Streamline Industrial vs Streamline Moderne
Streamline Industrial is the cross-discipline counterpart of Streamline Moderne — the product counterpart to Streamline Moderne architecture.
Streamline Industrial
Depression-era American products shaped as if for speed — rounded teardrop forms, horizontal speed-lines, and smooth shells, applied by industrial designers to radios, appliances, and everything that stood still.
- Rounded, teardrop-derived aerodynamic shells
- Horizontal 'speed lines' suggesting motion on static objects
- Smooth continuous casings hiding internal mechanism
- Moulded bakelite, Catalin plastics, and die-formed sheet metal
- Wraparound corners and grille bars as styling motifs
Streamline Moderne
The aerodynamic, late phase of Deco — curved corners, smooth horizontal lines, and a nautical, machine-for-speed look.
- Rounded, curved corners
- Long horizontal lines and banding ('speed stripes')
- Smooth, unornamented stucco surfaces (often white/pastel)
- Porthole windows and nautical detailing
- Flat roofs and a sense of aerodynamic motion
At a glance
| Streamline Industrial | Streamline Moderne | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1930s–1940s | 1930s–1940s |
| Discipline | Industrial Design | Architecture |
| Region | United States | United States, Worldwide |
| Family | Industrial Modernism, Streamline | Deco family, Modernism |
| Formal traits | aerodynamic, rounded, speed-lined, shell-form | geometric, curved, minimal, aerodynamic |
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