appeal. So architecture is what I think of most often. But I do like some of the furniture, such as radiograms and cupboard/wardrobe/dresser things. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/17 "2021-06-15T07:57:03Z")
And the cars! [The 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom](https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wvgjk88/) I expect a Tex Avery wolf in white tie to open that circular door and emerge ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/18 "2021-06-15T10:56:22Z")
Tulsa was about the richest city in the world in that era, and a lot of oil money got expressed in art-deco buildings. A road trip companion persuaded me to stop and see it, and it was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/19 "2021-06-15T11:14:09Z")
Art Deco is not nearly as strange as midcentury modern. Well, some of the animal statues are as weird, but the actual furniture is much more dignified than the spindly legs and bristling ceiling fixtures that run rampant through the 50s and 60s. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/20 "2021-06-15T13:52:35Z")
My MIL collected vintage art nouveau jewelry boxes and Art Deco celluloid vanity sets, which no one in the family really wanted but how could I say no? The vanity sets I’ll never unpack but I could see the trinket boxes being put to good use as gifts maybe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257.md?page=2)