Streamline Moderne

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Marine Air Terminal, LaGuardia Airport. 1939.
Marine Air Terminal, LaGuardia Airport. 1939.
Bather's building, now a Maritime Museum at San Francisco's Aquatic Park. 1937.
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Bather's building, now a Maritime Museum at San Francisco's Aquatic Park. 1937.
Judge's tower at San Francisco's Aquatic Park.
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Judge's tower at San Francisco's Aquatic Park.

Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone, was a late branch of the Art Deco style. The style emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements (such as railings and porthole windows). It reached its height in 1937.

The style was the first to incorporate electric light into architectural structure. In the First Class dining room of the SS Normandie, fitted out 1933 – 35, twelve tall pillars of Lalique glass and 38 columns lit from within illuminated the room. The Strand Palace Hotel foyer (1930), preserved from demolition by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1969, marked one of the first uses of internally-lit architectural glass, and coincidentally was the first Moderne interior preserved in a museum.

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[edit] Notable buildings

[edit] Appliance influence

The style was extended to minor appliances such as electric clocks, small radio receivers and vacuum cleaners.

[edit] Use in film

The buildings in Frank Capra's 1937 movie Lost Horizon, designed by Stephen Goosson, exemplify the soothing style. The design of the "Emerald City" in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz also appears to have been based on this style.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links