New York Architecture Images- Art Deco / Art Moderne

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	New York Architecture Images- Search by style Art Deco / Art Moderne
	See also the section on Setback Style Skyscrapers and the section on Art Deco Metalwork
	Click here for Top Ten NYC Architecture Art Deco
	Approximate Dates 1920 to 1940

001 Jones Beach	005 Williamsburgh Savings Bank	019A Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, North Building	019 Metropolitan Life Insurance	003 One Fifth Ave.

005 Forbes Magazine Building	020 New York Studio School	053 401 Broadway Building	004-Empire Diner	005 Port of New York Authority Building

006 Salvation Army Centennial Memorial Temple	009 Joyce Theater	024-Savoy-Plaza Hotel	037 TRUMP BUILDING	041 20 Exchange Place

051 One Wall Street BANK OF NEW YORK	063 Downtown Athletic Club	068 Federal Office Building	070 Barclay-Vesey Building	073 East River Savings Bank (now Century 21)

077 120 WALL STREET	082 THE 63 WALL STREET	003 Beekman Tower	014 Daily News Building	017 General Electric Building

019 Chanin Building	021 Chrysler Building	032 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel	033 Helmsley Building	044 Rockefeller Apartments

049 Tiffany’s	053 International Building	055 Rockefeller Center	060 GE Building, originally RCA Building	061 Radio City Music Hall

061A THE RKO BUILDING	061C THE TIME WARNER BUILDING	062A Cheney Silk Company	068 American Standard Building	073 Empire State Building

083 Mutual of New York Insurance	091 Russian Tea Room	098 Brill Building	110 Paramount Building	131 Film Center Building

129 New Yorker Hotel	130 McGraw-Hill Building	137 THE BUSH TOWER	138 Cheyenne Diner	139 Munson Diner

142 THE 500 FIFTH AVENUE	143 THE NELSON TOWER	144 275 MADISON AVENUE	145 THE FRED F. FRENCH BUILDING	146 THE MONY TOWER

150 400 MADISON BLDG	152 444 MADISON BLDG	154 THE UNIVERSAL PICTURES BUILDING	162 240 Central Park South	010 American International Building

019 Woolworth Building	028 Criminal Courts Building	005 AT&T Headquarters	016 Western Union Building	003-Ritz Tower

007-Sherry- Netherland Hotel	010-Hermes	017-Hotel Pierre	018-Bloomingdale’s	026-Milan House

060-Hotel Carlyle	105-THE MARRIOTT EAST SIDE HOTEL	107-THE FULLER BUILDING	117-Church of the Heavenly Rest	25 CPW-Century Apartments (008)

009-Pythian Temple	115 CPW-Majestic Apartments (016)	020-Beacon Theater	145 CPW-San Remo Apartments (021)	300 CPW- The Eldorado (038)

035-The Normandy	044-Metro Theater	049-Master Apartments	066-St Moritz Hotel (Ritz-Carlton)	067- The Level Club
See also the section on Setback Style Skyscrapers and the section on Art Deco Metalwork
The largely French-inspired styles of the era between World Wars I and II, when cubistic structures were embellished by the use of florid ornament inspired by the Paris Exposition of 1925 (Art Deco) and later by sleek streamlined ornament that also influenced the Paris Exposition of 1937 ' Art Moderne . Many polychromed works of Ely Jacques Kahn exemplify Art Deco: the corner-windowed “modernistic” apartment houses of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx and the Majestic Apartments, at Central Park West and 72nd street are Art Moderne. Style Definition Both Deco and Moderne use setbacks to reduce building mass and to emphasize verticality. Unlike "Wedding Cake" buildings, their shapes recede from the street gracefully, not in tiers but in gentler and more carefully positioned steps. Limestone is the most common cladding material, with brick facades common in Art Deco. Prominent architects in the style include Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, and Lawrence Murray Dixon. In 1925 something else very important happens that would affect the look of skyscrapers—the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. With this exposition the French government intended to showcase the latest in French modern design, though it was an international exposition, as other countries were invited to open up pavilions exhibiting their modern design. The United States was one of the countries invited to have a pavilion, but the government's response was that the nation had no modern design, so there was no United States pavilion. Ultimately, however, this exposition, des arts décoratifs, from which the term art deco comes, had a tremendous influence on American design. Many Americans attended—architects, builders, even the general public. They either traveled to the fair itself or read books about it. So the exposition eventually had a tremendous impact on the look of the city. Now before we look at art-deco buildings, we should note that this style is not synonymous with the setback office building. Very often, buildings like the Barclay-Vesey and the Fred French are called art-deco buildings, though technically they are not. They use different types of ornament. Art deco is a style of ornament imported from France after the 1925 exposition that provided an ornamental overlay on office buildings that were built under the 1916 zoning law. So it is important to note that the style is not synonymous with the zoning law but with a type of ornament that was used after 1925 on buildings in New York. The buildings that Americans saw when they attended the Paris exposition were very small scale, like this one, which was built as the Pavilion Bon Marché for the Bon Marché department store in Paris. But they had a highly ornate decorative quality—using, for example, stylized sunbursts, frozen fountains, and zigzag ornaments—and it was this style of ornament, used on both the pavilions and the modern decorative arts shown at the fair, that the Americans brought back with them. Andrew Dolkart The period termed "art deco" manifested itself roughly between the two world wars, or 1920 to 1939. Many actually stretch this period back to 1900 and even as far as the late 1950's, but work of this time is generally considered to be more of an influence to the Art Deco style, or having been influenced by the style. As with many other art movements, even work of today is still being influenced by the past. This period of design and style did not just affect architecture, but all of the fine and applied arts as well. Furniture, sculpture, clothing, jewelry and graphic design were all influenced by the Art Deco style. Common themes Basically it was a "modernization" of many artistic styles and themes from the past. You can easily detect in many examples of Art Deco the influence of Far and Middle Eastern design, Greek and Roman themes, and even Egyptian and Mayan influence. Modern elements included echoing machine and automobile patterns and shapes such as stylized gears and wheels, or natural elements such as sunbursts and flowers. New York City has perhaps the most varied skyscraper "family" in the world. All prevailing design styles from the late 19th century to date are represented there -- as well as several buildings that have either become cornerstones in skyscraper design, or have been notable for their sheer size, stimulating imagination even more. Neither any other city is as much defined by its high-rises than New York. For example, the Empire State Building must be as well-known a symbol around the world as the Statue of Liberty. THE AMERICAN STANDARD BUILDING (40 W 40th St.) Built in 1924 for the American Radiator Co., a heater company, and had one of the first stepped-back pyramidal silhouettes in the city. The program for the building called for a relatively small structure, and to give the structure an enhanced appearance of a tower, Hood brought the building in form the lot borders. The black brickwork on the facade was chosen to lessen the visual contrast between the walls and the windows and thus give the tower an effect of solidity and massiveness. The Gothic-style pinnacles and the friezes on the edges of the setbacks are coated with gold. The base is clad in bronze plating and black granite. There are carved allegories, symbolizing the transformation of matter into energy, quite appropriate for a heater company. The entrance lobby is decorated with black marble and mirrors. Barclay-Vesey Bldg. The 152-meter building is considered to be the first Art Deco skyscraper and its designers were also awarded the Architectural League of New York's gold medal of honor for 1927 for fine expression the new industrial age.The brick-clad building is topped with a short, sturdy tower, with the vertical piers ending on 'battlements' on top and with sculptural ornaments on the setbacks. The entrance is decorated with bronze engravings with a main theme of bells, the symbol of the Bell Telephone Company. The lobby of the building runs the whole length of the building, with the floor covered with bronze plates depicting the construction of New York's telephone network, and the ceiling has frescoes with the theme of the history of communication. THE MARRIOTT EAST SIDE HOTEL (525 Lexington Ave.) Was completed in 1924 as the Shelton Towers Hotel, then the tallest in the world. The 34-storey building's exterior follows the zoning regulations with its triple setbacks. Each setback and the top was clad in limestone, in contrast to the overall facade brickwork. Also, the base is of limestone, and the decor and arches are neo-Romanesque. The decor also includes protruding gargoyles above entrance as well as extensive use of other sculptures. The hotel was built with 1,200 guest rooms for bachelor residents, but was soon turned into an ordinary mixed-use hotel. To cater for occupants' needs, the top housed sporting facilities and roof gardens. Painter Georgia O'Keefe lived in suite 3003, which she also used as her studio, until 1934. THE PARAMOUNT BUILDING (1501 Broadway) Completed in 1926 for the paramount Pictures film company. The building's fourteen setbacks are reminiscent of a 'para'mountain and the building top with the stylized globe is illuminated at night. The building originally housed the offices for the Paramount Pictures and it incorporated also the new, grandiose cinema, the Paramount Theater, which could house 3,664 people. The theater sported the Grand Hall, a lobby larger than that of the Paris Opera, as well as several lounges and promenades. The Empire State Building The Empire State Building is the quadri-faced pharos of the city. And until outstripped by the twin towers of the World Trade Center (1975), its 102 floors were the highest in New York. Though designed at the end of the so-called Art Deco period in the 1920s, when zigzagged appliques were prominent, its exterior shows little of the frippery characteristic of that 'decorated' period. It is, moreover, one of the very few skyscrapers with four facades, not just one facing the avenue. "Zoning required several setbacks, but these were given a skillful buildup of scale at the lower levels, while the tower itself rises unflinchingly. Indented setbacks in the center of each of the long sides help lateral scale. An observation platform and a pylon topped by a television transmission antenna crown all." —from G.E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. p152.
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