Art Deco Research Paper

Art Deco and Art Nouveau are two art styles that were just emerging in the 1880's up to the 1930's. Art Nouveau being the prominent style from the 1880's to 1910's and Art Deco gradually taking over from 1920's to 1930's. Art Nouveau is a more nature based design that incorporates a lot of curvy lines and tends to flow a bit better. It also uses a lot of plant, vine and flower designs especially in its art and architecture, some examples of Art Nouveau are Tiffany lamps and The Effiel Tower. Art Deco was not quite the exact opposite but was very different, it focused more on geometric shapes rather than the flowing lines that Art Nouveau used. A lot of shapes and combinations of shape were used in Art Deco to construct its architecture and

The Guardian building is located in Detroit, Michigan and was built between 1928 and finished in 1929 by the Union Trust Company. It is 36 stories and was originally named The Union Trust building, and its architect was Wirt Rowland. The Guardian was one of the most expensive Art Deco skyscrapers ever built and given the nickname "Cathedral of Commerce". The architect Wirt Rowland created a unique Art Deco scheme throughout the entire building. The exterior has two asymmetrical spires with one of the extending an additional 4 stories at the top and also tile triangles in green and white, orange and white, and black and gold running zigzag bands around the building.Leading into the building there is a stepped arch which used rectangular bricks atop of one another to create the arch rather than having a smooth curved arch. Once inside the walls and ceilings are covered in colorful geometric designs and shapes that span throughout the building, the ceiling tiles in the main lobby are designed in patterns of multi-colored hexagons. This is a prime example of Art Deco since it uses a lot of geometric shapes and has a more symmetrical design overall, and doesn't have flowing lines or nature inspired