Art Deco

What is Art Deco?

Art Deco is a decorative style of the 1920s and early 1930s that used geometry, zigzag patterns and expensive materials to express modern luxury. In Slovak it is called Art deco. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) notes that the term was coined in the 1960s. It adds that Art Deco is arguably not one style but a pastiche of different styles, sources and influences. It is better understood as a family of design choices than as a single manifesto.

The V&A shows the style in everyday small items such as vanity boxes, cigarette cases and tableware. It says that people used the terms Moderne, Jazz Moderne or Zigzag Moderne for such work.

Where did Art Deco come from?

The V&A names Art Nouveau as the forerunner of Art Deco. Art Nouveau was the fin de siècle style that fell out of fashion in the years before the First World War. The V&A says that the more linear work of Josef Hoffmann and Charles Rennie Mackintosh fed the Art Deco search for modern forms. It also lists movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, De Stijl, Suprematism and Constructivism.

The excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 triggered a flood of Egyptian imagery. A second V&A article says that designers also looked to the arts of Africa, Asia and Mesoamerica. The abstract geometry of African textiles, shields and sculpture adapted easily to modern taste.

The turning point was the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. The V&A says that the style was then known as Style Moderne. It names Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and René Lalique as prominent promoters of the early movement. Both were known for exquisite detail and a sense of quality.

The 1929 stock market crash saw the optimism of the 1920s decline. By the mid-1930s Art Deco was being derided as a gaudy, false image of luxury. As the 1930s went on, exoticism gave way to a growing passion for the spare geometry of the avant-garde.

How is Art Deco different from Art Nouveau?

Art Nouveau was the earlier style, and Art Deco grew from it and from other sources. The table below sets out the differences that the V&A sources support. For the earlier style, read the entry on Art Nouveau.

Feature	Art Nouveau	Art Deco
Period	Fell out of fashion in the years before the First World War	Peak in the 1920s, decline after 1929
Sources	The fin de siècle style that came first	Art Nouveau's linear strand, Egyptian imagery, African and other non-European art, and avant-garde movements
Typical motifs	Not covered by the V&A articles used here	Zigzag and geometric patterns, and Egyptian and African motifs

What did Art Deco look like?

The V&A's examples are objects. A gilt brass bowl by Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte of Austria inspired, according to the V&A, many silver designers of the 1920s. The Atelier Martine produced stylised naturalistic fabric designs, and Lalique's glassworks made glass. Egyptian imagery spread from clothing to cinema facades.

These V&A articles do not describe buildings in detail. To recognise the style, look for the repeated geometry, the expensive materials and the care of the finish that the V&A describes. Then check the building's history, because a single detail does not prove a style.

Did Art Deco reach Bratislava?

Only a little, according to the one study that we have read. Eva Borecká wrote about interwar housing in the Kramáre suburb of Bratislava in Architektúra & urbanizmus in 2020. She describes Kramáre as a periphery of small family houses and small rental houses. Her footnote 8 records a reaction to Secession and Art Deco as isolated. It gives a drawn plan for a semi-detached house as an example.

The study does not cover the whole city. It points to functionalism as the modern style of Kramáre. It calls Alois Balán's Villa Jaroň of 1928 the first purely functionalist house in the area. It describes his 1929 family house for Josefína Hanišová as a traditional house with symmetrical composition. Its horizontal windows and horizontally divided railings show an inclination towards functionalism.

How is Art Deco different from functionalism?

Both belonged to the interwar years, but they differ in what they emphasise. The table uses the V&A for Art Deco and Borecká's description of Kramáre for functionalism. For the wider context, read the entries on functionalism and modernism.

Aspect	Functionalism in Kramáre (Borecká)	Art Deco (V&A)
Character	Plain, purist facades	Geometry, luxury materials and fine detail
Windows and railings	Horizontal windows and horizontally divided railings	Not specified in the V&A articles
Presence in Kramáre	Villa Jaroň of 1928 and several later houses	An isolated reaction, recorded in footnote 8

What should you check before renovating an Art Deco building in Slovakia?

First find out whether the building is a cultural monument or lies in a protected area. Act 49/2002 on the protection of the monument fund gives the Monuments Board (Pamiatkový úrad) the power to declare a cultural monument (§ 15(1)). A decorative detail does not make a house a monument by itself.

If the building is a monument, the owner must apply to the regional monuments office (krajský pamiatkový úrad) before restoration starts. The office then decides on the restoration intent (§ 32(2)). In a monument area, the same office issues a binding opinion on the preparatory and project documentation (§ 32(10)). A property that is not a monument but stands in a protective zone needs a binding opinion before any alteration (§ 32(11)). Ask the regional office and the municipal building office which case applies.

Keep a record of what you find. Photographs of railings, door frames and glazing patterns help to tell original work from later changes. They also help the designer specify matching repairs.