Streamline Moderne (also known as Art Moderne or Streamline Design) is a design style that was popular in the 1930s and 1940s, that was a follow up and evolution of Art Deco and also served as a transition to Raygun Gothic design. Its visuals are categorized by their rounded shapes, horizontal lines, and materials such as glass, stainless steel and chrome, as well as being inspired by aerodynamic designs. The style served as a major influence to the Dieselpunk and Decopunk aesthetics, alongside Art Deco.
History[]
Origins[]
Streamline Moderne emerged in the United States during the early 1930s as a response to the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. Designers, architects and engineers needed to move away from Art Deco's lavish ornaments and luxurious materials to more functional and cheaper ones as a way to cut costs, given the circumstances of that time. They were particularly inspired by aerodynamic design, used in automobiles, locomotives, and aircrafts, which utilize shapes that reduce drag and increase resistance to motion through air. This "streamlining" in design has the functional use of optimizing and improving movement in high speeds, but in Streamline Moderne, this form-factor was utilized in less convencional places and products, such as in architecture, interior design, fridges, toasters, radios, and chairs, to give a sense of movement, functionality, sleekness, modernity and progress. In the architectural side, it was also influenced by Futurism, with its dynamic lines and bright colors, evoking speed and the age of machinery. The defining moment for the spread of Streamline Design in the United States would be the 1933–1934 Chicago World's Fair, which introduced the style to the general public, mainly in automobiles and trains.
Decline[]
Streamline Moderne started declining around the end of World War II, followed by the post-war economic boom and Atomic Age of the 1950s, transitioning towards the Raygun Gothic and Mid-Century Modern design aesthetics.
Visuals[]
The visuals of Streamline Moderne were inspired by aerodynamic design, which consists of rounded shapes, mainly ones that resemble teardrops, bullets, and cylinders. Other characteristics of this aesthetic include smooth surfaces, rounded corners, horizontal lines, that envelop around these shapes. Materials such as stainless steel, chrome, glass, and plastic were commonly used to manufacture products and build constructions in this style, not only to emphasize modernity but also because they were cheaper to produce. "Streamlining" also contrasts with Functionalism, which was a leading style in Europe at that same time, representing two different schools in modernistic industrial design.
Architecture[]
Inspired by aerodynamic design, Streamline Modern architecture emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements such as porthole windows. It appeared most often in buildings related to transportation and movement, such as bus and train stations, airport terminals, roadside cafes, and port buildings. It had characteristics common with modern architecture, including rounded corners, the use of glass brick walls or porthole windows, flat roofs, chrome-plated hardware, and horizontal grooves or lines in the walls. In contrast to Art Deco, Streamline architecture emphasized horizontality in their buildings to make them look more "aerodynamic" or similar to ocean liners, as well as being less costly to construct.
Although Streamline Moderne houses are less common than streamline commercial buildings, residences do exist. The Lydecker House in Los Angeles, built by Howard Lydecker, is an example of Streamline Moderne design in residential architecture. In tract development, elements of the style were sometimes used as a variation in post-war row housing in San Francisco's Sunset District.
Gallery[]
Architecture[]
.jpg "Roarin' Rohrer, Oklahoma's most beautiful station on U.S. 270, McAlester, Okla., stream lined service (66892).jpg (2.71 MB)")
Industrial Design[]
Miscellaneous[]
Resources[]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streamline_Moderne
- https://parametric-architecture.com/streamline-moderne/
- https://www.invaluable.com/blog/the-streamline-moderne-movement-vs-art-deco/
- https://www.optima.inc/a-brief-history-of-the-streamline-moderne-movement/
- https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/merican-streamlined-design-the-world-of-tomorrow/
- https://noholodeck.blogspot.com/2013/04/american-streamlined-design.html
- https://thewestologist.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/spot-a-style-streamline-moderne/
- https://timesofmalta.com/article/A-true-example-of-Streamline-Moderne.435799