(De)Signs of the Time
In the aftermath of WWI, Art Nouveau/Jugendstil was over and Arts and Crafts suddenly seemed naïve and outdated. The up and comer was arts décoratifs - although no-one used the term Art Deco at the time. In industrial design, Deco led to Streamline Moderne which dominated Western Europe and North America. In fascist Italy, Futurismo held on (although with its earlier 'rejection of the past' cant toned down). Design in Nazi Germany leaned towards grandiose brutalism with bold graphics partly negated by sentimental kitsch (despite which, German dirigibles became high icons of Streamline Moderne). In the Soviet Union, Proletkult (proletarskaya kultura) of the 1920s dominated until the emergence of Socialist Realism after 1932.
And isn't all of that a rich brew to splash about in!
Between the wars, industrial designers of quotidian consumer goods revelled in modern technology and new materials. And why not? The use of plastics (eg: Bakelite), formerly-rare metals like aluminum, etc., was in widespread use for the first time. Styles like Streamline Moderne were associated with luxury oceanliner interiors (indeed, in French, this form was actually known as Style paquebot). Suddenly, everything from steam trains to toaster had to be 'streamlined'. Chrome-plated horizontal 'speed lines' were applied to everything from autos to lamp stands.
Many consider this to be the high-point industrial design - with 'stars' like Norman Belle Geddes, Raymond Loewy, and Henry Dreyfuss. We'll get to some of their concepts but I'll end with two designs that epitomize Streamline Moderne for me: Lurelle Guild's sleigh-footed 1937 Electrolux model 30 vacuum cleaner and Paul Jaray's iconic 1934 Tatra 77 rear-engined streamliner car.