Art Deco Architecture
Art Deco Architecture transformed Philadelphia's skyline during the 1920s and 1930s. The style brought modernistic forms that rejected Victorian ornament and Beaux-Arts classicism, favoring geometric patterns, streamlined silhouettes, and machine-age aesthetics instead. Named for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, Art Deco celebrated modernity through bold massing, stylized ornament, and materials that expressed industrial sophistication. Philadelphia produced one of Art Deco's finest American achievements: the PSFS Building. Commercial and residential districts also showcased the style's versatility and lasting appeal.[1]
Characteristics
Geometric forms defined the style. Chevrons, zigzags, sunbursts, and stepped patterns served as both ornamental motif and organizing principle in Art Deco architecture. Building silhouettes step back from the street, creating setback towers that respond to zoning requirements while achieving distinctive profiles. Vertical emphasis predominates throughout these structures. Piers rise uninterrupted through multiple floors to create soaring effects that celebrate height. The materials themselves matter: polished granite, aluminum, stainless steel, and colored terra cotta. Their surfaces catch light in ways that animate otherwise simple forms.[2]
Ornament concentrates at specific locations: entrances, cornices, and setback transitions. This strategic placement leaves large expanses of wall relatively plain. The approach maximizes impact while controlling cost, allowing buildings to achieve distinctive character without comprehensive surface treatment. The ornament itself draws from diverse sources: Egyptian and Mayan motifs, abstracted floral and animal forms, and machine-age imagery celebrating speed, power, and technological progress. The overall aesthetic suggests optimism and forward movement. It's the appropriate expression for an era of expanding possibility.[1]
PSFS Building
The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society Building (1932) stands as one of the twentieth century's most important American buildings. Designed by George Howe and William Lescaze, it represents Art Deco's finest Philadelphia expression. The 36-story tower broke with contemporary practice in multiple ways. Its base occupied only a portion of the site, freeing street-level space. Its shaft rose without the setbacks that zoning encouraged. Its facades expressed structure and function rather than applied ornament. The polished granite base, curved corner banking hall, and distinctive PSFS sign atop the tower created a composition of unprecedented sophistication.[3]
Howe and Lescaze combined Art Deco aesthetics with emerging International Style principles, creating a hybrid that satisfied commercial requirements while advancing architectural modernism. The ground floor's curved surfaces and chrome details display Art Deco glamour; the tower's gridded facade and ribbon windows anticipate later modernist developments. Interior spaces received equally sophisticated treatment. The banking hall, executive offices, and building services all featured custom furniture and integrated design throughout. The building's influence extended beyond Philadelphia, demonstrating that American commercial architecture could match European modernist standards.[2]
Operating as a Loews Hotel today, the PSFS Building retains its architectural character, including the iconic rooftop sign that illuminates the Center City skyline. Its designation as a National Historic Landmark recognizes its significance to American architectural development. Regular tours and scholarly attention ensure continued appreciation of a building that, when completed during the Depression, announced Philadelphia's participation in architectural modernity.[1]
Commercial Architecture
Beyond the PSFS Building, Art Deco found wide application in Philadelphia's commercial sector. Market Street developed concentrations of Art Deco storefronts, theaters, and office buildings during the 1930s, creating commercial streetscapes of modernistic sophistication. Department stores employed Art Deco for facades and interiors that expressed contemporary fashion and consumer culture. Smaller commercial buildings adopted Art Deco elements: geometric ornament, streamlined signage, chrome trim. These details provided modern character at modest scale.[2]
The N.W. Ayer Building (1929) on Washington Square demonstrates Art Deco applied to a major office building. Its limestone facades and setback tower created an appropriately modern headquarters for America's oldest advertising agency. The building's restrained ornament and sophisticated proportions show Art Deco's adaptability to varied corporate identities. Other commercial buildings throughout Center City display Art Deco details that survive despite decades of alteration, their geometric patterns and stylized ornament providing distinctive character.[1]
Residential and Institutional
Philadelphia's residential architecture felt Art Deco's influence, particularly in apartment buildings where the style provided fashionable modernity appropriate to urban living. The Philadelphian, Rittenhouse Claridge, and other apartment towers employed Art Deco massing and ornament to attract tenants seeking contemporary sophistication. These buildings concentrated in Center City and along Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Their stepped silhouettes contributed to the skyline while their lobbies and public spaces offered Art Deco interiors.[2]
Institutional buildings adopted Art Deco for structures that required modern expression while maintaining appropriate dignity. Schools, libraries, and government buildings employed the style's geometric vocabulary to signal institutional modernity without abandoning monumentality. The style's ability to achieve grandeur through simplified forms made it attractive for Depression-era public buildings, where limited budgets precluded elaborate Beaux-Arts ornament while public purpose demanded more than industrial plainness.[1]
Theaters and Entertainment
Art Deco achieved particular distinction in theater architecture. The style's glamour and visual excitement created appropriate settings for movies and live entertainment. Philadelphia's movie palaces of the late 1920s and early 1930s employed Art Deco for lobbies, auditoriums, and facades that transported audiences from everyday life into worlds of fantasy and sophistication. Geometric patterns, concealed lighting, and exotic materials created atmospheric interiors that enhanced the entertainment experience.[2]
Many Art Deco theaters have been demolished or converted. The survivors demonstrate the style's theatrical capabilities. The Boyd Theatre (demolished 2015 despite preservation efforts) exemplified Art Deco theater design. Remaining examples have been adapted for new uses or continue operating as performance venues. Their Art Deco character provides distinctive atmosphere that contemporary construction can't replicate.[1]
Legacy
Art Deco's popularity waned during the late 1930s. Economic depression and approaching war shifted priorities from stylistic expression to functional efficiency. The International Style displaced Art Deco in architectural discourse, emphasizing structural expression and rejecting ornament. Art Deco buildings continued to serve their purposes. Their solidly constructed forms accommodated decades of use while their ornament survived varying degrees of appreciation and neglect.[2]
Preservation movements recognized Art Deco's significance during the late twentieth century. Documentation, protection, and restoration of significant buildings followed. The PSFS Building's conversion to hotel use preserved its architectural character while finding economically viable function. Other Art Deco buildings received similar attention. Their geometric ornament and streamlined forms became appreciated as irreplaceable expressions of their era. Art Deco's association with glamour, optimism, and modernistic sophistication continues to attract appreciation, making its buildings valued components of Philadelphia's architectural heritage.[1]
See Also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 [ The National Trust Guide to Art Deco in America] by David Gebhard (1996), John Wiley & Sons, New York
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 [ Penn's Great Town: 250 Years of Philadelphia Architecture] by George B. Tatum (1961), University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia
- ↑ [ American Buildings and Their Architects: The Impact of European Modernism] by William H. Jordy (1972), Anchor Books, New York