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Why skyscraper architects always return to Art Deco
- unethical_ban 6y agoI never knew what Art Deco was, or its etymology. It is one of those things I have always heard, but never known. I think it was a style of card faces in Solitaire back on Windows 95. Interesting to learn also, that the steeple-like design of skyscrapers has the functional purpose, with questionable efficacy, of allowing sunlight to hit pavement.
- theandrewbailey 6y agoArt Deco encompasses more domains than skyscrapers and architecture. Sculpture, painting, and industrial design can also be Art Deco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_deco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_deco
- egfx 6y agoI was looking to define the graphics that came out of a GIF program I built and decided that the graphics were Art Deco, same as a lot of graphics on the internet. But it didn’t have the same sharp illustrative quality. The gif’s look much more organic and less organized but they often have robust colors. I decided that the gif more resembles the fauvism style.
- teddyh 6y ago“[…] dwarves are art deco; elves are art noveau.” https://www.tor.com/2016/06/14/architectural-styles-of-middle-earth/ https://www.tor.com/2016/06/14/architectural-styles-of-middl...
- bobthepanda 6y agoIt's also generally because slimming at the top helps deal with structural things like wind, and also reduces the need for all the elevator shafts to reach to the top, increasing space available on lower floors.
- MisterBastahrd 6y agoIf you're a gamer and you haven't played Bioshock, then do it and admire the art deco and the music from a long gone era.
- im3w1l 6y agoI think a big thing that makes for nice architecture is making it look organic. And life has a fractal look to it. That is, there are features to admire at all scales. Often you will see show-off skyscrapers have a big bold shape, but then completely neglect the other scales.
- DenisM 6y agoNever thought of it that way, but you’re totally right! So obvious now...
- Swizec 6y agoThe Salesforce Tower in SF is a great example of this. Big, tall, and bold with a pleasing curve. But look more closely and it’s just utterly bland and boring. There is no detail. Just infinite repetition of the same window shape with a light shade. And then an awkwardly inserted lobby that looks like you chopped out half of the bottom 3 floors and replaced them with a glass pane. Like an afterthought.
- dehrmann 6y agoI'd argue Salesforce Tower has texture when you up close. That's a lot more than the average glass skyscraper has.
- im3w1l 6y agoFor those who have not seen it https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790073,-122.3972697,3a,75y,134.34h,91.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-AREsM_MK7t_D4IuE7mm2A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790073,-122.3972697,3a,75y,1...
- dylan604 6y agoI like the fact you can get a good feel for this building by looking at its reflection in the building next door. It's also very odd to me to see overhead power lines in this image. I would have assumed a downtown area like this would have powerlines underground.
- timerol 6y agoNote that zoning in NYC requires the step backs that you see. It allows the full building footprint to X height (based maybe on the width of the street), and then is based on an angle formula, where for every additional Y feet requires a further setback of Z feet, resulting in the stepped-top towers that exist all over Manhattan. Like all zoning, it claims a cute origin story (allowing sunlight to reach the street), but also had the motivation of keeping rents high by limiting additional construction. From https://old.skyscraper.org/zoning/ https://old.skyscraper.org/zoning/, on the reason for the support of zoning in Manhattan: "There were two major causes for this shift, both rooted in the drive to stabilize real estate values. The first was the concern about overbuilding in lower Manhattan, both in the increased scale of such mammoth new structures as the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway and in the rate of vacant office space. The second was the lobbying of the Fifth Avenue Association, a powerful group of merchants, hotel operators, and business interests that was organized in 1907 to fight the spread of loft buildings into the fashionable retail district north of Thirty-fourth Street."
- bobthepanda 6y agothat should read required. This is generally not a rule anymore, which is why Midtown is more than happy to host numerous slab office blocks.
- eloff 6y agoDo you have a source for the claim that it was intentionally to keep rents high? That's contrary to the goals of most city planners, and would require corrupt influences. While it's not impossible, it is a conspiracy theory, and requires evidence.
- cjf4 6y agoTo me, Art Deco stands out in modern skylines in part because it is distinctive. I don't think the glass covered skyscrapers that are sprouting up in every growing city are as ugly as their detractors say, but they do all look the same. Of course, more distinctive architecture can also get repetitive (the referenced tiering in NY or Haussmann buildings in Paris), but at least they are distinctive to that place.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- trhway 6y ago6-7 stories is practically a skyscraper here in SV, and thus art deco too https://merlonegeier.propertycapsule.com/property/output/image/photo/id:1570/width:1250/height:758/ https://merlonegeier.propertycapsule.com/property/output/ima...
- tfinniga 6y agoI'd heard people say that the architecture of a city is usually frozen in the time when it had the most money. If you look at the skyscrapers and other buildings from Zaha Hadid, they're not Art Deco. UAE and other countries which are currently building out significantly aren't sticking just to Art Deco. London is interesting in that they've had money pouring in for a long time, and have an eclectic mix of large buildings.
- polygotdomain 6y agoThis seams to me to be a "wet streets cause rain" story. To start, I'd say a large percentage of skyscrapers are not Art Deco, and proposing that architects "always" return to that style seems like an overstatement at best. More importantly though, there's a lot more limitiations in sky scraper design because your working with a long skinny form, which will for regulatory and structural reasons likely have some tapering towards the top. That design languages fits in very well with the long linear forms in Art Deco. It seems to me that the author is reading into that quite a bit, and interpreting designs as being art deco when in fact that's not likely the case. The Petronas Towers, which are referenced at the end of the article were not designed to be art deco, but are an overlay of squares and other islamic motifs [1], with setbacks being necessary for structural reasons. The author also seems to basing this based on a lot of sky scrapers from New York City, which contains more Art Deco than most cities do. You could argue that modern sky scrapers in NY pull more of that influence in because of context, than being something that Architects "always" come back to. 1 - https://www.archute.com/petronas-towers-worlds-tallest-twin-towers-cesar-pelli/ https://www.archute.com/petronas-towers-worlds-tallest-twin-...
- throwaway5750 6y agoI was going to say the same thing - the question seems to have a New York City bias to it. A lot of NYC buildings were built during a period where Art Deco was popular, and some newer buildings have been built to "fit in" to their environment, which has meant adopting the Art Deco style. But is it true that, say, architects in Chinese cities always return to Art Deco? After glancing at photos in image search, it doesn't look like it - Chinese cities are largely modern glass skyscrapers.
- laurex 6y agoWhen I lived in NYC, I was regularly amazed at the level of detail buildings built 1890-1940 had and how completely disposable most modern architecture seemed relatively. On the West Coast, very few buildings have any of this sense of gravity and permanence, with a few major works being exceptions (the library in Seattle; the library in Vancouver, BC; and even some very modern but more elaborate designs (e.g. by Frank Gehry) come to mind). I can't imagine the cost of building something like the Chrysler Building today compared to One Vanderbilt, Hudson Yards, or so many other big buildings in the US- even if their shape has a nod to Deco. Mostly they seem to reflect the idea that a lot of glass makes up for their general lack of distinction.
- webwielder2 6y agoEvery blocky architectural style looks like Art Deco if you squint hard enough. I've heard it said that Art Deco isn't even a style unto itself; it's more of a feeling evoked by other styles.
- neonate 6y agohttps://archive.vn/Ipgb7 https://archive.vn/Ipgb7
- jackcosgrove 6y agoI think what really sets Art Deco apart, and what makes it closer to what came before than what came after, are the decorative embellishments. These are what make the buildings engaging at the street level. Can an architect here comment on the cost of such embellishments, such as terra cotta molding or mosaic friezes? Is it prohibitive, is it simply a "nice to have" that's never had for property developers, or is there a stylistic bias against embellishment?
- ohnope 6y agoIt’s a number of factors. School programs are biased against embellishment so there isn’t really a craft in the profession around those kind of stylistic detail, especially at graduate level. BIM software also plays a role. The trade is forever streamlining itself technically, and construction systems with their CAD part catalogs thin out selection. Depending on the development goals, throwback details may not fit with how they plan to market the building. And pretty much all of the above contribute to added costs of perusing embellishment on the core and shell. Lack of design techniques, construction know how, and off the shelf options will drive prices up. Developers would prefer to spend money on interior build out because it sells sq footage.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- rsync 6y agoI believe the Wells Fargo center (formerly Norwest center) building in Minneapolis is the most beautiful Art Deco skyscraper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Fargo_Center_(Minneapolis) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Fargo_Center_(Minneapoli...
- rbanffy 6y agoIt's obviously a rhetorical question, but I think I can answer. It's caused a of three things: taste, desire to innovate, and courage to try something new.
- nautilus12 6y agoIm a bit disappointed. I thought it was going to say there is some element of structural engineering that lends itself towards the art deco style the same way people say there is a biological reason for humanoids in star wars