Art Deco

Art Deco flourished through the 20s & 30s impelled by the Paris Exhibition of 1925 and was applied to all forms including architecture.

Influences included Cubism (with zigzags & geometricals), Ancient Egypt (following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter & Lord Carnaervon in 1922) and Aztec & Mayan art (from South America & Mexico).

It was a machine age style which utilised the innovations of the times such as plastics, chrome & aluminium.

At a time of economic depression and the approach of war there was a desire for escapism. People enjoyed the pleasures of life during the 'Jazz Age'.

Speed and streamlining became important especially in the new modes of travel such as the first commercial flights, trains such as the Orient Express and ocean-going liners.