# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/21 "2021-06-15T15:59:36Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > 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. I’m a big fan of Art Deco. To my mind it’s the perfect style for buildings – bold simple shapes, rather than fussy, over-involved detail, yet with enough form and decoration to please the eye (I’m not a fan of brutalist architecture). To my mind the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building are perfect. Even in smaller scales and in household items, I admire the simple blockiness of Art Deco over the flowing sinuous forms of, say, Art Nouveau. When I was growing up, I went to the movie theater downtown, the lobby of which was built in Art Deco style. Long after it closed as a movie theater, the entrance and the lobby (which you could see through the front doors) remained, and every now and then I’d stare at it. Eventually, someone bought the lobby, disassembled it, and took it away, leaving a stark functional space. And now they’re in the process of rebuilding the rest of the structure. If you still want to see an Art Deco movie theater, one of the biggest ever built is still in use (although not to show movies) – Radio City Music Hall in New York City > **[Radio City Music Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_City_Music_Hall)** > > Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for the Rockettes. Radio City Music Hall was designed by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey in the Art Deco style. > Radio City Music Hall was built on a plot of land that was originally intended for a Metropolitan Opera House, although plans for the opera... > **[Radio City Music Hall – H³](https://www.h3hc.com/portfolio/radio-city-music-hall/)** ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/22 "2021-06-15T16:05:04Z")
The Cleveland bus station is pretty nice: > **[The Cleveland Greyhound Station on Chester Avenue in downtown Cleveland,...](https://www.alamy.com/the-cleveland-greyhound-station-on-chester-avenue-in-downtown-cleveland-ohio-usa-opened-in-1948-and-still-operates-to-this-day-image330761804.html)** > > Download this stock image: The Cleveland Greyhound Station on Chester Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA, opened in 1948 and still operates to this day. - 2A63E1G from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations... ---
**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 15, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/23 "2021-06-15T16:08:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > And the two grills [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco#Metal_art). Oh, Edgar Brandt is _awesome._ ---
**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 15, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/24 "2021-06-15T16:13:57Z")
I like a lot of different architectures–even some Brutalist–but Art Deco is my favorite. The Boston area doesn’t have much AD; the [Landmark Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmark_Center_(Boston)) is one of the best and it’s not much. The Coolidge Corner Theater (just outside of Boston in Brookline) has a great AD interior. One of my favorite AD interiors is in NY’s Rockefeller Center. Some of the lobbies are so over over the top with brass and gold. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/25 "2021-06-15T16:22:50Z")
I also _initally_ dislike a lot of non-architectural Art Deco because it looks like it can’t decide whether it wants to be Art Nouveau or Modernist, but after the initial shock I am able to evaluate it more on its merits. As far as architecture goes, besides Victorian Gothic, I like Art Deco more than all _previous_ styles. But as much as AD _can_ be minimal especially in its Streamline Moderne incarnation, I prefer the more minimal styles of Modernism such as Brutalism. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/26 "2021-06-15T19:21:31Z")
South Beach, FL is heaven for Art Deco architecture: [The 10 Best Art Deco Buildings in Miami (theculturetrip.com)](https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/florida/articles/profiling-art-deco-in-miami-the-10-best-buildings/) ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/27 "2021-06-15T19:37:25Z")
How about Googie? See the Wildwoods of New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/28 "2021-06-16T00:00:22Z")
I love Art Deco jewelry. I just love the geometric look. You can send it all to me. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/29 "2021-06-16T02:22:37Z")
I’d love to wear a nice art deco wristwatch along with my fedora. Sadly, I am too attached to my Apple watch–so much so that my nice Swiss watches rarely see the light of day. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > To my mind the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building are perfect. In my opinion, the Chrysler Building out-Decod the Empire State Building. The finishing touches like the eagle gargoyles seal the deal. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/30 "2021-06-16T02:28:30Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Often referred to as _midcentury modern_ to include all, though I like the atomic and space age terms, too. For architecture, _Googie_ is often used. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie\_architecture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture) ---
**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 16, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/31 "2021-06-16T02:41:54Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I am too attached to my Apple watch–so much so that my nice Swiss watches rarely see the light of day. AFAIK you have two wrists. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/32 "2021-06-16T04:31:12Z")
Some of us who worked on the (relatively) recent book _Art Deco Chicago_ struggled with the triangulation between Deco objects and Deco architecture. Particularly when looking at the highly ornamented objects that were displayed at the 1925 exposition from which we take the term _Art Deco,_ you can make a good argument that the architecture (called at the time Moderne; didn’t become known as Deco until the 1960s) was an altogether different artistic movement. I argued that there **was** a commonality based on celebrating the Machine Age (as a landmark 1986 Brooklyn Museum dubbed it)—and that was the _sine qua non_ of the movement. Anyway, my friend Bob Bruegmann took his shot at synthesizing and summarizing just what Deco is in the book’s introductory essay. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/33 "2021-06-16T17:59:56Z")
the building i live in is streamline moderne like the greyhound station. streamline moderne was the tail end of art deco. lots of the same elements just not as “fussy” or “busy”. many of the s.m. buildings were built during the great depression, the streamlining makes sense as many wallets were “streamlined” as well. i like art noveau and craftsman. i’m more of a round and curved, over lines and angles. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257/34 "2021-06-16T18:01:02Z")
good heavens! i’m not a car person, but that is one good looking car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-deco-is-weird/944257.md?page=1)