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An article on Shanghai as the world's largest collection of art deco:
https://www.mandarinoriental.com/mo-...-tour-shanghai "But the faded glamour of Shanghai in the 1930s – when it was the world’s fifth largest city and Asia’s most vibrant modern metropolis – is best embodied in the buildings found on the other side of the river, that were designed in one particular style: Art Deco. Several thousand examples are believed to still stand – making Shanghai the city with the highest number of Art Deco buildings in the world." |
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singapore has pretty cool 1920's deco examples too -- tiang bahru neighborhood, koon seng road, etc.
tiong bahru http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiong_Bahru_Estate http://www.ladyironchef.com/2013/03/...hru-singapore/ http://www.tiongbahruplaza.com.sg/tiong-bahru-plaza/ http://www.vogue.com/slideshow/10806...neighborhoods/ https://gretastravels.com/koon-seng-road-singapore/ |
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Many American SFHs from that time period could be counted as well. Even if they weren't explicitly built as art deco residences, they integrated many of the decorative elements and motifs into their designs. Something like a 1930s Spanish colonial with vintage art deco lighting fixtures and leaded glass - very common around here. Here's my ranking, considering both quality and quantity: NYC LA Chicago Detroit Miami If we include the rest the world, the ranking does not change. |
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How big is the French Concession in Shanghai? It's seems like a pretty limited area behind the Bund unless there are more Art Deco in other parts of town.
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The list is American centric because art deco is largely American centric. It was popular around the world, but no other country has embraced the style to the extant that America has. Nobody has done more with the style. You ever wonder why there are no great art deco towers in the birthplace of art deco? I would easily put Detroit's best against the best of Shanghai and Mumbai. |
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Having the most impressive art deco towers doesn't necessarily mean the most art deco buildings. I'd agree with NYC at number 1 and Miami being in the mix, but other than that it's up in the air.
Lots of colonial countries embraced the style just as much as the US just tended not to build massive towers, though there are iconic train stations and the like. Not experiencing the effects of Depression to the same degree certainly helped with proliferation of the style. For instance I'd put money on Johannesburg having more deco structures than Detroit, even though latter may have more iconic deco buildings (the gap isn't as large as one may assume though). Certain streets are lined with the style, but many of the buildings are in rough shape. Colonial interpretations of deco do tend to be more subdued than the US, which again may not be surprising. Canada's actually a bit of an outlier compared to other commonwealth nations in that deco isn't nearly as prevalent. Toronto does have a number of interesting late deco structures that were delayed by the depression / WWII and ended up being built with modernist influences, but that's an aside. |
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it was the largest building in the world when it was built and it still ranks somewhat high on that list nearly century later. it's a true beast of a building. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ndise_Mart.jpg source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchandise_Mart |
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It has it's own el stop, lol.
Great building. |
I was there about a month or so ago; they do a light show at night and photos just don't capture just how ridiculously massive that thing is. You almost forget it's a 25 story building.
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I can't imagine what it's like walking around the office space inside that thing. I've been in a few prewar towers with floorplates that are miniscule in comparison. Even in those where you're never more than 50 feet from a window they can feel suffocating with how much less columnless space and natural light they were able to build in back then.
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Hard to find exact figures but Detroit was about twice as large in 1950, though the Johannesburg figures would deliberately exclude certain sections of the population. However that doesn't really tell the full story as this time period coincided with massive amounts of growth in the city. Joburg (and surrounding art deco centres like Springs) also continued to grow at a feverish pace during the 1930s while Detroit was stagnating during the Depression. Similarly, building continued during WWII as the countries war effort was significantly less than the US or other allied powers. This era also coincided with a massive influx of capital from gold mining and the deliberate reconstruction of huge portions of the inner-city in the deco style (New York of Africa and such). Keep in mind that a significant majority of the world's gold was coming from the region at the time. Deco also remained quite popular in South Africa well into the 1950s while the US was shifting away from it to more modern styles. Durban also has a huge amount though it was small enough at the time I'd put Detroit ahead of it. I'd also expect Miami's story to share at least a few similarities - it wasn't exactly a major centre during the deco period. Also worth noting that period architecture in Detroit seemed more varied to me the times I've been there. |
Pictures don't do it justice - the Merchandise Mart is incredibly imposing in person. As suburbanite noted I can't imagine it's too pleasant in the deep interior - you could get lost in there.
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That's a perfect example of what I'm talking about actually - that's a gorgeous grand building of which Detroit has many. You would be hard pressed to find that outside of the CBD in any South African city. But stuff like this is dime a dozen in pretty much any suburb built before the mid 1950s: https://goo.gl/maps/g59cGrmAdJmMu9pz8 https://goo.gl/maps/huuEDFFtUP8U8aJ3A https://goo.gl/maps/1CXKNKDC5drpVqnv6 https://goo.gl/maps/4GvRdJ45qKNgHLvR8 As I said, much more subdued and with British colonial influence, but very clearly deco. Here's an article that claims it as #3, though I would personally doubt that: https://www.csmonitor.com/2000/1023/p7s1.html It may also be useful to separate American art deco from what was occurring elsewhere in the world. |
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https://goo.gl/maps/nDhL19KxW71PMEAS6 |
One important distinction seems to be that the US by-and-large used art deco in institutional & commercial applications, but not much in the way of residential (NY being the exception here - and even then it tended to build more in the Beaux Arts, Italianate, etc. styles, from what it seems). A place like Tel Aviv on the other hand is chock-a-block with streamline moderne stuff like this: https://goo.gl/maps/nWMwLsQvJWpMtyBp9
As a result I wouldn't be surprised to see some non-US cities with the highest numbers of art deco buildings, even if the best and most of the grand examples of the style are largely found in New York, Chicago, LA, and Detroit. |
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To echo what some others have already said, the size of a city in 1930-50 or so is not a proxy for its art deco stock. It's a question of when it was growing and of cultural preferences more than anything, as well as wealth to an extent. That's a why a then-small city like Miami likely has more buildings of the style than Boston or Philly. Or why international cities like Shanghai, Rio, and Johannesburg have more than big European cities like London or Paris. That said, Detroit certainly is/was one of the world's great repositories of art deco regardless. |
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Though Miami may boast the largest collection of art deco architecture in the world, Dallas Fair Park has the largest collection of art deco exhibition buildings,art, and sculpture in the U.S. It is one of the finest examples of excellent city planning and beautification of a public space to be found anywhere in the world.
https://www.google.com/search?q=dall...&bih=691&dpr=3 |
Here's a few from Little Old Fort Worth:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7467...4!8i8192?hl=en https://ourfw.com/listing-item/tp_passenger_station/ https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7468...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7502...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7539...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7538...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7537...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7551...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7510...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7467...4!8i8192?hl=en https://homepages.bluffton.edu/~sull...s/hedrick.html https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7468...4!8i8192?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7457...4!8i8192?hl=en |
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To write off Shanghai as a major art deco center just because it wasn't in the US is foolish. |
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...r_Monument.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voortrekker_Monument https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...67.NhsL7GqEIag https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8669/...395c0742_b.jpg https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showt...hp?p=130044976 |
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But we could use some logic and common sense to come up with some estimates. LA MSA went from 1m to 3m from 1920 to 1940 and up to 4.3m by 1950. I would conservatively estimate about 1 million prewar buildings in total, with the majority built in the early art deco era. If just 1% of them are art deco, you could do the math. And unlike in Shanghai or Mumbai, that's a completely realistic and conservative estimate because we're not talking about some niche colonial buildings here, in America art deco is commonplace and completely at home in its natural environment. People don't appreciate just how much art deco is a part of the American visual vernacular. You see it in big cities and you see it in small towns in the middle of nowhere. Art deco is quintessential classic Americana. Think Route 66 and Radiator Springs. Besides raw numbers there is also the qualitative argument. Dare I say that of all the examples of art deco posted in this thread, the American specimens consistently feature more inspired and distinctive designs? While the "colonial" versions tend to be either a bit more subdued and derivative, or overly loud? Is that too biased? or is it accurate? or completely subjective? imo it's really not that complicated and it's really not that subjective. State of the art opulence and luxury in 1930 America: This ain't no Mumbai or Rio, my friend. https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-shO08YvBq...01454712-1.jpg https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CQz6H7CmP...01387230-7.jpg https://losangelestheatres.blogspot....ium-views.html |
OK sounds alot like you're repeatedly changing the goalposts in order to make the US on top each time, acc to you. At first there's only one particular type that is art deco, then taking in anything from that period (which btw would then count hundreds of thousands of Shanghai's shikumen housing and longtang lanes)
So now we're talking about the quality and je ne sais quoi of the style? And in your opinion all other art deco comes wanting by dint of it not being in America (and thus too understated or too overstated)? Is it that non Europeans can't build to that finesse or something? This may be news but the quality of design and craftsmanship is just the same as any art deco round the world, plus the variety. The varying states of the movement, from sumptuous to spare, the Belle Epoque period of a city: https://historycouncilnsw.org.au/wp-...ad-700x400.jpg https://historycouncilnsw.org.au https://static.gbtimes.com/uploads/o...zz_cropped.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/665/22...ac4900f4_b.jpg http://www.a-hotel-with-a-story.com/...nghai1920s.jpg https://chinesemartialstudies.files....ghai-1920s.jpg www.a-hotel-with-a-story.com https://chinesemartialstudies.files.wordpress.com https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bym8CzWIgAAfzeY.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5XoAA...JvT/s-l300.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/a4sAA...Jve/s-l300.jpg https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com https://peterhack.com.au/wp-content/...otel%20(1).jpg https://peterhack.com.au https://worldhistory.us/wp-content/u...-the-1930s.jpg https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/me...hedun-film.jpg https://worldhistory.us https://cdn.fodors.com/ee/files/slid...l-Shanghai.jpg http://www.splendidhabitat.com/wp-co...l-Art-Deco.jpg https://cdn.fodors.com https://tatarartprojects.com/wp-cont..._lobby_003.jpg https://tatarartprojects.com http://www.decopix.com/wp-content/up...son-1-of-2.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3b75ae6c_z.jpg www.decopix.com https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default...e&v=1552542767 https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/6b...95318d4cef4bef https://i.f1g.fr/media/eidos/768x/20...02-805x453.jpg https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qim...d61565270.webp https://thecoolhunter.net/wp-content.../atlasbar1.jpg https://thecoolhunter.net https://www.hsbc.com/-/files/hsbc/wh...E44AFB1D13FE9F https://d1x3cbuht6sy0f.cloudfront.ne...9b568e7c3b.jpg www.hsbc.com https://farm1.static.flickr.com/849/...5e5294d0_b.jpg https://sketchingdaily.files.wordpre...pg?w=429&h=496 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...8Xskww3aIdKw&s http://images.china.cn/attachement/j...10b81ef84a.jpg https://admin.freetour.com/images/to...hanghai-01.jpg |
Art Deco in San Francisco
Russ Bldg. (office) http://opensfhistory.org/Image/700/wnp100.20042.jpg source https://live.staticflickr.com/2750/4...3280287f_b.jpg source Shell Bldg. (office) https://i1.wp.com/visiter-sanfrancis...pg?w=768&ssl=1 source https://live.staticflickr.com/8343/8...6a9ac489_b.jpg Coit Tower (monument) https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/23...g?v=1505370626 source The San Francisco Mint https://live.staticflickr.com/7320/1...b6e47b2f_b.jpg source US Appraisers Office/ICE https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dz3A8UqXcAEKpEo.jpg source San Francisco Chronicle offices and plant https://s.hdnux.com/photos/16/55/21/...11/920x920.jpg source Neighborhood-scale commercial https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Vw43...lencia_1.0.jpg source Bridge (duh) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Bridge-001.jpg source The infamous 450 Suffer (Sutter) https://450sutter.buildingengines.co...383_bldg-4.JPG source 140 New Montgomery (originally Pacific Telephone & Telegraph offices) https://wilsonmeany.com/wp-content/u...Montgomery.jpg source https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...oifSuaBzt9MQq4 Twitter HQ https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BiZm...ang_5363.0.jpg source 1101 Green St./Bellaire Tower (residential) https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/...1113163907.jpg source https://live.staticflickr.com/3593/4...f77a50e3_b.jpg source McAllister Tower (residential) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ege_of_Law.jpg source https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/uo8AA...P~/s-l1600.jpg source |
That Shell building in SF...
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Anyone want to post some grand concourse pics?
Nobody should forget the Bronx as a center or Art Deco (it was developed in the interwar period) |
Muppets probably going to argue that London (population 75 million) has more art deco skyscrapers than New York.
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My favorite streamline moderne in Los Angeles
https://goo.gl/maps/i9ufG4NXg3zJSWJN8 |
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Detroit Art Deco buildings
The Guardian Building https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...anbuilding.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_Building Penobscot Building https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...sunsetting.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penobscot_Building David Stott Building https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ttBuilding.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stott_Building The Kean https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Detroit_MI.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kean |
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I love the high schools that were also done in Streamline Moderne in the LA area. As unfortunate as the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake was, that was the motivation to build new seismically safer high school buildings, and that being the WPA period, many of them were built in a Streamline Moderne style. I remember going to different high school auditoriums that were fantastically in that style, that even had Art Deco exit signs. Speaking of LA public buildings done in Art Deco, there's also the LA County General Hospital, and Van Nuys City Hall... I've only skimmed through this thread, but people have mentioned that Art Deco really took off in exuberance in the US. Well, during the period that Art Deco was popular in the US, Europe was already embracing that early Modernism/International Style architecture, which I also like. Unfortunately, though, that style evolved into those awful boring 1960s glass boxes and 1970s tinted glass boxes. But the early Modern stuff is cool, like that Bauhaus architecture. |
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Yeah it's rare to find anything like that Tel Aviv example in the US, really. NYC has a similar density of deco architecture in areas but a very different vibe. It reminds me a little bit of Yeoville and surroundings in Joburg, which in parts is wall to wall deco/moderne. ranging from large apartment blocks to small several unit structures. It's a pretty dodgy area right now but if I had money to burn I'd definitely invest for the long run (I know people doing it now) - some really beautiful residential stock that's slowly being renovated. https://goo.gl/maps/opcW4SYGcB4W9SrZA https://goo.gl/maps/fdBrmeG18mmAsGHN7 https://goo.gl/maps/sCjrqRdrATJ63LDC6 https://goo.gl/maps/aCgbiuMDBfpWM2xx6 https://goo.gl/maps/xQ8PR3XzY1vavrt59 https://goo.gl/maps/heScTipDHg9Chx5e9 Downtown of course it's pretty much wall to wall in areas, with a couple standouts. Lacking some of the monumental feel of American cities, of course: https://goo.gl/maps/TcDt9SCG9q1AMHz67 https://goo.gl/maps/LUGso1p8WwFjK6be8 https://goo.gl/maps/DDkVrhDcuAm6SF37A https://goo.gl/maps/GixsXz2sxHN4LjABA I have no intention of turning this into a city vs city and we can probably all agree that the US took deco to another level. But, I think that some people are underestimating how much deco/moderne was a global style and not just American. I'm just very familiar with Johannesburg and know very little about Shanghai, Rio, Mumbai, etc. They were almost literally building in one style for 2 decades during a massive gold fueled boom. American cities tended to have a lot more variation in architectural style even during popular movements, which isn't a bad thing. Quote:
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derp! just so you are not going to take one commenter as all of the usa, right? a reminder i guess. :cheers: there is no question vast usa as a whole has the most art deco scattered around. not even worth discussing. however, city by city is another story though for sure and you have certainly proved that point. and i cannot even imagine peak deco era and then what was lost everywhere over the years. :( anyway, great pics -- that was a cool shanghai surprize. ha. :tup: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/...475PfWu0EBo%3D |
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https://goo.gl/maps/iD2z8KKY4oyHR5p68 |
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this is wild...like some kind of alternative universe LA. |
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No relevant really, but I just wanted to say that It just wouldn't be as epic if King Kong climbed a green glass tower with a screaming damsel, or if Godzilla wreaked havoc among similar blue and bronze coloured glass buildings..I love those classic deco skylines of both NYC and Tokyo regardless on which city has more of that style.
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Here's a hypothesis: Art Deco was the first truly global architectural style.
Sure, there were Transatlantic movements before, and certain European countries had exported variants of their indigenous styles to their colonies; but Art Deco is the first that freely happened in tandem in nearly every corner of the world. Any truth to this? |
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