Here's how an age of optimism sparked a golden age of design.
And why it's coming back... (thread) π§΅
Art Deco in the '20s and '30s was about the fusion of the classical and modern worlds. It took designs from great past civilizations (Greece, Rome, Mesoamerica, Asia) and fused them with modern forms.
Take the American Radiator Building's "stepped" profile. It's meant to remind you of the ziggurats of Ancient Mesopotamia...
Or the Chrysler Building's soaring eagles.
Where Ancient Rome had chosen the eagle as its symbol of wisdom and power, America followed suit β claiming its role as the next great Western empire.
But Art Deco went further than the Greco-Roman world in search for inspiration. Look at the "neo-Mayan" lobby of 450 Sutter Street, San Francisco:
America recognized the greatness of ancient cultures and didnβt shy away from comparing itself to them. Unlike neoclassicism, Art Deco merged antiquity with forward-looking optimism: angular, streamlined forms reaching for the future.
The US did Art Deco better than anywhere, but it originated in Paris β where concern was growing that industrial production would replace craftsmanship with mass-produced forms.
This did something fundamental. It kept designs human, even when they were growing to increasingly inhuman scale. It was becoming necessary to build mammoth skyscrapers, like Rockefeller Plaza for example...
The scale of it was titanic. But Art Deco designers kept it personal in the details: every doorknob and light fixture was a work of decorative art.
So too at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. From the light fixtures to the coffered ceiling, careful design work humanized its epic proportions.
The "international style" glass monoliths that now span every corner of the globe have forgotten this. There is nothing to ground their massive scale in the human world. No delightful details to enjoy.
Art Deco was the answer to mass production β a way of safeguarding design from mass-market genericism. The antithesis of dreary postwar minimalism, its purpose was to dazzle you with every detail.
Its luxurious opulence reached the transport sector, with new streamliners like the Mercury. Henry Dreyfuss designed everything from its clean-cut exterior to the napkins in the dining car.
But it wasn't really about showering the rich in opulence. It was about uplifting ordinary people to that vision of a great American future. Even high school buildings adopted the style.
The good news? Art Deco is slowly returning. JPMorgan is building this stepped skyscraper for its new HQ. And the idea that people should feel uplifted by their surroundings is edging back into the fray...
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Prague is probably the world's most beautiful city.
Here's why... (thread) π§΅
Largely sparred from WW2 bombs, Prague is a time capsule of architectural movements β from Gothic to Art Nouveau. A thousand years of history is condensed into a few square miles...
It's exceptional because it was made the capital of the Holy Roman Empire in 1355. Charles IV made Prague the empire's most beautiful city β commissioning wonders that endure to this day, like Charles Bridge.
How much human knowledge has been lost to history?
Well, this ancient wonder was razed by the Mongols in 1258 β it's said the Tigris River ran black with ink.
Here's what was inside... (thread) π§΅
1,200 years ago, the world's largest city was Baghdad (modern-day Iraq) β 1.5 million lived there at its peak. The Round City, a masterpiece of urban planning, contained one of history's greatest libraries.
Baghdad was then an intellectual capital of the world. Scholars came from all across the Islamic empire, and the ruling Caliphs were eager to collect their knowledge under one roof: The House of Wisdom.
A thread of Europe's most spectacular (and unusual) castles... π§΅
1. Hohenzollern Castle, Germany
A 19th century wonder of the romantic age. Unusual because although it looks formidable, it was not built as a fortress β but as a family memorial for the House of Hohenzollern.
2. Castel del Monte, Andrea, Italy
Its story is as mysterious as it looks. Built in the 13th century by the Holy Roman Emperor, it's octagonal and symmetrical with extreme precision. Nobody knows why it was built that way, or what it was for...
You know the Colosseum already β so these are its lesser-known wonders... π§΅
1. Andrea Pozzo's "3D" ceiling:
The illusionistic frescoes of the Church of St. Ignatius are every bit as majestic as the Sistine Chapel β Pozzo's 17th century genius opened flat ceilings to the heavens. The "dome" he painted is actually flat...
2. The Pyramid of Cestius
Rome has an ancient pyramid. Egyptian forms (like obelisks) were once fashionable in the empire, particularly during the Augustus years. This 118-foot tomb was built for a Roman senator in c.12 BC.