Art Deco vs Machine Age Design
Machine Age Design is the cross-discipline counterpart of Art Deco — parallels the skyscraper geometry of Art Deco architecture.
Art Deco
Glamorous machine-age modernism — bold geometry, stepped setbacks, and stylized ornament that made the skyscraper feel like the future.
- Stepped 'setback' massing that tapers as it rises
- Strong vertical piers emphasizing height
- Geometric ornament: zigzags, chevrons, sunbursts
- Banded or ribbon windows with decorative spandrels
- Stylized, machine-age decorative motifs
Machine Age Design
Interwar objects that celebrated the machine itself — chromed metal, bakelite, and geometric 'skyscraper' forms, as the new profession of industrial design gave appliances and tableware a polished modern face.
- Gleaming chromed steel, aluminium, and nickel surfaces
- Bakelite and other early plastics in black and rich colours
- Geometric 'skyscraper' / ziggurat stepped profiles
- Banded speed-lines and concentric circles as machine ornament
- Industrial materials presented as luxury, machine-finished surfaces
At a glance
| Art Deco | Machine Age Design | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1910s–1940 | 1920s–1930s |
| Discipline | Architecture | Industrial Design |
| Region | United States, France, Worldwide | United States, Western Europe |
| Family | Deco family | Industrial Modernism, Machine Age |
| Formal traits | geometric, ornamental, stepped, luxurious | chromed-metal, geometric, skyscraper-stepped, machine-finished |
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