Kyle's Blog: DSDN 171

I have chosen the ‘Wellington City Gallery’ which is located at the Civic Square. I have chosen this building because I thought that it had an Art Deco (Moderne) flare about it. Art Deco became well known because of the “great Exposition des Arts Modernes Decoratifs et Industriels” (Neocom, n.d.), which was held in Paris in 1925 and that’s were Art Deco’s name came from. The Deco style started after the First World War finished and the industrial companies grew along with Art Deco.

The Art Deco had a cubist/futurist theme to it. The building has been designed in a sleek aesthetic with a simple symmetrical shape and also a lot of geometrical shapes and patterns (Shaw & Hallett, 2008). These are some of the main features the architects liked to build in the Art Deco period. They used these types of styles to create the feeling of being futuristic and modern. The Wellington Gallery also has four mini ‘skyscraper tops’ on top of the roof of the building which was a typical Art Deco theme (Shaw & Hallett, 2008). The curved tops leading to the skyscraper tops also has a Gothic Revival impression in their forms. Back in that age this was very fashionable and simple. The Gallery has multiple columns which were inspired by the Ancient Greek period, these columns were a big fashion statement in the Art Deco movement as well.

"Art Deco is almost in contrast with Art Nouveau, with Art Nouveau being curvilinear and Art Deco being linear."(Victoria University Class time, 2012).

References:
"Art Deco is almost in contrast with Art Nouveau, with Art Nouveau being curvilinear and Art Deco being linear." Victoria University Class time, 18/05/12.

Art Deco Trust . Neocom, 1984. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.artdeconapier.com/pages/what-exactly-is-art-deco>.

Shaw. P, & Hallett.P. Art Deco Napier - Styles of the Thirties. 6th ed. Nelson: Craig Potton, 2008. Print.

Whiffen. M, & Breeze.C. Art Deco Architecture of the south west. New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. Print.