Art Deco, encore

On walks around the city, I'm constantly looking up, searching for fragments of bas-relief Art Deco patterns on house facades. My earlier post " Deco Details"  had the most response from readers around the world, which makes me question why there is such an intense interest in this particular style.  Is it because Deco design is light-hearted, pretty and superficial?  Are people looking back to the 1920s as a period of exceptional affluence, optimism, and progress?   Does Deco represent a degree of refinement, grace and sophistication that is lacking in today's society?   

A  frieze of  undulating waves, fans and flowers

There is a realtor in Paris who specializes in selling Deco apartments.  In New Zealand, the city of Napier has organized tours featuring its important stock of Art Deco style buildings.

In Montevideo, Art Deco design is present on almost every block, but no one seems to pay much attention to it.  Besides the obvious visual appeal of the style,  I'm interested in the fact that Art Deco, a style that originated in Paris, became so popular here in Uruguay.   The locals who commissioned Deco designs for their residences clearly wanted their connections to Europe publicly expressed in bricks and mortar.  "We are Europeans, and we are fashionable, modern ones," they were declaring.

 In 1925, the centennial year for Uruguay,  "El libro del Centenario del Uruguay" a publication prepared by the Ministry of Public Instruction stated," Uruguay is populated by the white race, totally of European origin."   This was not accurate, of course, but the country was determined during the 1920s to define and promote itself as the most European nation in South America.   Art Deco was a perfect fit for the accepted Uruguayan national identity.

Railway tracks in perspective, contrasted with a shingle pattern

Fern or feather motif in a roundel frame

Dramatic design with multiple overlapping geometric forms

Waves and curls framed with double border

Woven  ribbons 

Scroll and floral motif  punctuated with diagonal chevron shapes

An inset panel crowning  a house facade

A stylized sailboat and seagulls with porthole frame

Yachting attire, 1928

"There was going to be no more poverty, no more ignorance, no more disease.  Art Deco reflected that confidence, vigor and optimism by using symbols of progress, speed and power." 

- Robert McGregor

Deco Details

The elegant style that originated in Paris and gained momentum following the1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes, migrated to points south of the equator and had a strong influence on architecture in Montevideo. The 20s saw a booming economy in this city, and Uruguay was, at that time, one of the richest countries in South America.  The new style represented all that was modern, sleek, and avant-garde.

The past was not entirely abandoned, as a growing interest in ethnography and archaeology brought elements from Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Mexican Aztec traditions together to enrich Art Deco style.   The opening of King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 revealed a wealth of beautiful objects that inspired European designers.   Geometric shapes, stepped forms, repeated hieroglyphic patterns and series of overlapping planes were incorporated into surface decoration.  The triangle, trapezoid, chevron, zig-zag and sunburst motifs appeared in architectural design as well as furniture, textiles, jewellery and graphics. Deco suggested luxury, and original works were often made from expensive materials such as silver, obsidian, ivory, marble, bronze, crystal, jade, turquoise and exotic woods. For a good overview of Deco sources and characteristics, see the Victoria and Albert Museum's virtual tour of a 2003 exhibition.

1920s dancer in marble and bronze, displayed in the window of a local antique shop

Palacio Salvo is considered a prime example of Art Deco/Gothic architecture in Montevideo.  Located adjacent to the Plaza Independencia, this landmark building was designed by Italian architect Mario Palanti, and completed in 1928.  At the time of its inauguration, it was the tallest building in South America.  Originally intended as a grand hotel, Palacio Salvo is currently used for office space and apartments .  

Palacio Salvo in downtown Montevideo

This bas-relief mural covers the front courtyard wall of a house on Boulevard Espana.  The dockyard scene, rendered in a stylized Deco carving, is set off with a stepped frame border.

The lines of this Montevideo house are frequently interrupted, or slip beyond the edges of the main forms,  techniques typical of Art Deco design influenced by Cubist paintings and Constructivist sculpture. The "pencil" suspended over the door adds a surreal element to the facade.

The main entry to this Parque Rodo apartment building is an imposing square doorway decorated with concentric circles of stainless steel.  The effect is target-like, a definite symbol of  machine-age moderne. As Art Deco matured into the late 30s, more man-made materials such as glass, steel, chrome and plastic were incorporated into designs.  

Touring the streets of Montevideo is like walking through an architectural museum.  I'm not sure the local population is even aware of what they have here, as it's common to see the most amazing buildings in a bad state of repair, or abandoned and vandalized.  Just as organizations in North America offer Greyhound Rescue, it would be a worthwhile project to establish a Deco Rescue in Montevideo, aimed at preserving the elegant vintage houses that have heritage value, but desperately need an injection of cash for restoration. 

Sunburst motif on a neglected Deco style facade